This play tells the story of how one extraordinary woman overcomes the restrictions of her family, church and culture to realize her identity as an artist, scholar and independent person. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz managed to develop a rich spiritual life as a nun while leading an astonishingly accomplished worldly life at the 17th-century court of the viceroy of New Spain. As an intimate friend of Lisi, the vicereine, and as an advisor to the Council of Mexico City, Sor Juana exercised a unique political and cultural power for the benefit of orphans, abandoned women, and women who wanted to act freely in civil society. The Defiant Muse explores in parallel scenes Sor Juana's passionate private life as well as her carefully scrutinized public life. Through dynamic wit, the interplay between Sor Juana and her imaginary friend, Don Juan, permits the audience to see and hear, and to feel, the passionate spirit that drives Sor Juana to be true to herself. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz is considered to be the greatest woman poet of Latin America. Sor Juana's La Respuesta, her essay in defense of herself as a scholar and as an artist, stands for all time as one of the most elegant and learned defenses of the rights of women to equal opportunity in human culture. To this day, Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz is honored as Mexico's greatest hero. Unit set. Approximate running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.

Also Available: Spanish manuscript