About This Show
Miguel Piñero was born Dec. 19, 1946 in Puerto Rico. At twenty-five, Piñero was sentenced to serve time in Sing-Sing prison for second-degree armed robbery. Piñero continued to be involved in criminal activity on and off for several years and suffered from addictions until his death on June 18, 1988 of cirrhosis of the liver and complications due to AIDS. Piñero’s theater is a milestone for its introduction to the stage of characters who previously appeared only as stereotypes, but now assume real lives of their own. Piñero is a craftsman and a magician who casts his spell so well that the audience often has a hard time separating reality from the fantastic and powerful visions the playwright has conjured. His plays are not documentaries or naturalistic exposes. They are romantic visions of the outlaw and his code of honor.
“Nuyorican poet, playwright, and self-proclaimed “junkie Christ” Miguel Pinero, who died of cirrhosis in 1988 at the age of 41, still inspires controversy. Champions see him as a kind of Lower East Side Genet, a defiant voice of the Puerto Rican underclass. Detractors say the addict and unapologetic ur-gangsta merely reinforced a host of racist stereotypes. Either way Pinero had a hustler’s authenticity, which comes through in UrbanTheater Company’s electric production. The machismo metaphysics and displaced oedipal conflict of this 1975 piece unfold in a 70s ghetto bar, a setting enlivened by James Nash’s pimped-out period costumes and wigs. And under Madrid St. Angelo’s masterful direction, the charismatic, commanding, utterly cohesive cast navigates Pinero’s collagelike script with deceptive ease.” — Brian Nemtusak, Chicago Reader
Box Office Hours: 1 Hour Prior to Show Time. Reservations accepted by phone.
Group Sales Number (10+): 773-347-1203
Appropriate For Ages: 18+
