Beauty of the Father

“In Beauty of the Father one of the American theater’s most promising voices rings true and strong.”—Lynn Jacobson, Variety

“Cruz conducts arias with his pen. He is a writer of ideas, who fills the stage with a kind of lush dramatic literature . . . Beauty of the Father brings to mind the playwright Maria Irene Fornes. Like his artistic forebear, Cruz recognizes the magic in the everyday. And he has found an astonishing language with which to describe it.”—Hilton Als, The New Yorker


What will we sacrifice in the name of love? After young woman reunites with her painter father in the south of Spain, both fall in love with the same exciting young man. Beauty of the Father invokes the lyrical language of Lorca, as the great poet himself appears to the father and counsels him in his life. The play’s rhythms are infused with the spirit of the Andalusian people who sing their sorrows in cante jondo, as Cruz once again creates musical poetry to honor unrequited love.

Nilo Cruz won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Anna in the Tropics. Other works include Two Sisters and a Piano, Lorca in a Green Dress, Night Train to Bolina, A Bicycle Country, and Dancing on Her Knees. He is one of this country’s most produced Cuban American writers.