A new book by UNC Charlotte alumna Caridad Svich has been published by Intellect Books Ltd., UK, and the University of Chicago Press. JARMAN (all this maddening beauty) and other plays is a collection of three poetic works for live performance, accompanied by scholarly essays. The playtexts include Jarman, a lyrical meditation on the legacy of iconic queer artist Derek Jarman; a meditation on displacement and human suffering, Carthage/Cartagena; and an intimately operatic reflection on Penelope and Odysseus, The Orphan Sea. One reviewer wrote, "Svich is more than a dramatist, she is a force of nature. The plays within this volume, representative of a crux shift in her development as a playwright, are testament to her continuing belief in the power of theatre to affect change in a philistine age." Read more reviews here.
In addition, two plays by Svich will receive productions this month. The House of the Spirits (based on Isabel Allende's novel) opens April 8 under Estefania Fadul's direction at SUNY Purchase Performing Arts Center Underground. In the Time of the Butterflies (based on the Julia Alvarez novel) receives its Chicago premiere on April 22 under Ricardo Gutierrez's direction at Teatro Vista.
Svich is the 2016 Distinguished Alumna in Theatre. She graduated from UNC Charlotte in 1985 and has written more than 40 full-length plays, a variety of short works, and 15 translations. In 2012 she received an OBIE Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre.