Kiss of the Spider Woman (play)
Encyclopedia
The 1983 stage play Kiss of the Spider Woman is an adaptation of Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig
Manuel Puig was an Argentine author...

's same title novel
Kiss of the Spider Woman (novel)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a novel by the Argentine writer Manuel Puig. It is considered his most successful....

 by the author himself.

Novelist, screenwriter and playwright Manuel Puig wrote two plays while living in exile. The first was a dramatised version of his 1976 novel El beso de la mujer araña (Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman (novel)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a novel by the Argentine writer Manuel Puig. It is considered his most successful....

), written in 1983 and first staged in London in 1985 at the Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...

, in an English language version by translator Allan Baker, starring Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance
Mark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...

 and Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...

.

Baker's version was revived in April 2007 at the Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse
Donmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...

 with Rupert Evans
Rupert Evans
Rupert Evans is an English actor, who is well known in the United Kingdom for his television career.Evans was born in Staffordshire, England. He attended Milton Abbey School, in Dorset, and went on to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art...

 as Valentin and Will Keen
Will Keen
Will Keen is an English actor. He is also a trustee of the James Menzies Kitchen Award, an award set up for young theatre directors in memory of the director with whom Keen collaborated early in his career...

 as Molina. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/stage/theatre/article1707326.ece

Set in a cell at the Villa Devoto
Villa Devoto
Villa Devoto is a barrio or district in the northern part of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located in the area defined by Campana, San Martín avenue, Francisco Beiró avenue, Joaquín V. González, Baigorria, Lope de Vega Avenue and General Paz Avenue...

 prison in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

 in 1976, it shows the developing relationship of revolutionary Valentin Arregui Paz and his cellmate Luis Alberto Molina, a homosexual who has apparently been 'planted' to sniff out the secrets of Valentin's Marxist group.

The novel was also adapted by Leonard Schrader
Leonard Schrader
Leonard Schrader was an American screenwriter and director, most notable for his ability to write Japanese language films and for his many collaborations with his brother, Paul Schrader...

 for a 1985 film version directed by Hector Babenco
Hector Babenco
Héctor Eduardo Babenco is an Argentine-born Brazilian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor.He has worked in several countries including Argentina, Brazil and the United States....

, and in 1993 as a Broadway stage musical by John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...

 and Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb
Fred Ebb was an American musical theatre lyricist who had many successful collaborations with composer John Kander. The Kander and Ebb team frequently wrote for such performers as Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera....

.

Puig's second play was El misterio del ramo de rosas (Mystery of the Rose Bouquet) also translated by Baker and first produced in 1987.
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