The Tempest

Issue date: 2/21/07 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: LaTasha Monique Playwright Jose Rivera says, "If I didn't write, I would die."

"Even Nicole Kidman has to sell herself," says Jose Rivera, author of "The House of Ramon Iglesia". "You can't just get things in Hollywood because of your name. It just doesn't work that way."
Academy Award-nominated Rivera, who attributes a major part of his success to his stage play, gave the ins-and-outs of the playwright business on Thursday, Feb. 15, during a presentation hosted by the Ethnic Studies Department. That was sponsored by the Theatre Department and Associated Students of Solano Community College (ASSC).
Rivera tells the audience that the American studio system is very capitalistic and gets very little government support unlike other studio system such as Britain's. "They [U.S.] judge works based on what they can make. If it makes money then great, it's in," says Rivera.
In Rivera's case the system worked no different. It would be many years before he would reap benefits from his talent.
"You have to work really hard for a long time without reward," said Rivera
Working as an apprentice actor along side big names like Tom Hanks and George McGuire has proved to be the root of many success in Riveras' life. McGuire, retired Solano Community College Actor Training Program instructor who was most recently cast as the police clerk in 'Pursuit of Happyness' agrees the apprenticeship was helpful to his carrer too.
"Besides, those were some of the best times of my life," says McGuire.
Rivera admits that while striking the set one night and watching Hanks do some of the "funniest improv" he'd ever seen, it was time to make a decision between acting, or writing. "I realized just as a shark needed to swim, Hanks needed to act or he would die. And it just wasn't that way for me," said Rivera.
It was at that moment that Rivera decided that he wanted to write realizing that, "If I didn't write, I would die," said Rivera.
Beating out 800 other contestants in a playwright contest sponsored by CBS, Rivera put on his first professional play in 1983. "February 26, 1983 is the day the $5,000 check cleared and I quit my job," he said.
However, Rivera's success would not yet be complete. While riding the subway in N.Y. after "The House of Ramon Iglesia" opening night, Rivera glanced over a fellow subway rider's shoulder and saw that someone had gotten a bad review.
"I feel sorry for that writer," said Rivera, only to realize after a second glance that "That writer was me."
Rivera marks 'The House of Ramon Iglesia' as "the turning point" in his life. Rivera says that the play helped to establish who he is as writer. "When we first start off, we imitate our heroes, our masters. This was the first play that was my voice and authentic to me," he said.
Rivera feels that if every time a writer sits down to write it should be hard. "If it's not hard, then you are not doing your job," says Rivera. "Personally, I don't know if writing can be taught," says Rivera. "You can make a good writer better, but you can't create a writer," he said.
Although "The House of Ramon Iglesia" depicts the life of Puerto Rican immigrants during the '70's, the message resonates with all people: Rivera feels when there are people living in poverty or injustice, the effects still echo in life today.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools