Damiana's Reprieve

Winner of the Casa de Teatro Prize (Dominican Republic). A fine novella distinguished by insight and sensitivity. Translated from the Spanish. A candid look at a young opera singer, what happens backstage before and during performances, and what happens when unexpected turns in life leave one facing the not-so-cliché reality that the show must go on… Damiana is the lead in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, and leading up to the opening day’s performance a sequence of unexpected events – from a surprise family reunion that forces her to analyze her past, to facing the consequences of the domestic abuse she and her siblings endured, on through finding the answer to a very painful question – culminate to leave her world forever altered.