The Spider Woman Prepares To Weave Her Web At The Donmar

The Donmar Warehouse will stage a new production of Manuel Puig's "Kiss Of the Spiderwoman" from April 25 to May 26, with previews running from April 19. Puig's dramatization of his own novel set in a Latin American prison places Marxist revolutionary Valentin Arregui in a cell with Luis Molina, a homosexual imprisoned for gross indecency with a minor, who takes his mind into a glamorous fantasy world he remembers from the movies, where the seductive spider woman dwells. Both powerful and touching, the play demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit in the midst of the greatest despair.

Puig's novel has also been dramatized in other forms, most notably in the 1985 movie, directed by Hector Babenco with a screenplay by Leonard Schrader, in which Raul Julia starred as Valentin and William Hurt gave an Oscar winning performance as Molina. And in 1992 Toronto saw the world premiere of a stage musical adaptation by composer John Kander, Lyricist Fred Ebb and librettist Terrence McNally that later transferred to the West End and to Broadway, where it earned the 1993 Best Musical accolade at the Tony awards.

The Donmar production reverts to Puig's original incarnation with a translation by Alan Baker. The stage design will be by Ben Stokes, lighting by Hartley T. A. Kemp, sound by John Leonard and Charlotte Westenra will direct.