STAGE: 'CASTRO COMPLEX'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01365R000300040004-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: November 20, 1970
• Content Type: NSPR

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Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CIA-RDP88-01365R00300040004-9
2 0 N 0 V 1970
Stage: 'Castro Complex,
Coinedy at the Stairway The Cast
Analyzes a Crush THE CASTRO COMPLEX, a comedy by
Mel Arrighi. Directed by James Sur-
- rows; setting by Kert Lundell; lighting
by Roger Morgan; costumes by John
J. Whitmore; production stage man.
By MEI, GUSSOW ager,Gail Hubbard. Presented by Jeff
Britton; associate producer
Sid
,
ney
Betsy Kress has a compul- Annis; assistant to the producer,
Erlinda Zotlin. At the Stairway Theater,
sive crush on Fidel Castro. 235 West 46th Street.
Hence the title of the play, Betsy Kress ..........Marian Halley
Hadley Marcus .............Terry Kiser
"The Castro Complex," that Paco Montoya ................Raul Julia
opened Wednesday night at - -- -
the Stairway Theater. gence Agency or a Puerto
. In order to consummate the Rican who runs a gift shop
crush, she forces her fianco on St. Mark's Place. Whoever
to put on false beard and . is after him is downstairs.
fatigues, puff a cigar in her He is hiding 4
face (it makes him choke), upstairs in
fake a Cuban accent, slap her Betsy's attic apartment being
around, then pusll her into pursued by the heroine. He
bed with him. has a beard and fatigues, and
"I don't think this makes he says Castro is like a
for a very healthy relation- brother.
ship," says the reluctant Trying to cool off the per-
suitor. It also doesn't make sistent Betsy, he announces,
.
for a very funny play. ?The Fidel I know is a tired
In the ensuing two acts, middle-aged man with a big
Met Arrighi, the playwright, paunch," one of the play's
reveals a little more about funnier lines. As played by
Betsy, some of it even less Raul Julia, Paco provides
enjoy-
intriguing than her Castro- most of what small enjoy-
philia, She once had a Pat meat there is in this comedy.,
Boone complex, which would But the smart, wisecracking
have made a worse play. At Puerto Rican is in clanger of
one point, her fiance sug- becoming a stage convention,
gests, "Have you ever thought
of going into analysis?," There are occasional farci-
one of the few good ideas he cal elements in the. produc-
has. - - tion, which can perhaps be
? attributed to the directrrr,
The heroine is 'played by James Burrows. If so, he
Marian Halley, with an en- should have restrained him-
Clearing eagerness. There are self. "You married?" Hadley
those moments when you be- grills Paco. "You got a girl?
lieve she really is hung up on You a faggot?" Paco leaps at
Castro. The actress is appeal- Hadley's throat and Hadicy
ing. Someone should write a jumps up a ladder. Remrni -
play. for her. This isn't it. her this is an attic apart-
Terry Kiser is the fiance, ment. That means there i:;
Hadley Marcus, who has a also much peeping and shout-
'facial tic, a suspicious mind ing out the window at those .1
and a foolish manner. It is supposed C,I.A. agents.
not Mr. Kiser's most demand- The superimposed action
ing role. cannot conceal the thinness
Plot enters in the person of of the material. Some plays
Paco Montoya, who is either have second-act trouble. I
an Argentine revolutionary in think this one founders, on
flight from the Central Intelli- its premise.
Approved For Release 2005/01/13 : CJA-RDP88-01365R000300040004-9