Love Is Complicated, After All...
A non-binary protagonist navigates a world of mystery and romance in ‘Labyrinth of Desire,’ Sept. 29 – Oct. 1 at Muhlenberg College
By: Noelle Simone '26 Friday, September 15, 2023 00:47 PM
The Labyrinth of Desire, the romantic comedy that opens the Muhlenberg 2023-2034 theatre season, offers a charming love story full of mischief and melodrama, adapted from a 500-year-old comedy. It also features a gender-nonbinary main character — and, according to co-director Troy Dwyer, a healthy dose of inclusivity.
“I’ve never seen a story on stage with an honest-to-goodness nonbinary romantic lead, and I think how empty that absence must feel for genderqueer young people,” says Dwyer, who directs the show with Leticia Robles-Moreno. “Celebratory stories like The Labyrinth of Desire are jubilant antidotes to that.”
Adapted by Caridad Svich from the 1617 Spanish comedy La Prueba de los Ingenios, The Labyrinth of Desire is a contemporary queer love story. When Florela is abandoned by their fiancé, they resolve to travel to the land of Ferrara to win him back. As Florela embarks on their quest, they find themselves on an unexpected journey of self-discovery.
“It’s important to tell stories like Florela’s because they’re not being punished for discovering who they are,” says junior Jules Curtis, who plays Florela. “I see this play as a love letter to the non-binary and trans community.”
Dwyer says the aesthetic of the show could be described as “high-stakes telenovela glamor meets classical romantic calamity.” Svich brings a highly comedic — and highly modern — sensibility to her loose adaptation of Lope de Vega’s original.
“There are tons of joy and playfulness in this production,” Robles-Moreno says. “In the midst of hate, grief, and violence — especially against BIPOC and LGBTQ communities — I think it’s necessary to be able to breathe together and to uplift each other — to imagine, with José Muñoz, ‘brighter, more sensual worlds.’”
Muñoz was a Cuban American academic who wrote about performance studies and queer theory, and who pioneered the concept of a “queer Utopia” — a forward-looking, hopeful critical approach inspired by social and political optimism on behalf of queer people of color. Muñoz's Utopia inspired the Labyrinth team's approach to this production.
To build the playful world of the show, Dwyer and Robles-Moreno have established a creative community — what they call a “collective attitude” — around the production team and cast. Through collaborative outlets like mood boards and musical playlists, everyone is constantly sharing new ideas and implementing them into every aspect of the show — from scenic design to staging to marketing.
“This work provides real tools to companies like ours to share creative responsibility. It’s revelatory,” Dwyer says. “With the help of our enthusiastic design team, the cast and student creative staff have made substantial contributions to how the production actually looks and moves.”
Cast member Adrián Padrón-Curet, who plays Camacho, highlights the uniqueness of staging his own scenes throughout the rehearsal process. “I’ve never had this type of creative freedom with other directors before,” he says. “Troy and Leticia really listen to us. They allow us to play with the material and share our ideas.”
Robles-Moreno says she hopes this production will help to expand all students’ sense of acceptance and well-being on the Muhlenberg campus and beyond.
“My students are way ahead of previous generations when it comes to accepting who we are with pride and courage,” she says. “They teach me every day how to keep making space for diverse ways of understanding love, beauty, and desire.”
“I think it’s really important to tell these stories and show the community that there is a safe space for you,” Curtis says. “There is a Utopia, as we like to say.”
Playwright Caridad Svich will participate in a public conversation about The Labyrinth of Desire and the production process, Thursday, Sept. 21, 5-6 pm. This conversation will take place via Zoom. Visit muhlenberg.edu/seeashow to sign up to receive the Zoom link for this event. Among Svich's other plays is En el tiempo de las mariposas, about the Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic, which was produced on the Muhlenberg stage in fall of 2021. Svich's appearance is made possible by a grand from the Martin Guitar Foundation.
The Labyrinth of Desire runs Sept. 29 – Oct. 1: Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. Performances are in the Dorothy Hess Baker Theatre, in the Trexler Pavilion for Theatre & Dance, Muhlenberg College. Tickets are $15 regular admission; $8 for youth tickets and campus and LVAIC tickets. Tickets are available at muhlenberg.edu/seeashow or 484-664-3333.
About the Muhlenberg College Theatre & Dance Department
Muhlenberg offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre and dance. The Princeton Review ranked Muhlenberg’s theatre program in the top twelve in the nation for eight years in a row, and Fiske Guide to Colleges lists both the theatre and dance programs among the top small college programs in the United States. Muhlenberg is one of only eight colleges to be listed in Fiske for both theatre and dance.
About Muhlenberg College
Founded in 1848, Muhlenberg is a highly selective, private liberal arts college offering baccalaureate and graduate programs. With an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students, Muhlenberg College is dedicated to shaping creative, compassionate, collaborative leaders through rigorous academic programs in the arts, humanities, natural sciences and social sciences; selected preprofessional programs, including accounting, business, education and public health; and progressive workforce-focused post-baccalaureate certificates and master’s degrees. Located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, approximately 90 miles west of New York City, Muhlenberg is a member of the Centennial Conference, competing in 23 varsity sports. Muhlenberg is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
