La monja alférez (The Lieutenant Nun) at Chain Theatre

Teatro Círculo, one of the main bilingual Latino theatre companies in New York City, celebrates its 30th Anniversary Season with La monja alférez (The Lieutenant Nun) by Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, directed by Daniel Alonso de Santos, from November 3-19, 2023 at Chain Theatre (312 West 36th Street, 3rd floor) in Manhattan.

This 17th Century play centered on a nonbinary character demonstrates that gender nonconformity is neither new nor unnatural. With growing attacks on transgender people, with this production, Teatro Círculo brings attention to this forward-looking play and to the challenges gender nonconforming individuals faced then and now.

This adaptation of La monja alférez (The Lieutenant Nun), performed in Spanish Verse with overtitles in English, made by Daniel Alonso de Santos and Germán Vega García-Luengos is placed in a piano bar in NYC where its host gathers their clientele to tell the story of this legendary nun. The director’s concept mixes old and new esthetics, emphasized by the costumes, lighting, and set in a Production Design by Israel Franco Müller.

The cast of La monja alférez (The Lieutenant Nun) features María Fontanals, Eva Cristina Vásquez, Sandra Gumuzzio, Gerardo Gudiño, Fernando Gazzaniga, Pablo Andrade, Mario Mattei and Jei Fabiano. The creative team is completed with Verse Direction by Karmele Aranburu, original music composed by Jei Fabiano, Eliana Michelle Yost is the Assistant Director and Stage Manager, Kareliz Michelle De Jesús is the Hair & Makeup Designer, Production Design Assistant and Props Master, Mario Mattei is the Fights Choreographer, and Original Music Composer is Jei Fabiano.

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La monja alférez is made possible, in part, through funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Howard Gilman Foundation, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Shubert Foundation, the Lucille Lortel Foundation. National Endowment for the Arts, and The National Latinx Theater Initiative.