Review: Forgiveness Shines in BATHING IN MOONLIGHT at McCarter Theatre

The world premiere of Nilo Cruz's play, BATHING IN MOONLIGHT at McCarter theatre opens with the lights up and a greeting from Father Monroe (Raúl Méndez). For the next hour and forty minutes, we are not only Father Monroe's congregation but part of his passive jury in a judgment Cruz suggests won't be unanimous.

Memory, love, and beauty play powerful roles in this story of a priest who falls in love with the beautiful pianist Marcela (Hannia Guillen) but not out of love with his vocation and calling for the church.

Set in Miami in 2015, Marcela's Cuban-American family has its own story of exile, remembered in fragments by the aging matriarch, played with unabashed yearning by Tony Award winner Priscilla Lopez.

The play is a tour de force for Méndez, who makes his American stage debut in the production. Audiences may recognize him from the Netflix originals Sense8 and Narcos.

McCarter Artistic Director Emily Mann and playwright Nilo Cruz reunite for the first time since their collaboration on his Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics.

About Nilo Cruz's return, director Emily Mann said: "This is one of Nilo's most enchanting plays. It's not only a beautiful love story, but also a story of family and faith written by one of the greatest poets of the American theater. I'm honored to have Nilo Cruz back at McCarter Theatre."

Bathing in Moonlight's cast features Raúl Méndez (Father Monroe), Priscilla Lopez (Martina), Hannia Guillen (Marcela), Katty Velasquez (Trini), Frankie J. Alvarez (Taviano), and Michael Rudko (Bishop Andres).

BATHING IN MOONLIGHT runs September 9 - October 9 in McCarter's Berlind Theatre. For more information, www.mccarter.org.

McCarter's 2016-2017 Theater Season includes Nilo Cruz's Bathing in Moonlight (world premiere), Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced (produced in conjunction with the Guthrie Theater and Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Bedlam's productions of Saint Joan and Hamlet, Ken Ludwig's Adaptation of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express (world premiere), and Lynn Nottage's Intimate Apparel.