NIGHT OF THE ASSASSINS (La Noche de los Asesinos)

The Night of the Assassins (La noche de los asesinos) is originally a Spanish play by Cuban playwright Jose Triana. With his permission, I translated the play as a college assignment, then years later, also with his permission, I directed the play while teaching acting and directing at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton,  CA.

I picked this play because I wanted to utilize the ‘blackbox theater’ space. And because the play deals with three actors playing a variety of roles, I also knew the play would be a good vehicle to feature three of the strongest students within the program.

The play calls for an empty stage, a couple of chairs, and a table where an assortment of props is found.

The actors switch characters without any type of introduction or warning. They never wear anything else but black attire and the only interruption during the performance is at the intermission.

It’s a high energy and intense play that requires physical and vocal ability in order to change from one character to the next in seconds.