Men On The Verge Of A His-Panic Breakdown
Guillermo Reyes
The English Only Restaurant
by Silvio Martinez Palau, Sergio Garcia Marruz, Saul Spangenburg
Off-Broadway
Highlights
105 mins Present Day Role(s) for Latine Actor(s) Interior Set Contemporary Costumes/Street Clothes Comedy
Synopsis
This wild farce mauls both English and Spanish as it lampoons the pretensions of upwardly mobile Latinos, the snobberies of Gringos, high fashion, trendy restaurants and just about everything else.
The perpetrators of the mayhem are gathered in a Queens restaurant just after Spanish has been outlawed, this to be enforced by language police.
The proprietor and his patrons comply with the law by adopting English-sounding names and trying to speak in a style they associate with high society.
Press Reviews
"Good humor... makes the farce work."
— The New York Times
"Silvio Martinez Palau’s extremely clever comedy is still frighteningly relevant... Set in a restaurant owned by a Latino immigrant who forbids employees and patrons from speaking Spanish, the play explores American attitudes about immigration, class, and race and how language can be a tool of both empowerment and oppression... a play of political importance."
— Chicago Reader
Characters
| Character |
|---|
| JOHN TABLE |
| EUGENICA HEADS |
| MR. MARTINEZZ
SAM PETERS
MRS. PETERS |
| HENRY |
| HENRYQUE CURLY |
| W.F. FARTLEY |
| JOHNNY GARCIA
JORGE |
| PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ |
| THE REPORTER |
| COP IN CHARGE |
Publication
The English Only Restaurant is a comedy play written by Silvio Martinez Palau and published by Samuel French .
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Performance Rights
Available for Licensing
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