On Cuban Stages: A Report from the Field

FALL 2009 181 On Cuban Stages: A Report from the Field Yael Prizant Day 1 — May 27, 2009 I’ve been doing research on Cuban and Cuban-American theatre for nearly 10 years, and I’m headed to Miami before my latest trip to Havana. It’s been more than three years since I was in Cuba and I am eager to see what’s on stage. For a non-Cuban American, the complicated processes for traveling to the island usually take weeks, if not months, to complete. On three of my previous theatre research trips, the paperwork to deal with U.S. travel restrictions, the specific license for academic research, and the unreliable , expensive charter flights were daunting enough to make me question whether or not my excursions were wise. However, this time, the Miami airport has hired extra staff to manage the flights to Cuba! The check-in lines are organized and marked, a major improvement over the chaos of past trips. On board the plane, the crew seems unprepared. The flight attendants don’t speak Spanish and I’m asked to translate instructions for the passengers in the exit row. We land in Havana 80 minutes later. At the terminal of José Martí airport, there are Cuban medical personnel wearing protective masks. They hand disembarking passengers cards explaining that there have been no reported cases of swine flu in Cuba and that the Cuban health department plans to keep it that way. The route from the airport to Vedado looks freshly repaired and much improved, with smooth asphalt and newly painted buildings. My taxi driver reveals that although it is four in the afternoon, I’m his first passenger of the day. He explains that Havana has been deserted because all flights from Mexico were cancelled for a week due to the swine flu. He divulges that the combination of the economic downturn and the swine flu has crippled Cubans who earn their living from tourism. 182 LATIN AMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW Day 3 I spend the day walking around Centro Habana and Habana Vieja, searching for La Cartelera, the monthly newspaper that lists the theatrical events taking place in the city. (I have never known exactly where to pick up a copy, they have been given to me by caring friends and neighbors given them by their friends; in Cuba, one’s network is essential!) Even the Teatro Nacional does not have one. I search two theatres, El Sótano and la Sala Adolfo Llauradó, for posters advertising their productions. At both theatres I find information about dates and times, but no descriptions of the shows. Are they Cuban plays? Adaptations? Foreign? Day 4 I attend the Compañia Teatral Rita Montaner’s production of Voy por cigarros. Written and directed by Gerardo Fulleda León, this new play takes place backstage at a cabaret, where the relationship of a married couple unravels. Despite strong acting, the play and its depressing monologue format (only the husband speaks) do not move me. It seems no more than an insular, ironic exercise in romantic memory and nuptial dysfunction. I struggle to understand why the company chose this material, why now, and why here. The piece isn’t at all theatrical, has few design elements, and the actors are talking rather than doing. The audience is quieter and more passive than any I’ve encountered on the island. I mourn innovation because the last Montaner production I saw, in 2005, was Tony Díaz’s highly imaginative version of Brene’s Escandalo en la trapa, complete with detailed period costumes made of cardboard! I still buy the published text in the lobby, note the youthful audiences’ lack of enthusiasm about the show, and then walk home during a blackout. Day 5 Two Cuban friends join me for Reinaldo Montero’s Fausto, produced by Teatro D’Dos at the SalaAdolfo Llauradó. I am curious why the company has chosen to restage this piece, which they mounted in 1999, rather than producing a new work. It is soon clear that Montero’s modern retelling of myth, blasphemy and the quest for happiness resonates for contemporary Cubans. Stellar acting and simple but highly...