i ■a September 4, 2013 Vancouver East County Beaverton North Portland z i / ; . , . « £- , z ,, • photo by J enny G raham /O regon S hakespeare F estival _ usa (Vivía Font), Manuela (Alejandra Escalante) and Tomasita (Sabina Zuniga Varela) discuss a radical course of action in ‘The Tenth Muse, ’ a play about a 1 7th century nun who was regarded as the first published feminist of the New World, now playing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. A T ) j r y < x-1 A X .A t ^ A C A Every so often, I'll learn of some Shakespeare Festival to thank for istorical figure who inspires me so introducing me to Sister ("Sor" in profoundly, I can t quite forgive my Spanish) Juana Inés de la Cruz, a education for not introducing me to 17th-century nun who is regarded him or her sooner. I have the Oregon as the first published feminist of the ' ' » 1 » » » t t t t t t t 1 ■ * « * ' ' » t 1 1 • ‘ \ \ \ \ \ 1 1 ( . « . ‘ ‘ ‘ 1 ’ • ' ' 1 \ 1 »1 1 » I ♦ I , Q T * Gender oppression and class A C A C A confronted i n ‘The Tenth Muse’ New World. Sor Juana is famous in Mexico (her face appears on the 200 pesos bill), but has not been the subject of major study in English, "The Tenth Muse," playing at I the Oregon Shakespeare Festival silence it. through Nov. 2, conveys a sense of The play is set 20 years after Sor Sor Juana's influence and is rich Juana's death, in a convent outside with insights for anyone struggling to find her voice against pressure to continued on page I t t t I I