a play by Anne García-Romero, directed by Risa Brainin

About the Play

In the present, on the campus of a California public university, Lupe, a Latinx theatre professor, directs a production of the 1613 Spanish Golden Age comedy, La Dama Boba (The Daffy Dame), by Lope de Vega. Personalities collide onstage and off as the company grapples with the issues of race, class and gender raised by the play. As opening night approaches, national politics start to invade the personal lives of the company, revealing the question: Can love truly have the power to overcome differences and lead to a new kind of knowledge?

About the Playwright

Anne García-Romero’s plays include Provenance, Paloma, Earthquake Chica, Mary Domingo, Mary Peabody in Cuba and Santa Concepción. Her plays have been developed and produced at the Public Theater, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, the Goodman Theatre, the Mark Taper Forum and South Coast Repertory. She’s been a Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center and is an alumna of New Dramatists. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama and a Ph.D. in Theater Studies from UC Santa Barbara. She is the Thomas J. and Robert T. Rolfs Assistant Professor in the Department of Film, Television and Theatre at the University of Notre Dame where she teaches playwriting and theatre studies. She’s a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists.

Production Team

• Written by Anne García-Romero
• Directed by Risa Brainin
• Costume Designer: Ann Bruice
• Lighting Designer: Michael Klaers
• Scenic Designer: Ann Sheffield
• Dramaturg: Leo Cabranes-Grant
• Stage Manager: Daniella Sherwin
• Asst. Stage Manager: Philip Astor
• Assistant Directors: Dan Colohan, Madison Kirkpatrick, Jesus Ramirez

Cast

• Cristina Frias
• Mitchell Thomas
• Daniel Blanco
• Rosslyn Cornejo
• Kerry Jacinto
• Olivia Nathan
• Jeremy Scharf
• Josh Sechrist