Chicago Tribune
- Not Recommended
"...For shows like this only thrive when they dance with free-thinking ideas and envelop the audience with dramatic tension. When you have a heroine on the side of freedom and modernity, that's actually a trap for the historical dramatist, because the audience quickly figures out who is being venerated and who is in her way. And thus they get no surprises, which are, well, desirable in the theater."
Chicago Sun Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Something about the story of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the 17th century Mexican prodigy, poet, philosopher and proto-feminist, continually eludes playwrights. The newly arrived Goodman Theatre production of "The Sins of Sor Juana," Karen Zacarias' play -- an uneven mix of drama and sex comedy -- is only the latest evidence of the problem. Victory Gardens' 2007 debut of Nicholas A. Patricca's scholarly "The Defiant Muse" also missed the mark."
Chicago Reader
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The story is both epic and tragic, but for some reason playwright Karen Zacarias has chosen to tell most of it as romantic comedy, complete with a foppish suitor and a wise old Mayan lady with magical powers. Men and women both fall all over themselves vying for Juana's love, but she's oblivious until she meets the rogue who understands her mind. The cliches are unworthy not only of the historical facts, but of a talented cast and Todd Rosenthal's absolutely stunning set."
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Other plusses about the Goodman production include Todd Rosenthal's gorgeous Spanish colonial cloistered set ( save for that plastic orb of a moon that descends in the second act ) and other production elements like Mina Hyun-ok Hong's lush period costumes and Joseph Appelt's moody lighting design."
Talkin Broadway
- Somewhat Recommended
"...The lesson of Juana de la Cruz' story—that of a gifted woman whose obvious talents were not fully appreciated in her time and quite likely not fully developed —may be to make us wonder how many accomplishments of which humanity has been deprived over the centuries by its insistence on a second-class status for women. This is an important point that might have been more fully explored. The Sins of Sor Juana could have been as a weighty a drama as A Man for All Seasons, or as wickedly fun as Dangerous Liaisons. The mixture of the two doesn't entirely work as a whole piece, but audiences can still enjoy this production's gorgeous look and the star-quality performance of Ms. Rivera Drew."
Centerstage
- Recommended
"...Henry Godinez has directed a swashbuckling and flamboyant romp into the life of a poet. Though unsubtle and at times anachronistic, The Sins of Sor Juana is vibrantly entertaining."
Time Out Chicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...
While the production allows for some fair comic turns by Crotte, Plana and Joe Minoso, Drew seems entirely at sea as a historical figure, breathlessly rushing through her lines; her scenes with Mucciacito as her seducer are slightly more believable, if entirely too contemporary. But this central conceit is also where Zacarías’s play does the most disservice to its subject—defining a strong woman in relation to a made-up man."
ShowBizChicago
- Somewhat Recommended
"...It is essential for contemporary audiences to experience tales of such veritable icons in sincerity and truth. Having been born a misbegotten infant and later evolving into one of Mexico’s most celebrated polymath, Sor Juana’s tale should leave little room for egregious fiction. Instead of illustrating nuanced attendants in the viceregal court, Zacarias positions her titular heroine against buffoonish caricatures. The Viceroy practically twirls his mustache during the initial scheming, prowling the stage with a scepter that looks only to be missing a talking serpent. His loutish and metrosexual henchman Don Pedro (Joe Minoso) is resigned to crude sex gags."
TeleGuia de Chicago
- Recommended
"...Zacarias makes Sor Juana a more romantic storythan history tells us, as we begin the tale at the convent where she spent her last days, where she had been promised that she could in fact continue to study and learn, and write, but due to the political world has these privileges taken away- we then go back in time to learn just how this all came to be- why Sor Juana, a lovely young bright girl was taken to the convent after a romantic meeting with a man who was set up to "break her spirit" The play was in fact inspired by the works of Ms. de la Cruz and director Henry Godinez has put together an extraordinary cast to make this story bring meaning to the audience."
ChicagoCritic
- Not Recommended
"...Todd Rosenthal’s spacious set aptly depicts a 17th Century adobe convent of Mexico’s Spanish colonial era. Mina Hyun-Ok Hong’s period-perfect costumes are marvelous. Too bad the play’s tone and script left much to be desired. This play does little to capture the passion and drive that motivated Sor Juana toward scholarship. The acting by the main characters was hollow and clown-like."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Henry Godinez’ earnest staging, a Goodman Theatre premiere, is faithful to the play--which only makes you wish the play had been more faithful to its subject. Assuming that art can imitate art, Zacarias imagines even more about Sor Juana than she could have invented about herself. We learn about her bastard birth and her attempt to disguise herself as a boy in order to be taken seriously as a scholar. Flashbacks from Juana’s last years in the Hieronymite convent of Santa Paula in Mexico City accurately reflect her dazzling debut at the court of the viceroy of New Spain, where Juana attracted the patronage of the vicereine."
