Espontaneamente by Amado del Pino

Sancti Spiritus’ theater company Cabotin will stage this play at the upcoming Havana’s International Theater Festival.

Amado del Pino (1960-2017) left some masterpieces of deep social implications and arduous and painful realism. He was a chronicler par excellence, journalist and critic. He betted on the staging of those conflicts of what we use to call “ordinariness”, subjects perhaps very intimate that somehow affected the history of the nation. He sometimes explored boundaries more than once. His characters used to walk the tightrope, between survival and the empire of human values and ethic.

Espontaneamente (Spontaneously) —one of his last titles— has been staged by the Sancti Spiritus theater company Cabotin. The play is being directed by Laudel de Jesus and it is very faithful to the original text. In fact, the maze is minimalist: two characters within the empty space. These two creatures venture themselves in a night of secrets revealed. It is an intense, troubled dialogue with several turning points. In the background, we may witness the nostalgic evocation of singers and songs that made a difference in time.

The text lays a trap to directors who want to assume it: since it may jeopardize the “choreography” of the play as the proposal may have too many “words”. Then, it may be better to “move” it from the dynamics of the performance. It does not happen here and the audience may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information.

The music and exceptional projections seem whimsical and do not contribute much to the dramatic progression. Much better conceived is the light design, which focuses sometimes on some specific scenes. The actors champion with dignity their roles although their diction is not perfect in certain moments.

This staging of Espontaneamente, nonetheless, has the virtue of a high aesthetic accuracy, which avoided excessive gloating. Theater made of a subtle but convincing metaphorical language. A theater of a man convinced of the social usefulness of this art by playing a role in the improvement of men and their context.

Espontaneamente

Cabotin Theater. Text: Amado del Pino. Direction: Laudel de Jesus. Actors: Alejandro Garcia and Alexander Cruz. Stage and Costume Design: Jose A. Rodriguez. Light Design and Music: Laudel de Jesus.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Diaz // CubaSi Translation Staff