The House of the Spirits - Main Street Theater

The House of the Spirits
Adapted from the Novel by Isabel Allende
By Caridad Svich
English-language Premiere
Directed by Rebecca Greene Udden
Sept. 5 – Oct. 11, 2009
MST – Rice Village

Caridad Svitch’s adaptation of Isabel Allende’s stunning, sensual, best-selling novel was commissioned
for NYC’s Repertorio Espanol, where it is currently on stage through August 2009. The play is told from
the point of view of the youngest of three generations of women, Alba, whose swirling memories -
frightening and amusing, lyrical and fantastic - illuminate the stage as she records her family's history and
ultimately finds the strength to recover her own story. MST’s production will be the English-language
premiere of this play which critics call “a tumultuous and supernatural family saga that restores the story’s
vibrant magical realism.”

The House of the Spirits charts the rise and fall of the Trueba family in an un-named Latin American
country (reminiscent of Chile). The piece spans the 1920s through the 1970s, as the country moves
through enormous sociopolitical changes that culminate in a devastating dictatorship. Author Allende
complemented the production at Repertorio Espanol with, "It was a true celebration to watch the show…it’s
extraordinary because it is presented with immense creativity and originality. The novel’s spirit was replicated in
the play. It's very authentic.”

Caridad Svich is a playwright-translator-songwriter-editor of Cuban-Argentine-Croatian-Spanish descent. She has
written over 40 plays and fifteen translations and her work has been seen at venues across the US and abroad.
Among her key works: 12 Ophelias, Alchemy of Desire/Dead-Man's Blues, Any Place But Here, The Booth
Variations, Fugitive Pieces, Iphigenia....a rave fable, Instructions for Breathing, Lucinda Caval, Thrush, and The
Labyrinth of Desire. She's received fellowships from the NEA, Pew Charitable Trusts, TCG, Radcliffe Institute for
Advanced Study and California Arts Council. In Texas, her plays have been seen at Kitchen Dog Theater (Dallas),
and Salvage Vanguard Theatre (Austin). She's translated nearly all of Federico Garcia Lorca's plays as well as
works by Calderon de la Barca, Lope de Vega, Julio Cortazar and contemporary writers from Cuba and Mexico.
She is an alumna playwright of New Dramatists, founder of NoPassport theatre alliance &a! mp; press, associate
editor of Contemporary Theatre Review (Routledge) and contributing editor of TheatreForum. She has edited
several books on theatre and performance and her works are published by TCG, Playscripts, Smith & Kraus and
more. She holds an MFA from UCSD. She's currently on commission from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and
teaches at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Her website is www.caridadsvich.com