FOUR STARS
ON the face of it a
play about a 17th century Mexican nun who wrote plays and was
persecuted for it doesn't sound like desperately exciting. However, I
urge you to give Heresy Of Love at the Globe a chance.
Written by Helen
Edmundson it is set in a convent in Mexico in the late 1600s. There a
gifted, intelligent and progressive writer, Sor Juana Ines de la
Cruz, pens her poems and plays.
She is celebrated by
the Court, her fellow nuns and also the Bishop Santa Cruz who are all
beguiled by her wit, wisdom and intelligent argument.
However when Archbishop
Aguiar y Sejas takes control of the church he demands she stop
writing fearing that she is a danger to society.
At first the other nuns
and bishops try to persuade him to be more lenient but he has an iron
will and is good at blackmail and in the end she is forced to stop.
Her downfall is hastened thanks to a jealous fellow nun and her
erstwhile friend Bishop Santa Cruz.
It is a fascinating
commentary on the society at the time - how women were perceived both
in and out of the church - and how women are still fighting for
equality in all aspects of their lives.
The acting is first
rate with a very powerful performance from Naomi Frederick as Juana.
She is more than ably supported by Anthony Howell as Bishop Santa
Cruz and Ellie Piercy as the Vicereine, with whom Juana has a close
friendship.
But perhaps the star of
the show was really Sophia Nomvete as the nun’s maid Juanita. Her
witty repostes and saucy asides had the audience in stitches.
Brilliantly and
beautifully written by Edmundson, it is a wonderful play – thought
provoking, intelligent, passionate and moving and in its own way
really quite gripping. It is also funny and tragic and the ending is
full of sadness but also of hope.
You can’t really ask
for more.
The Heresy Of Love is
on at Shakespeare’s Globe, Bankside until September 5. Tickets cost
from £5. Visit www.shakespearesglobe.com or call the box office on
020 7401 9919.
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