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La Puta Vida (This Bitch of a Life)

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  1w, 7m

Brimming with streetwise naturalism, this trilogy of one act plays illuminates the lives of addicts, prostitutes and other drifters who are all imperfect, and yet victims of their circumstances.

La Puta Vida (This Bitch of a Life)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    1w, 7m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Senior
Accolades
Accolades
  • Reinaldo Povod is the 1987 recipient of the Whiting Award for Drama.

Details

Summary

This extraordinary trilogy of short plays includes South of Tomorrow, Nijinsky Choked His Chicken, and Poppa Dio!. In the first, a suicidal young Hispanic man in a heroine shooting gallery turns out to be a martyr who miraculously gives an addicted black Vietnam veteran a new spiritual lease on life. In the second, a homosexual man, who is ostensibly a victim of machismo culture, is revealed to be a pedophile. In the final piece, an incest-minded stripper and hooker violently reckons with the son she raised. Bookended by a confrontational narrator's call for an audience to wake up out of ignorance, this trilogy makes for an electrifying night of theatre. 

History
La Puta Vida premiered at the Public Theater in New York City in December of 1987 under the directioon of Bill Hart, and starred Michael Carmine, John Leguizamo, Michael Guess, John Turturro and Rosana DeSoto. 

Prologue & Epilogue
PAPO: 20s; Hispanic; lean and handome; walks with a limp; boyish charm.

South of Tomorrow
LOOKOUT: Flexible.
ALLEY BOY: A 17 year old hispanic.
RANDY: A black man in his mid-30s.

Nijinsky Choked His Chicken
RAISIN: 12 year old boy; sturdy and handsome.
CHINO: Late 20s; Hispanic; sharp, distinct speech with a quick and virile mind.

Poppa Dio!
ANGELO: Mid-30s; Hispanic; tall, restless abnd commanding.
MAFIA: 50 years old; mother of Angelo; young, eager, and well built; from Puerto Rico.

Off-stage voices required.

  • Time Period Contemporary, Present Day
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features Stage Combat
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Drugs
    • Intense Adult Themes
    • Strong Language
    • Nudity/Partial Nudity

Media

"Vivid! Povod's talent glistens." - New York Post

REVIEWS

"Vivid! Povod's talent glistens." - New York Post

"Marvelous. Povod is an artist. In the lowest misery, he sees hope and human possibility everywhere." - The Village Voice

"A raw-edged knockout." - United Press International

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)
  • Chorus Size N/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $120 per performance

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Authors

Reinaldo Povod

Reinaldo Povod, known to his friends as Rei, grew up on the Lower East Side as the son of a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father of Russian descent. In 1977, his play Cries and Shouts played at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where Mr. Povod was a protege of Miguel Piñero. Bill H ...
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