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This year the UVA Spanish Theater Group returns with Las Juanas, a powerful homage to the universe of women. Written by playwright Agustina Toia and adapted by Fernando Operé for the Spanish Theater Group at UVA, this production brings together a chorus of iconic figures who share not only a name, but a legacy of resistance, brilliance, and survival.
Inspired by the lives of Juana Manso, Juana la Loca, Joan of Arc, Juana Azurduy, Pope Joan, Giovanna Marturano, Juana de Ibarbourou, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Las Juanas weaves history, myth, and poetry into a collective portrait of women who dared to defy their time.
These are women who fought for their ideals, endured prison and convent life, went to war, liberated both their peoples and their inner selves, and wrote beautiful words—sometimes buried under other names. They trusted instinct over convention, loved fiercely, disguised themselves as men to escape imposed destinies, and suffered domestic violence, addiction, and the abuse of power. Many were tried, condemned, silenced, or died in absolute poverty, only to be later immortalized on the banknotes and in the memory of their nations.
Las Juanas is a moving tribute to women who refused to disappear—and whose voices still resonate across centuries.
Join the UVA Spanish Theater Group at the Live Arts Theater for this heartfelt play that combines physical theater, poetry, and memory to explore the struggle, defiance, and transformation of these female figures. (Tickets will be available soon)