This true story of the romantic relationship between Queen Marie Therese and her African jester, Nabo in the court of King Louis XIV brings to life the story of love and power long erased from the history books. Las Meninas explores the notion of identity and who defines it. It is the reclamation of a fascinating tale concerning the influence of Africans on the culture and civilization of Western Europe before such concepts of racism had been developed. “Who ever holds the pencil that writes history controls the eraser that manipulates it,” as playwright, Lynn Nottage notes. She reinstates this oddly funny and heartbreaking story into the annals of the French court of Louis XIV and gives voice to characters long silenced by Louis’s official pen.

“The play is a mix of politics and really good royal dish…A tabloid cover for the ages: not even Fergie ever managed a scandal of such eloquent proportions.” The San Francisco Weekly