Teatro Juan Ruiz de Alarcón

The Juan Ruiz Alarcón Theater is one of the main theaters within the UNAM University Cultural Center. After the giant Sala Nezahualcóyotl concert hall, it’s one of the most recognizable and frequently attended.

The venue was built between 1977 and 1978 according to a design by architects Orso Núñez and Arcadio Artis Espriú. An Italian-style theater, the stage hosts plays, children’s events, extended dramatic festivals, conferences, and assemblies.

The inaugural production in the theater was a 1979 performance of La prueba de las promesas, directed by Juan José Gurrola. The play was written in the early 17th century by the playwright to whom the theater is dedicated.

• Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (c. 1581–1639) was born in Taxco in Guerrero. One of the most important New Spanish dramatists, his work La verdad sospechosa is still considered a masterpiece of the Baroque theater of Latin America. He studied Canon Law from 1596 to 1598 at the Royal and Pontifical University of Mexico and later, at the University of Salamanca in Spain. In about 1606, he met Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in Seville whose influence would deepen his work. Productions of his plays were rare during his lifetime, but came to be very influential and especially important in the theater of France by the 19th century.

The theater is adjacent to the Foro Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. Both are among the principle venues for the annual International University Theater Festival.