Cloud Tectonics

Cloud Tectonics is a play by José Rivera, a dreamlike (and ultimately tragic) love story about its two protagonists, Aníbal de la Luna and Celestina del Sol. It is set in Los Angeles, with most of the action taking place in Aníbal's house. It is somewhat of the archetypal "boy meets girl" story—but it is truly told by a master of the form.

Rivera puts magical realism (he studied screenwriting with Gabriel García Márquez at the Sundance Institute in 1989) to good use in the play by distorting our conceptions of time, space, and even (although not to the same extent) sound. He additionally makes use of poetic (and occasionally absurd) language to enhance the characters and the world of the play.

Production history

The play premiered at the 19th Annual Humana Festival in 1995, and was subsequently produced at the La Jolla Playhouse and later at Playwrights Horizons in NYC.

Publication

Cloud Tectonics is published in an acting edition by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.