María Irene Fornés’s first play, written in 1961, is drawn from letters written to her great-grandfather. In the late 19th century, the Spanish American War that won Cuba’s liberation from Spain also disrupted Cuban society. Angela, a Cuban woman who fled to Spain, sues for the protection of her island property and her dignity in letters to her lawyer while memories of her deceased husband, her child, and more flood the stage. Resonating with the mid-century Cuban Revolution and challenging US intervention, La Viuda boldly introduces Fornés’s groundbreaking avant-garde theatre.