Submitted by Stephanie Crowley
You might never have heard of her, but Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz is widely regarded as one of the first great Latin American writers. A fiery proto-feminist and fiercely intelligent, her ballads, plays, poems, and prose can be sensual and reverential, playful and incisive. And from July 29 to August 14, you can see a live production of her romantic farce, House of Desires, presented by Those Women Productions in Berkeley, for whatever you wish to pay.
A poet, playwright, and theologian, Sor Juana was born in 1648 as an illegitimate child near Mexico City. She composed her first poem at the age of eight, and by 13 was fluent in Latin and had comprehensively studied Greek logic. She taught herself Nahuatl and wrote poems in that language. She begged her family to disguise her as a male to further her education, but was denied.
In her late teens she entered the service of a Viceroy’s wife, and became very popular at court for her wit, beauty, and intelligence. She had many published works, often arguing in support of education for women (almost 150 years before any other such writings on any continent). But before long, she had left court for the convent, becoming a nun in order to have more time to study. Her quarters were filled with books, musical and scientific instruments, as well as New Spain’s female intellectual elite.
House of Desires was presented in October, 1683 as part of birthday celebrations held for the Viceroy’s first-born child. This comedy of intrigue, now considered one of the most famous works from late Baroque Spanish-American literature, features a pair of couples pining to be together amid a never-ending gamut of jealous lovers, sword fights, rivalries, disguises, and duplicities. By turns sly, subversive, witty, and goofy, this romantic farce will be presented in an English translation by Catherine Boyle.
House of Desires runs weekends, July 29 through Aug. 14 at La Val’s Subterranean Theater in Berkeley. Those Women Productions suggests a ticket price of $35, but you can choose your own price, with no minimum. Tickets can be purchased at https://m.bpt.me/event/5499367; or at the door subject to availability.
