La Celestina: An Illuminated Lecture presented by theatre dybbuk
April 30 @ 7:00 pm
$15
Please join us for an illuminated lecture by Professor Barbara Fuchs on an extraordinary text from an extraordinary time, enlivened by the marvelous actors of theater dybbuk!
Written in Spain at the turn of the sixteenth century, soon after the expulsion of the Jews, La Celestina gives powerful voice to marginal characters somehow central to every exchange and transaction— wily go-betweens, panders, and disaffected servants. Along the way, it asks radically uncomfortable questions of its society and our own: what do we owe each other, especially across lines of class or gender? How do we make room for ourselves, when society has already decided on our place? In a time of profound dislocation, how do we find meaning in the world? A mix of manifesto and cautionary tale, bawdy story and philosophical meditation, La Celestina haunts us with its devastating insight.
Trained as a comparatist (English, Spanish, French, Italian), Professor Fuchs works on European cultural production from the late fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries, with a special emphasis on literature and empire, and on theater and performance in transnational contexts. As part of her commitment to the public humanities and collaborative work, she directs the UCLA “Diversifying the Classics” initiative and edits the series “The Comedia in Translation and Performance” for Juan de la Cuesta. She is also director of LA Escena, Los Angeles’ biennial festival of Hispanic classical theater, founded in 2018.
When: April 30, 2026, 7 p.m.
Where: The Philosophical Research Society
Tickets: $15