Kiss of the Spider Woman and Two Other Plays

by Manuel Puig

Compiled together for the first time, here are three plays by Argentine novelist and playwright Manual Puig: the well-known Kiss of the Spider Woman, a sharply provocative tale of love, victimization, and fantasy, and of the friendship that develops between two strikingly different men imprisoned together in a Latin American jail; Puig's first drama written directly for the stage, Under a Mantle of Stars, a recurring dream that is never ending; and Mystery of the Rose Bouquet, an astute tale of deep compassion and illusion. This is convincing proof that Manual Puig was one of our most talented writers - no matter what the medium. Puig is the author of seven novels, translated into fourteen languages.

Genres: Plays, Fiction, Drama, Theatre, School

194 pages, Paperback

First published May 17, 1994

About the author

Manuel Puig (born Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne) was an Argentinian author. Among his best known novels are La traición de Rita Hayworth (1968) (Betrayed by Rita Hayworth), Boquitas pintadas (1969) (Heartbreak Tango), and El beso de la mujer araña (1976) (Kiss of the Spider Woman), which was made into a film by the Argentine-Brazilian Director, Héctor Babenco and in 1993 into a Broadway musical.

Reviews

[Angelina]

I read only Kiss of the Spider Woman. I think it will be more impressive on stage.

[Karen]

What a sad and beautiful play! I think Puig's novel might work better for me than his dramatization of his novel, because I’m more of a fiction reader.

[Andrea]

I'm trying to venture into reading plays, and after a disastrous attempt at the reading The Crucible, a play I already have seen and loved, I decided to take on this book. Kiss of the Spider Woman was on a LGBT classics reading list and it sounded really interesting. I'm so glad I did. Kiss of the Spider Woman had me staying up late to read "just a few more pages". It was so interesting and thought provoking, I finished it in no time flat!
Under A Mantle of Stars was not for me unfortunately. It was pretty confusing and the characters were unlikable.
Mystery of the Rose Bouquet was right up there with Kiss of the Spider Woman though! From what I can tell, Manuel Puig really shines when he has a two person main cast. It really allows him to go deep into the characters and gives us wonderfully complex reasoning and touching moments.

[Dominic Ceja]

“When you come to bed, afterwards…I hope I’ll never wake up anymore once I’ve fallen asleep. I’d be sorry for my mother, sure, because she’d be on her own…but if it was just me, then I wouldn’t want to wake ever again. And this isn’t just some half-baked notion that I’ve just dreamed up either, no, it’s the honest truth…”

That quote alone deserves five stars. I loved Kiss of The Spider Woman so much. Puig wrote the tension between Molina and Valentin so beautifully, I couldn’t stop reading. And the way he discussed gender identity is so cool to me, considering the time in which it was written. I understand fully why this is considered a seminal piece in queer literature now!

[Akilah]

I assigned Kiss of the Spider Woman without having read it because it will be playing at the local playhouse, so I needed to remedy that before, you know, my students read it. So, that's the only play I read in this collection.

The beginning was slow for me with all the talk about the movie I have never seen, but I did like that it was layered with meaning. Once the dramatic irony kicks into play--predictably, one could say--the stakes become higher and the play that much more interesting. Heartbreaking ending (that I loved, ha) but it really couldn't have gone any other way.

[Lisa]

With small casts and simple sets/settings Puig is able to evoke a lot of emotion. These all involve very complicated characters discussing important topics of identity, rights, and compassion. I will say that I think the novel version of the title play was more interesting than this form.

[Kora Elms]

Really good and complicated and beautiful story. descriptive and historical with a lot of footnotes that actually help you understand the story. i read this book for queer theory and i always ask people if they’ve read it because it’s so interesting to talk about.

[Kayla Dae Page]

It was actually kind of odd reading this after reading the full version in the novel. It’s a great show but there are moments and time and connection between the characters that I missed a little bit.

I recommend the book if you like this play, now on to the musical version!

[Tanille]

Only read Kiss of The Spider Woman courtesy of it being a school read. I wasn’t interested at first until I saw the 1985 movie. I loved this a lot and will eventually move onto the novel for my own enjoyment.

[Alicia]

an interesting story of the developing relationship between two prisoners who accompany each other in their shared cell. their intimate relationship changes them both in profound ways. themes of revolution, sexuality, corruption, and gender.

[Lisa]

A collection of strange plays which were interesting but left me confused

[Andrea]

Mehhh. A gay pedophile in prison seduces another inmate, a war resistor, by telling him about films he’s seen. ~300 pages of torture.

[Matt Ramirez]

Molina was so much fun to play. I missed him immediately. His life affected me greatly which is a credit to this plays writing.

[Lydia Kass]

it was ok

[Kristy]

I really liked all three of these plays -- Puig has a way with small casts and simple sets that translates into complicated characters and very moving stories. I'm really interested to read his novel version of the title play (the novel was written first) to see how they compare. Then I could watch the movie version and then see the Tony award winning musical.