PRODUCING THE COMEDIA
In our experience working on translations and adaptations in Los Angeles, we have found that theater practitioners are both surprised and delighted by what the comedia has to offer. From Lope de Vega and Guillén de Castro to their distinguished peers from across the Atlantic, Mexicans Juan Ruiz de Alarcón and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the corpus has a great deal to offer those who want to venture beyond Shakespeare to imagine a more diverse repertoire.
Comedias were plays for the people: performances took place in open-air theaters, where audiences of all classes and both sexes commingled. At the same time, the works are sophisticated dramas, offering pointed reflections on the constructed nature of class and gender as well as the performativity of social roles, issues that resonate with audiences today. The comedia offers fantastic roles for women, many of them written for famous actresses in the period—unlike in Elizabethan England, in Spain there were women on stage, although audiences still relished cross-dressing plots.
Our translations aim above all for language that will work for actors and allow them to shine. We have tested our playtexts both in our workshop, which is regularly attended by practitioners, and in staged readings by Chalk Repertory Theatre, New York Classical Theatre, Red Bull Theater, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and the UCLA Department of Theater. Productions for each play, including by the Guthrie, Miami New Drama, and various schools and universities, are listed below.
Each translation includes a dramaturgical introduction and brief annotations. We offer short videos of scenes, and dramaturgy packets are available for each play.
We are also available to supply additional support for productions as necessary, including creating a bilingual script, and to translate or adapt any play not on the list below. Please contact Barbara Fuchs at fuchsbar@humnet.ucla.edu for further information.
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.
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.
The Beast of Hungary, by Lope de Vega
From the forests of Hungary to the courts of kings, the extremes of the human heart are on display here, as murderous jealousy gives way to the first buddings of young love. A virtuous queen is forced into the wilderness by her power-hungry sister. As revenge, she steals her niece and raises her as a feral girl, who then encounters human society for the first time when she grows up and falls in love. With its daring exploration of female sexuality and probing questions about what actually makes us civilized, this Beast is a daring proto-feminist comedy.
Substantial roles: 3 male, 3 female.
Staged reading by Red Bull Theater (dir. Nadia Guevara, 2024).
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Don Quixote, by Guillén de Castro
Based on the same episode of Cervantes’s novel as the lost Fletcher/Shakespeare work Cardenio, Castro’s version is an over-the-top tale of love and deception, ranging from absurdist comedy to telenovela machinations. Cardenio loves Lucinda, who is also pursued by Cardenio’s master, the Marqués Fernando, whom Lucinda wants nothing to do with. Dorotea, previously seduced and abandoned by Fernando, teams up with Cardenio so they can both regain their former lovers. The drama is punctuated with the mad fits of Don Quixote, who imitates the knights of ages past and declaims in faux medieval tones, amusing and alarming all.
Substantial roles: 4 male, 2 female.
Staged readings by Brown Bag Theater Company, UC Irvine (dir. Eden Aztlán & Jesús López Vargas, 2023), Red Bull Theater (dir. José Zayas, 2023).
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The Pretender, or A Man Beside Himself, by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
The question posed by this play is as poignant today as it was 400 years ago: what actually makes us “us”, and what makes “them” something different? Can a man determined to test the fidelity of his beloved pass for another by simply changing his name? Set in the heyday of a global and multicultural Spanish Empire, Alarcón’s play explores how love and jealousy operate in a radically expanded world, where identity seems newly set adrift.
Substantial roles: 4 male, 3 female.
Love is the Greater Labyrinth, by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
A madcap take on Greek mythology by famous Mexican author Sor Juana. Swashbuckling adventure, romantic farce, and sly political fable all rolled into one, the play follows Teseo (Theseus) as he goes to meet his fate in the jaws of the monstrous Minotaur. Little does he know that his greatest test will come when he escapes one labyrinth and heads straight into the even more disorienting complications of love. Princesses Fedra and Ariadna pull him in two different directions—which path will he choose?
Substantial roles: 8 male, 4 female.
Productions at Michigan State University (dir. Oscar Quiroz, 2023), Vanderbilt (dir. René Millán, 2024), University of Virginia (dir. Anna Rebek, 2024). Staged readings at Red Bull Theater (dir. Melia Bensussen, 2021), LA Escena 2024 (dir. Sarah Grunnah), UC San Diego (dir. Ludmila de Brito, 2024).
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The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs, by Ana Caro
What if Don Juan had to face the woman he ghosted? And what if she were transformed into a sword-wielding, powerful opponent? When Leonor decides to become Leonardo and follow her fickle sometime lover to Brussels, she earns the love of ladies and the admiration of all, using her wits as deftly as her sword. As the servant Ribete notes, this world is stranger than any play, but Leonor’s courage will set things to rights.
Substantial roles: 5 male, 4 female.
Productions at Winthrop University (dir. Matt Ferrell, 2021), the Guthrie Theater (dir. Maija García, 2022), Miami New Drama (dir. Peter Romano, 2022), Polaris Theater Company (dir. Dawn Monique Williams, 2022), Skidmore College (dir. Lisa Jackson-Schebetta, 2023), Los Angeles City College (dir. Clarinda Ross, 2023), CSU Bakersfield (dir. David Melendez, 2023), Bowdoin College (dir. Sylvia Cervantes Blush, 2024), UCLA Theater (dir. Michael Hackett, 2024). Staged readings by UCLA’s Theater MFA program (dir. Michael Hackett, 2019), Red Bull Theater (dir. Melia Bensussen, 2020), Stratford Festival (dir. Miriam Fernandes, 2021), Bay Area Women’s Theatre Festival (dir. Dawn Monique Williams, 2022).
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To Love Beyond Death, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
To Love Beyond Death dramatizes the moment when ethnic, religious, and cultural differences turned Spanish subjects against one another in the 1560’s Rebellion of the Alpujarra. When the Crown attempts to eradicate Andalusi culture from Spain, the Moriscos–Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity, as well as their descendants–are put into an impossible position, and turn to armed resistance. The tragic story of the Morisco Tuzaní’s search for revenge after the death of his beloved Clara is as much about love and devotion as it is about civil war, and the violent emergence of a modern nation.
The play has 15 roles: 4 female, 10 male, and 1 gender neutral.
Staged reading by UCLA’s Theater MFA program (dir. Michael Hackett, 2018).
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A Wild Night in Toledo, by Lope de Vega
Shifting love triangles, comic hijinks, betrayal and deceptions–is this really a single, unforgettable night in Toledo?
Abandoned and irate, Lisena has come to Toledo to seek her lover, Florencio, who fled to Granada after wounding a rival. In Toledo, they encounter soldiers on the make, dubious ladies, thwarted lovers, and other surprises. Under the cover of darkness and disguise, the characters use ingenuity and humor to test whether they can rewrite their destinies along with their identities.
The play has 19 roles: 3 female, 11 male, and 5 gender neutral. Some roles may be doubled.
Production at LAMDA (dir. Oliver Birch, 2024). Staged reading by UCLA’s Theater MFA program (dir. Michael Hackett, 2015).
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What We Owe Our Lies, by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
In this fast-paced drama, lovers plot to achieve their desires while the dictates of honor conflict with the calls of the heart.
Leonor and Teodora occupy different floors in the same Madrid apartment building. Leonor is to marry Teodora’s brother, while Teodora marries Leonor’s. But both women reject their arranged marriages as they find themselves falling for Don Diego de Luna, the dashing stranger who strolls the street below them.
The play has 12 roles: 4 female, 5 male, and 3 gender neutral.
Staged readings by UCLA’s Theater MFA program (dir. Michael Hackett, 2016), Antaeus Theatre Company (2019).
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The Widow of Valencia, by Lope de Vega
How might a young widow satisfy her desires and still preserve her dignity?
The wealthy and beautiful widow Leonarda defies society by refusing remarriage or even the company of men. Yet her feelings change after a few glances shared with a young gallant in church. Her reawakened passion soon leads to a masked affair. In a balancing act of visibility and invisibility, disguise offers the rewards of pleasure without risk. Leonarda’s brilliant transgressions in the service of her desire play out against a carnivalesque Valencian backdrop. In a city transformed, the line between lust and property, liberty and constraint, feels as thin as a veil.
The play has 15 roles: 3 female, 7 male, and 5 gender neutral.
Produced at UC Riverside (dir. Melanie Queponds, 2023). Staged readings by UCLA’s Theater MFA program (dir. Michael Hackett, 2017), New York Classical Theatre (dir. Stephen Burdman, 2018), The Actors’ Gang (2019).
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The Force of Habit, by Guillén de Castro
A brother and a sister separated at birth: Félix brought up by his mother to speak softly, fear thunder, and sew with the women of the house; and Hipólita, raised with her father in a war zone to wield a sword like a soldier. When the family is reunited, the father insists on making the siblings conform to traditional gender roles. While Félix teaches his sister how to wear high heels, Hipólita shows him how to use a weapon, as questions of gender are complicated by the power of desire.
The play has 16 roles: 8 male, 4 female, and 4 gender neutral.
Staged readings by Chalk Rep (2014), the Southern California Shakespeare Festival (2017) and New York Classical Theatre (dir. Stephen Burdman, 2019).
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Unhappily Married in Valencia, by Guillén de Castro
Not all courtships end happily ever after.
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.
The play has 15 roles: 3 female, 5 male, and 7 gender neutral. Some roles may be doubled.
Staged reading by Independent Shakespeare Company (2019).
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Women and Servants, by Lope de Vega
Luciana and Violante, daughters of the gentleman Florencio, are in love with Teodoro and Claridán, secretary and valet, respectively, to Count Próspero. As the play opens, the Count decides to pursue Luciana. At the same time, Florencio’s friend Emiliano proposes that Violante marry his eligible son, Don Pedro. The sisters refuse these noble matches and manipulate the action to favor instead the men they love. Violante uses her wit to demolish Don Pedro’s pretensions, while Luciana concocts an elaborate plot that entangles everyone, as women and servants manage to get their way.
The play has 12 roles: 3 female, 7 male, and 2 gender neutral.
Produced at McMaster University (dir. Peter Cockett, 2018). Staged readings by Chalk Rep (2015), New York Classical Theatre (dir. Stephen Burdman, 2018), and CSULB (dir. Jeff Janisheski, 2019), LA Escena 2018 (dir. Sylvia Blush & Jean Carlo Yunén Aróstegui).
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