Close-up of The Ecstacy, by sculptor Bernini.
The only true portrait of Saint Teresa of Avila,
by Peter Paul Rubens.
THE ECSTACY - a depiction of Saint Teresa in rapture, The Princess of Eboli, painter unknown
by the Renaissance sculptor, Bernini.
GOD'S GYPSY
A Play by Coco Blignaut
Adapted from the novel, Sister Teresa, by Bárbara Mujica in collaboration with the novelist.
Sister Teresa
by Barbara Mujica
Spoiled with beauty, riches, and adoration, a young girl from Àvila is sent to a convent by her parents to learn discipline, but discovers instead an unparalleled spiritual fervor-- one so powerful as to be condemned as sinful by some. She is Saint Teresa--known as a mystic, reformer and founder of convents, and the author of numerous texts that introduced her radical religious ideas and practices to a society suffering through the repressive throes of the Spanish Inquisition. In Barbara Mujica’s masterful tale, her story--her days of youthful romance, her sensual fits of spiritual rapture, secret heritage as a Jewish convert to Catholicism, cloak-and-dagger political dealings, struggles against sexual blackmail, and mysterious illness--unfolds with a tumultuous urgency. Blending fact with fiction in vivid detail, painstakingly researched and beautifully rendered, Mujica's tale conjures a brilliant picture of sisterhood, faith, the terror of religious persecution, the miracle of salvation, and to one woman's challenge to the power of strict orthodoxy, a challenge that consisted of a crime of passion--her own personal relationship with God.
A note from the playwright on the title, God’s Gypsy
“Teresa of Avila had that mysterious quality the Spanish call duende, which is characteristic of gypsies, flamenco guitarists and dancers. Duende is raw, primitive, tempestuous energy, a vulnerability to inspiration burning in the blood. She was fiery, wild, and utterly original.” - Tessa Bielecki, Mystic, Author and Expert on Saint Teresa of Avila