The play receives the title from the collection of poems "Fuera del juego" by the Cuban writer Heberto Padilla. This book received in 1978 prize for poetry by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC). Padilla shortly after was censored, and classified as counterrevolutionary. The writer had to confess his guilt publicly. This event affected the relations between artists and the Cuban regime. The work is about this conflict and the suffering and repression experienced by Padilla. "Fuera del juego" uses newspaper clippings, television reports, and the actors' portrayals in a kind of "documentary fiction."