Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

The Power Behind the Dictator

Jerome Lawrence arrived in Buenos Aires on August 4, 1952 – the day Evita Peron died.   Eight days later, after he had safely left  Argentina, he wrote to his co-author, Robert E. Lee:
“There’s a hell of a play in this, Bob, a great part for a great actress!  She was . . . strikingly beautiful . . . and damn smart!  And, oh, do I have stories to tell you about her!”

        When and Where:
                Monday, May 14, at  7 pm in Room10
                Tuesday, May 22, at  7 pm in Room 9
        What:   DIAMOND ORCHID by Lawrence & Lee
        Who:    UUCPA Thespians
        Why:    To read a gripping drama about an insanely powerful woman.

Let’s get one thing straight at the start.  Felicia is not Eva Duarte, and Jorge Brazo is not Juan Peron.  To be sure, both women were illegitimate, born in poverty, came to the Capital and were radio actresses, used their sex and beauty shamelessly to advance their careers, became tremendously powerful, and died young.  And both men rose from Colonel in the Army to ruthless dictator of a South American country.

But Lawrence and Lee have changed the names of some real characters and events of the Peron era, have modified others, and have invented some of their own.  They have amalgamated groups of characters into one, and they have freely distorted and reordered the chronology of events.  All to achieve a brilliant drama which is intensely focused on the rise and fall of Felicia.

To read Felicia – to be Felicia is  such a real challenge that I’m doing something different this month.  When you make a reservation of one of our readings, in addition to telling me whether you’re coming at 7 PM on Monday May 14 or Tuesday May 22, tell me how you’d feel about the challenge of reading Felicia’s part – would you like to be Felicia, would you be willing to be Felicia, or would you prefer not to be Felicia?  The easy way to do this is to send an email to thespians-info@uucpa.org but you can also call or snail-mail me. Or just show up promptly at 7 pm. 

— Philip Hodge, Chair of Thespians