Page 16_____________________ ®,fr Fortiani» (Obstruer A Rigid Order continued from page 9 what is now Mexico City. In that period of Spanish colonial rule, there existed in New Spain (now Mexico) a rigid caste system in which one's status depended entirely on the quotient of Spanish blood one could claim. Hie play centers on three young women who find themselves taking refuge in the convent: Jesusa, a Mestiza (half-Spanish and half Amerindian) who has come to care for an ailing nun; Tomasita, a timid Nahua Indian who has come to serve in the kitchen; and Manuela, a noblewoman whose arrival is occasioned by circumstances that are not immediately explained. The three are rel egated to the basement storage room and are instructed not to open a locked armoire that sits in the comer. Oppression and class fuel the story. It's clear that these young unmarried women have few options in colonial New Spain; convents functioned as a refuge for women who lacked suitable husbands, though hardly a place of comfort. But the Inquisition lurks as a threat throughout the play; the nuns impose a rigid order that is designed to keep them clear of any conflict with Church authorities. Further, though the three young women are all refugees in a sense, social hierarchies immediately influence how they assess and treat each other. But before long, they find the keys to that locked armoire, and it contains the means to their spiritual freedom. Inside are piles of paper and notebooks containing poems, songs, and plays of Sor Juana, hidden away because the Church considers them danger ous. The young women, chafing against the rigid social order that confines them, find in these papers a means of escape into a world in which they may playfully imagine them selves differently. They begin reading one of Saracho ultimately opted to locate this play around a story that explores Sor Juana's influence and also the complicated class differences and gender oppression that char acterized women's experience in colonial Mexico. This history feels important to know about. Oppression has a way o f reverberating through later generations, a phenomenon that is evident in the nuns' varied reactions to Sor Juana's legacy. The sisters in the play have a range of ideas about the importance o f hiding or pro tecting her words; the Mother Superior for V The young women, chafing against the rigid social order that confines them, find in these papers a means o f escape into a world in which they may playfully imagine themselves differently. They begin reading one o f the plays, aptly named House o f Desires, assigning to themselves roles that upset the class order to which the outside world consigns them. 1 the plays, aptly named House of Desires, assigning to themselves roles that upset the class order to which the outside world con signs them. Little do they realize that what seems harmless and joyous to them is exactly what seems dangerous to Church authori ties who define what is possible in their world. The play, commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and enjoying its world premiere run, is the work of Tanya Saracho, a Mexican playwright whose work explores a rich array of Latina voices. Originally asked to adapt House of De sires for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters is hosting a free Career Fair where you can find out all you need to know about being a Union Carpenter. You will have an opportunity to visit with many industry profession als who will be on hand to answer questions about Carpen try, Apprenticeship, and the Construction Industry. CARPENTRY CRAFTS INCLUDE: Wood Framers, Concrete Forms Work, Exterior/Interior Systems Specialists, Metal Stud Framers, Piledrivers, Scaffold Erectors, Millwrights, Shipwrights, Marine Carpenters, Finish Carpenters, Floor Layers, Trade Show Workers, and much more. example, is fiercely determined to keep the focus of the Inquisition away from the con vent. Though harsh, her approach makes some sense in light of the dangers the con vent faced when Sor Juana came under scru tiny. After living a privileged and productive life of letters inside the Convent of San Jeronimo for many years, Sor Juana sud denly became a target for political reasons and was pressured to renounce her previous writings and sell her extensive library, which was one of the largest in the New World. Other sisters in the play more obviously carry grief over the loss of freedom of thought September 4.2013 embodied by Sor Juana, a brilliant thinker and writer at a time when women's education was considered dangerous and unneces sary. The reverberation of these struggles for the women in the play «along with the insidi ous mechanics of the racial oppression de- picted-suggest how this history continues to ripple into our current experience. This beautiful play also wrestles soulfully with the human desire for expression and the struggle to find one's voice when expression itself is considered dangerous and threaten ing to those in power. One of the sisters especially, Sor Isabel, chafes at the confines into which the sisters have retreated in the wake of the controversy surrounding Sor Juana. Her agony over the limits of expression allowed to her is treated as a kind o f illness, a perversion commonly experienced by those who are awake to the losses associated with enforced silence. For me, though, the heart of the play is Tomasita, the Indian woman who has learned to keep silent and watchful. Beneath her observant exterior lurks hard-won wisdom about her circumstances, and deep longings that she scarcely dares to acknowledge. If you can make it to Ashland this fall, don't miss the opportunity to sink deeply in this rich history. You may find, as I did, inspiration and consolation for your current experience. Darleen Ortega is a judge on the Oregon Court o f Appeals and the first woman of color to serve in that capacity. She also serves on the board o f directors for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Her movie review column Opinionated Judge appears regularly in The Portland Observer. CARPENTER CAREER FAIR Saturday, September 21,2 0 1 3 10 AM- 3 PM Pacific Northwest Carpenters Institute 4222 NE 158th Ave, Portland, OR 97230 DOOR PRIZES • FOOD • ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN For more information contact- Michael Burch 503.261.1862 or visit www.nwcarpenters.org > opeiu8a(lclo