Our translations are free to use for educational and performance purposes with attribution to Diversifying the Classics, under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Credit: [Title of translation], translated by Diversifying the Classics from [Original title of play] by [Original author].

Notification is required prior to use of our translations and other materials.

Contact diversifyingtheclassics.ucla@gmail.com to discuss crediting and consultation for performances and adaptations.

In this biting comedy, innuendo, accusations, and revenge steal the show as a cross-dressed mistress merrily manipulates everyone, discovering in the process how marriage actually works. Two couples, Ipólita and Don Álvaro and Eugenia and Valerián, are disillusioned with their respective marriages and try to realize their fantasies of a better match. Eugenia heats up the stage in her effort to seduce Don Álvaro, unaware that her husband Valerián is in pursuit of his friend’s wife, Ipólita. Don Álvaro brings his mistress Elvira into the home he shares with his long-suffering–and to him insufferable–wife, Ipólita. But Elvira’s presence only makes it impossible for anyone to deny any longer what they have long known about their marriages.