Inciting Incident

Marisol

by Jose Rivera

Falling action

Climax

The chaotic war lasts for thousands of years, and millions of angels die at first. Then, "the innocent of the earth" (the homeless, poor, peaceful, angry) join the angels in fighting against heaven. The humans and angels win the war.

Marisol is reunited with Lenny, who is pregnant. Marisol helps him give birth, but his baby is born dead. They run into June, who has become a hobo-burning Nazi. June snaps out of the trance she was under and Marisol tells her friends that she wants them all to join the angels in the war. The Woman with Furs calls them traitors and shoots Marisol with a machine gun. Marisol dies and, in a monologue, describes the heavenly war that she sees occur in her moment of death.

Symbolism in Marisol

Exposition

• Fire: Fire was used to show danger, loss of control, chaos and everything that made the area worse.Fire was seen throughout the city to show how chaos has spread throughout the entire area.
• Weather: The weather in the beginning started off weird and calm to symbolize how things were on the brink of destruction. As the angels began the war, the weather became destructive: there was lightning, fires, viscous winds, etc. The weather's main purpose was to show the severity of the war in the city.
• Golf club: The golf club was highly associated with death. However, every time Marisol encountered a man with a gold club, she seemed to get away. However, the golf club was always used for a murder attempt.

The war in Heaven spills over into Earth. Marisol has to go out into the world without her guardian angel watching over her. The world has gotten progressively worse since the beginning of the play. Marisol is attacked by her best friend's brother Lenny and then the Man with Ice Cream, who demands pay for his work as an extra on the film "Taxi Driver." She ends up being separated by her best friend June and Lenny. Marisol is homeless on the streets and encounters a woman who was beaten for exceeding her credit limit and a homeless man in his wheelchair who was badly burnt and is searching for his lost skin.

Historical/Political Significance

New stasis

Some of the themes present in Marisol are mental illness, class warfare, oppression, theology, and revolution. Marisol was written in the early 1990s, which was the age of AIDs and Ronald Reagan. This play is essentially a scream for political discontent, since it is all about chaos and the disintegration of modern society. Rivera's usage of modern-day Nazis, the burning of homeless people, and credit card debt (Woman with the Furs was beaten for exceeding her credit card limit) indicate the racial and socio-economic unrest in America.

Inciting Incident

The moon comes back and a new balance is restored to the universe. Marisol states that "New powers are created. New miracles are signed into law. It's the first day of the new history..." Marisol is full of wonder and hope as the Angel appears on stage and kisses her. The lighting becomes intense and it seems like all of the characters are turned into light before there is a blackout.

Stasis

Marisol's guardian angel visits her in her apartment in the Bronx and tells her that God has gone senile. Their dialogue reveals that there is a Plague, the moon is gone, people are setting the homeless on fire, there is a war on children in the city, rainwater turns skin red, etc. The Angel tells her that the angels are forming a resistance against God to take him down, so she will no longer be able to watch over Marisol.

Notable Productions

Time: Apocalypse/ Early 1990s

Place: Manhattan, New York City

Characters:

Marisol Perez- a young wealthy Puerto Rican woman who is an editor for a Manhattan publisher

Guardian Angel- Marisol's angel protector and revolutionary/warrior

Man with Golf Club - an insane homeless man who tries to hurt Marisol in the beginning

June- Marisol's best friend and coworker

Lenny - June's brother who is infatuated with Marisol

In Act One Scene One, Marisol is attacked by a mentally unstable homeless man with a golf club on the metro. Marisol's guardian angel looks on with concern from her perch on a ladder. The Angel causes the subway car to stop too suddenly, causing the Man to fall and allowing Marisol to escape.

-Southern Oregon University's Department of Performing Arts at the Center Square Theater. Directed by Jackie Apodaca

-Westmont Festival Theater Productions at the Westmont Theater

Directed by Jose Rivera