References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot
By José Rivera
Directed by Alma Martinez
Venue: State Playhouse
Performance Dates: October 20 - 22 @ 7:30pm; October 23 @ 2:30pm; October 27 - 29 @ 7:30pm
Strange and magical things happen in a moonlit backyard on the edge of the California Mojave Desert. In the hot desert plains of Fort Irwin and the town of Barstow, the Cat plays teasingly with a dangerously seductive Coyote, and the Moon plays music for restless Gabriela awaiting her husband Benito’s return from the Afghanistan war. He arrives, broken and distant, and the reality of their relationship seems as strange as the apparitions that appear each night under the black blanket of the star flooded nights. Playwright Jose Rivera, explores the scars of war on those who fight it and those who get left behind and asks the question, “What happens when one person’s deepest needs turn into another’s prison walls?”
"I say the deepest secrets and the most confusing mysteries aren't on the moon, they're in the heart of the person who lies next to you in bed every night.” -- Gabriela
Meet the Director: Alma Martinez
Dr. Alma Martinez is an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of La Verne and Emerita Faculty of the Theater and Dance Department at UC Santa Cruz. She holds a Ph.D. in Drama from Stanford University, an M.F.A. in Acting from U.S.C., a B.A. in Drama from Whittier College and is a Fulbright Scholar and Dartmouth College Cesar Chavez Dissertation Fellow. Her publications and research examine the interstices of Chicanx/Latinx and Latin American popular-political theatre. A prolific actor, she has appeared on Broadway, Off Broadway, in regional theaters across the country and on Mexican and European stages. A long-time artistic collaborator with Luis Valdez and El Teatro Campesino she has been a lead actress in many of his most iconic plays, films and TV projects including Zoot Suit (film & stage) and the Peabody Award winning TV drama Corridos: Tales of Passion and Revolution. She is best remembered for her recurring Guest-Star turn on the Peabody Award Winning show The Bridge (FX). She is a member of SAG AFTRA, AEA, SDC and the Academies of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and Television Arts & Sciences. Currently, she is a recurring Guest-Star on 3-series, Gentefied (Netflix) Undone (Amazon) and Bosch: Legacy (Amazon). She is a proud Mexican immigrant and U.S. Citizen and resides in Los Angeles and La Quinta, CA. www.imdb.me/almamartinez