A powerful exploration of machismo and sexual desire by Perus most acclaimed writerA Peruvian desert town in the 1940s When a young girl disappears it seems that only La Chunga the barwoman knows the truth but refuses to tell Undeterred the local men make up their own version of what happened in an attempt to extract the full storyTaken from the collection Latin American Plays an essential introduction to the fascinating but largely unexplored theatre of Latin America Mistress of Desires by Mario Vargas Llosa interweaves reality and fantasy in an erotically charged tale The full collection features new translations of five contemporary plays written by some of the regions most exciting writers Each play is accompanied by an illuminating interview with its author conducted by the theatre director Sebastian Doggart who has also selected and translated the plays and provided an introductory history of Latin American dramaThe collection also includesRappaccinis Daughter by Octavio PazA play by the Mexican Nobel laureateNight of the Assassins by Jose TrianaA controversial Cuban play in which three siblings plot the murder of their parentsSaying Yes by Griselda GambaroA grotesque comedy from Argentina about mans inhumanity to manOrchids in the Moonlight by Carlos FuentesA dream play about two Mexican women exiled in Hollywoods maze of mirrors