February 25, 2005

Play transcends time and space
to deliver surreal love story

It’s a rainy Los Angeles night and a man picks up a mysterious woman hitchhiker. The two fall madly in love. There are a few mysterious things about this woman however: though appearing much younger, she claims to be 54 years old and says she has been pregnant for two years. This is the beginning of Cloud Tectonics, the California State University, Sacramento production opening at 8 p.m., Friday, March 11 in Playwrights’ Theatre. Performances continue at 8 p.m. March 12, 17, 18 and 19, with 2 p.m. matinee performances March 12, 13 and 20.

The innovative three-character play by Puerto Rican-born playwright José Rivera provides an the ephemeral, surreal treatment of time and shows impact on each of us, individually and collectively. The performance follows AnÌbal de la Luna, a disillusioned baggage handler at the Los Angeles International Airport, and his enchanted experiences with mystical pregnant hitchhiker, Celestina del Sol, who never ages.

The Los Angeles Times has celebrated Rivera’s work, noting that in Cloud Tectonics he has “successfully mixed two styles in which he previously dabbled, realism and magic realism, to produce a naturalistic play interlaced with symbols and magical occurrences.”

The play, directed by Sacramento State professor Manuel Pickett, will be presented as part of the University’s Latino Theatre program. Pickett, who is also director of the Latino Theatre program, says the play conveys the message that individuals can become so caught up in the concept of time that they lose track of what is truly important until time runs out.

Tickets are $15 general, $8 for students and seniors, and available from the CSUS Ticket Office at (916) 278-4323 or Tickets.com.

For more information, contact (916) 278-6702. For media assistance, contact public affairs at (916) 278-6156.

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