Delta Drama returns this week with “Marisol,” José Rivera’s play exploring themes of faith, survival, and the breakdown of divine and human order in a dystopian version of modern life. Performances are scheduled for Oct. 10, 11 and 12 as well as Oct. 17, 18 and 19.
Marisol Perez, a young Latino woman, is a copy editor for a Manhattan publisher. She lives alone in the Bronx neighborhood of her childhood.
As the play begins, Marisol narrowly escapes a vicious attack by a golf club-wielding madman while traveling home on the subway. Later that evening, Marisol is visited by her guardian angel, who informs her that she can no longer serve as Marisol’s protector because she has been called to join the revolution already in progress against an old and senile God who is dying and “taking the rest of the universe with him.”
The war in heaven spills over into New York City, reducing it to a smoldering urban wasteland where giant fires send noxious smoke to darken the skies, where the moon has not been seen in months, where the food has been turned to salt, and water no longer seeks its level.
Alone, without her protector, Marisol finds herself on the streets, homeless, where her many encounters include a woman beaten for exceeding her credit limit and a homeless burn victim in a wheelchair looking for his lost skin. With the apocalypse well underway, the angels have traded in their wings for Uzis and wear leather motorcycle jackets and fatigues.
As the action builds to a crescendo, the masses of homeless and displaced people join the angels in the war to save the universe.
Being performed by Delta Drama students, the Friday and Saturday shows, Oct. 10 and 11, Oct. 17 and 18, are at 7 p.m.; Sunday matinees, Oct. 12 and Oct. 19, are at 2 p.m.
“Marisol” will be staged in the Tillie Lewis Theatre, on the campus of San Joaquin Delta College, 5151 Pacific Ave., Stockton.
Tickets are available at www.deltadrama.com, at the Delta College Box Office, or by calling 209-954-5110. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
The Delta Drama Program curriculum helps students develop knowledge, skills and competencies necessary for transfer to the upper division level as well as fulfilling AA Degree general education requirements. The Drama Program provides a rigorous, disciplined, and integrated curriculum designed to meet the vocational demands of the theatre profession. Delta also offers scholarships to new students who qualify.
The Actor Training program is a two-year course of study in which students who have successfully auditioned can concentrate their efforts in rigorous acting classes three times a week in the first year and five times a week in the second year, while also studying stagecraft in separate technical classes.
