"Blind Mouth Singing" in Havana. The bare-bones play was a rare Cuban-American production in Cuba.
The U.S. and Cuba have historically cooperated musically, and are now working closely in the theatrical world. Actors from both countries have appeared recently in the other nation.
Two of the most successful theater companies in Cuba, Buendia and El Público, performed in several American cities, in the theater festivals of, respectively, Miami and Chicago. Buendia brought to American shores their recent performances of "La visita de la vieja dama" and "Charenton", while El Público exhibited exhibit "Las amargas lágrimas de Petra von Kant".
On the other side, the new play "Blind Mouth Singing", written by Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas, a first generation Cuban-American, and directed by another Cuban American, Jorge Luis Cacheiro, was performed in El Sótano, here in Havana.
These recent cultural exchanges are the fruit of a process that has lasted for several years, and which has come up against red tape in both countries. What has been exciting for us in Havana is seeing an American play that takes place in Havana, and that looks at the issues of cultural belonging and cultural dislocation, migration, and family.
Cuban theatergoers truly appreciate the chance to see new ways of creating theater. Although classic American playwrights like Millar and Williams are still popular, we know much less about the current American theater scene- and even less about what is being created by the children of Cuban immigrants, like Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas. The staging of "Blind Mouth Singing", by Cacheiro, brings us closer to the Cuban-American experience.
