José Rivera (born March 24, 1955) is a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and the first Puerto Rican

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

to be nominated for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for the movie '' The Motorcycle Diaries''.

Early years

Rivera was born in Santurce,

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, in 1955. He was raised in

Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...

until 1959, when his family moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, settling in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. The small-town environment would later influence him. His father worked as a taxi driver, and Rivera recalls, "...for a long time I just wanted to do better than him...so for years I wanted to be a bus driver." His parents were very religious, and the only book in their household was the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. His family enjoyed telling stories and Rivera learned a great deal from the stories his family enjoyed sharing. As a child, he also enjoyed watching ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' and '' The Outer Limits''. He received his primary and secondary education in the New York state public school system. In 1968, when Rivera was 12 years old, he saw a traveling company perform the play "

Rumpelstiltskin "Rumpelstiltskin" ( ; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in the 1812 edition of ''Children's and Household Tales''. The story is about an imp who spins straw into gold in exchange for a woman's firstborn child. Plot I ...

" at his school. Witnessing the collective reaction of the audience towards the play convinced the young Rivera that someday, he too, would aspire to write plays himself.Diction and Contradiction by Michael Feingold, ''Village Voice'', July 4, 2006
/ref>''Book Rags''
/ref>

Career

Many of Rivera's plays have been produced nationwide and translated into several languages, including ''The House of Ramon Iglesia'', '' Cloud Tectonics'', ''The Street of the Sun'', ''Sonnets for an Old Century'', ''Sueño'', ''Giants Have Us in Their Books'', ''References to

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

Make Me Hot'', and '' Adoration of the Old Woman''. In 2003, ''Cloud Tectonics'' was presented at the XLII Festival of Puerto Rican Theater, an event sponsored by the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture, in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

. Rivera also co-founded the Los Angeles-based theater company, The Wilton Project. His play, "''Brainpeople,''" premiered in San Francisco on January 30, 2008, and was co-produced by the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

. Additionally, Rivera will direct and write the screenplay for "Celestina", a film loosely adapted from his play "Cloud Tectonics", which will be produced by Walter Salles. Among his recent projects is the movie adaptation of ''

On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagoni ...

'', based on the novel by

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian ...

Television

Rivera contributed as a writer to the following TV shows: ‘’a.k.a.Pablo’’ (1984), ''The House of Ramon Iglesia'' (1986), '' Family Matters'', '' Goosebumps'', '' The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story'' (1998), ''Night Visions'' (2001) and the "Harmony" segment of ''Shadow Realm'' (2002). He also co-created and co-produced the NBC-TV series, '' Eerie, Indiana'' with Karl Schaefer.

TV appearances

Rivera has been featured in The Dialogue interview series. During a 90 minute interview with producer Mike DeLuca, Rivera described his transition from playwright to Oscar-nominated screenwriter.

''The Motorcycle Diaries''

In 2002, Rivera was hired to write the screenplay for the film ''Diarios de Motocicleta'' ('' The Motorcycle Diaries'') by director

Walter Salles Walter Moreira Salles Júnior (; ; born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker. A major figure of the Resumption Cinema in Brazil, Salles is widely regarded as one of the greatest Brazilian filmmakers of all time. His List of awards and nomina ...

. The movie, which was released in 2004, is based on

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

's diary about a motorcycle trip which he and Alberto Granado had, and how it changed their lives. In January 2005, Rivera became the first Puerto Rican to be nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay adapted from previously established material. The most frequently adapted media are novels, but other adapted narrative formats include stage plays, mus ...

. His screenplay won awards from the Cinema Writers Circle (Spain) and from the

Argentine Film Critics Association The Argentine Film Critics Association () is an organization of Argentine-based journalism, journalists and correspondents. The association presents the ''Silver Condor Awards'' (''Premios Cóndor de Plata'') honoring achievements in Argentina, Ar ...

; it was also nominated for awards by the American Screenwriters Association, the

Online Film Critics Society The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is an international professional association of online film journalists, historians and scholars who publish their work on the World Wide Web. The organization was founded in January 1997 by Harvey S. Karten ...

, and the

Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...

. This work with the subject of Che Guevara later led Rivera to write and perform a play entitled ''School of the Americas'' which focuses on Che's last few hours alive. The play starring John Ortiz as Che, imagines Che's final conversations, mainly with a young and fairly naïve female schoolteacher, in the one-room village schoolhouse where he is imprisoned before his execution. The play was featured in

2006-2007 and later

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

2008.

''La Bamba'' remake

On August 26, 2024, it was announced that a remake of the 1987 movie '' La Bamba'', which was based on the life and career of musician

Ritchie Valens Richard Steven Valenzuela (May 13, 1941 – February 3, 1959), better known by his stage name Ritchie Valens, was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rock and roll pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement, Valens died i ...

, was in the works with Rivera attached to write the script.

Influences

In high school and later at Denison University, he immersed himself in the works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

and

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

. His education centered on Anglo-Euro Cultures, leaving him with little exposure to the literature and writers of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

. However, he was profoundly influenced by the Latin American novel, ''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' by 1982

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...

, who later became his mentor at the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

. Rivera draws upon many of his life experiences in his plays. In ''The Promise'' and ''Each Day Dies With Sleep'', he reflects on his experiences as a Puerto Rican in a small American town, highlighting themes of family,

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, spirituality and the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

. The play ''Marisol'' was inspired by the circumstances his homeless uncle.

Awards and honors

Rivera has won two

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

s for playwriting, a

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

Fund for New American plays Grant, a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

Arts Fellowship in playwriting, a Whiting Award, a McKnight Fellowship, the 2005

Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including ''All in the Family'' (1 ...

Writing Award, a 2005 Impact Award and a Berilla Kerr Playwriting Award.

Plays

* ''The House of Ramon Iglesia'' (1983) * ''The Promise'' (1988) * ''Each Day Dies With Sleep'' (1990) * '' Marisol'' (1992) * ''Tape'' (1993) * ''Flowers'' (1994) * ''Giants Have Us In Their Books'' (1997) * '' Cloud Tectonics'' (1995) * ''Maricela De La Luz Lights The World'' * ''Godstuff'' * ''Adoration of the Old Woman'' * ''The Street of the Sun'' (1996) * ''Sueno'' (1998) * ''Lovers of Long Red Hair'' (2000) * '' References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot'' (2000) * '' Sonnets for an Old Century'' (2000) * ''School of the Americas'' (2006) * ''Massacre (Sing To Your Children)'' (2007) * ''Brainpeople'' (2008) * ''Boleros for the Disinchanted'' (2008), world premiere

Yale Repertory Theatre Yale Repertory Theatre at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded by Robert Brustein, dean of Yale School of Drama, in 1966, with the goal of facilitating a meaningful collaboration between theatre professionals and talented stud ...

* ''Human Emotional Process'' (2008), commissioned by McCarter Theatre * ''Pablo and Andrew at the Altar of Words'' (2010) * ''Golden'' (2010) * ''The Kiss of the Spider Woman'' (translation) (2010) * ''The Hours are Feminine'' (2011) * ''Lessons for an Unaccustomed Bride'' (2011) * ''The Book of Fishes'' (2011) * ''Another Word for Beauty'' (2012), musical, music and lyrics by Héctor Buitrago, book by Rivera, production of The Civilians * ''Written on my Face'' (2012) * ''Another Word for Beauty'' (2013) * ''The Last Book of Homer'' (2013) * ''The Garden of Tears and Kisses'' (2014) * ''Sermon for the Senses'' (2014) * ''Charlotte'' (2014) * ''The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona'' Many of these plays are published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc.

Bibliography of Scholarly Criticism

#Toward a Rhetoric of Sociospatial Theatre: José Rivera's ''Marisol'' By: J. Chris Westgate, ''Theatre Journal'', 2007 March; 59 (1): 21–37. #Split Personality: Random Thoughts on Writing for Theater and Film By: José Rivera, ''Cinema Journal'', 2006 Winter; 45 (2): 89–92. #''The Motorcycle Diaries'' By: Yon Motskin, ''Creative Screenwriting'', 2005 January-Feb; 12 (1): 89. #'An Urgent Voice for Our Times': An Interview with José Rivera By: Caridad Svich, ''Contemporary Theatre Review: An International Journal'', 2004 November; 14 (4): 83–89. #Die Imaginierung ethnischer Weltsicht im neueren amerikanischen Drama By: Herbert Grabes, IN: Schlote and Zenzinger, ''New Beginnings in Twentieth-Century Theatre and Drama: Essays in Honour of Armin Geraths''. Trier, Germany: Wissenschaftlicher; 2003. pp. 327–44 #José Rivera By: Miriam Chirico, IN: Wheatley, ''Twentieth-Century American Dramatists, Third Series.'' Detroit, MI: Thomson Gale; 2002. pp. 281–301 #''Marisol'', Angels, and Apocalyptic Migrations By: Jon D. Rossini, ''American Drama'', 2001 Summer; 10 (2): 1-20. #An Interview with Jose Rivera By: Norma Jenckes, ''American Drama'', 2001 Summer; 10 (2): 21–47. #Dream Editor By: Stephanie Coen, ''American Theatre'', 1996 December; 13 (10): 26. #Exile and Otherness: Examples from Three Continents By: Phyllis Zatlin, ''Hispanofila'', 1993 January; 107: 33–41. #Poverty and Magic in ''Each Day Dies with Sleep'' By: José Rivera, ''Studies in American Drama, 1945–present,'' 1992; 7 (1): 163–232. #An Interview with José Rivera By: Lynn Jacobson, ''Studies in American Drama, 1945–present,'' 1991; 6 (1): 49–58.

References

External links

*
Profile at The Whiting Foundation
*
Diction and Contradiction
by Michael Feingold, ''Village Voice'', July 4, 2006
Jose Rivera's Che Guevara Play: "School of the Americas"
by Delfin Vigil, January 20, 2008
''Book Rags''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Jose 1955 births Living people Puerto Rican television producers American television writers Puerto Rican male dramatists and playwrights Puerto Rican male screenwriters Puerto Rican screenwriters Denison University alumni Writers from San Juan, Puerto Rico American male television writers Hispanic and Latino American dramatists and playwrights