The Cook

The Cook
By Eduardo Machado
Directed by David Mendizábal

The Cook is a sharp, funny, and quietly devastating play where two worlds are held in tension.

An aristocratic Cuban family flees from Havana to Miami on the eve of Castro's revolution, entrusting their mansion to their devoted cook Gladys who vows to protect it until their return. For 40 years, she keeps her promise, enduring loss, upheaval, and the slow unraveling of a country's dreams. But when the aristocrats' daughter returns, Gladys finds she has sacrificed everything for a bond that has been forgotten.

"I'm thrilled to be bringing Eduardo Machado's play The Cook to life at Berkeley Rep and opening our 2026/27 season with this timely play," said Mendizábal. "A landmark work in the American theatrical canon by a Latine playwright, the play illuminates Cuba's complex history surrounding Fidel Castro's revolution through richly drawn characters, focusing on their humanity, dreams, and ambitions. It is a deeply moving story about belonging and survival and asks the question, who has the greater claim to a nation's identity--the people who stayed or those who were forced to leave?"