Harley erdman
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Marta the Divine

Translated and adapted by Harley Erdman from Tirso de Molina’s Marta la piadosa
Cast: 7m, 3w as given
Run time: approximately 110 minutes


Marta the Divine is the first-ever English translation of a classic Spanish comedy featuring a transgressive and daring comic heroine. Facing an arranged marriage with a decrepit friend of her father’s, Marta fakes a religious conversion and a vow of chastity.

She uses the cloak of piety to roam the streets and visit her boyfriend, Felipe – all the while claiming she is visiting hospitals for the poor and sick. The stakes are even higher because Felipe has previously killed Marta’s brother in a duel, and Marta’s father has a warrant out for his arrest and execution.

Felipe shows up at Marta’s house in the guise of a sickly monkish scholar, and Marta persuades her skeptical father to take him in. The farce escalates as Marta’s sister, Lucía, also in love with Felipe, catches onto the scheme.

This funny and outrageous play, long considered scandalous in Spain, looks at hypocrisy, faith, and desire through the actions of a resourceful and brilliant young heroine who will do anything to be with the man she loves.

Photos from 2009 UMass production by Jon Crispin. Director: Gina Kaufmann.

  • Home
  • Translations & Adaptations
    • Wild Thing
    • Jealous of Herself
    • Suitors
    • Marta the Divine
  • Musicals & Operas
    • Legacy Boy
    • The Scarlet Professor
    • The Garden of Martyrs
  • Plays
    • Nobody's Girl
    • The Restoration Room
    • Crowsnest
  • Books
    • The Mountain Girl from La Vera
    • Women Playwrights of Early Modern Spain
    • Jealous of Herself
    • Remaking the Comedia
    • Marta the Divine
    • Staging the Jew
  • Contact