ALICANTE MAIN THEATER
½
related to Juana Escabias. Company: Area Violet. Address: Rachel Camacho
Historically, women often found themselves confined to marriage and motherhood, yet they also carried the seeds of performance. In ancient times they performed in pagan rituals, and by the second half of the 16th century they gradually joined more cultivated forms of theater. A patriarchal society framed knowledge and art as male domains, and women faced social resistance as they pursued creative work.
Juana Escabias presents a show titled What a Magnificent Woman I Am, also known as Dramaturgas de Oro, which participated in the 7th Alicante International Classical Theater Festival. The piece explores the life and works of Ana Caro de Mallén and her contemporaries. María de Zayas and Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz were born in what is now Mexico, and though not strictly contemporary with Caro, their legacies are often discussed together in studies of the Golden Age and early feminist literary currents. These figures share a thread of struggle and resilience that transcends time.
Which era is considered the best in the Golden Age? The show uses verses to let the speakers contend with that question, setting a dialogue that plays out across the stage. The year XVII is invoked as a living, present voice, blending fact and fiction to reveal the challenges of being a woman who is often unseen or misunderstood by society. The performance unfolds as a comic and poetic event staged on the Alicante Stadium, accompanied by a social discussion led by the Madrid company Territorio Violetas, creating a dynamic encounter between memory and critique.
Argentina’s Carolina Calema, Rosa Merás and Laura Ordás contribute a festive touch, crafting a kind of mojiganga before a broad audience. The approach shows strong textual, visual, and interpretive momentum, even if it sometimes leaves certain vivacity and clarity partially in reserve. Yet the visual sequences provide ongoing stimulation and engagement.
Under the direction of Rakel Camacho, the cast presents a theater within theater that foregrounds Escabias’s critical stance. The writers highlighted in the work advocated for gender equality during a period when that goal was far from easy to advance. The performance includes a segment from Sor Juana’s feminist poem Hombres necios que acusáis and a passage from Caro’s Valor, agravio y mujer, both used to reverse the Don Juan myth and to illuminate the social obstacles faced by women. Subtle themes of resilience and resistance pulse beneath the surface, providing thoughtful commentary on the era’s values.
María de Zayas’s Betrayal in Friendship is represented through Fenisa’s experiences of love, deception, and rebellion. The participants touch on contemporary writers and even sing a rustic ranchera, reflecting how tradition and modernity intersect in the cultural moment. The piece also invites scrutiny of how cultural managers engage with such material, revealing tensions between artistic vision and institutional expectations.
The overall production frames early female textual voices as active interlocutors within a theater culture that often marginalized them. It presents the idea that female artistry, when given the stage, can challenge established power structures and illuminate the daily realities of women who navigate social strictures, economic constraints, and artistic ambitions. The show connects historical feminist currents with present-day discussions about representation, voice, and authority in the arts, inviting audiences to reconsider familiar stories through a more inclusive lens.
In its exploration of the period, the performance uses bilingual and intercultural cues to bridge audiences across regions, underscoring the universal relevance of its central concerns. The onstage dynamics mix humor with critique, painting a vivid picture of a world in which women persisted, persisted again, and found ways to express themselves even when the road was steep and uncertain. The result is a layered experience that honors past matriarchs of the stage while speaking to contemporary conversations about how art can reflect and influence social change.
Overall, the production stands as a testament to the enduring power of women’s voices in theater. It weaves textual richness with visual storytelling and a keen sense of performance history, offering a thoughtful meditation on art, gender, and society. From its deliberate staging to its provocative readings, it invites audiences to consider how far the journey from marginalization to visibility has come and how much further it still has to travel.