What is your hometown?
I was born in Pinar del Río, a small town in the western part of Cuba.
What brought you into Chicago Theatre?
I moved to Havana where my real education started at the Instituto Superior de Arte where I studied acting for 5 years. It was at that time that I joined Teatro Buendía. That company was my artistic home for 10 years. There, I developed a group spirit and strengthened my interpretative and cultural training at the hands of my teachers Flora Lauten and Raquel Carrió. With Buendía, I was able to travel to many international festivals, to dialogue, to discover other forms, techniques, voices, different works that helped me truly understand the work of the theater and its importance in society as a transforming and human element. One of those festivals, Goodman Theatre’s 2010 Latino Theatre Festival, brought me to Chicago. I fell in love with the vibrancy of the city and its many artistic flavors.
How long have you been involved in Chicago Theatre?
I have been working with Aguijón Theater for 9 years. I have acted, directed, taught classes. Aguijón has become my space of creation and artistic exploration.
How have you seen the industry change?
There are great transformations. I think that Latino voices are reaching other areas, different spaces and there is a greater integration in the casts. In the case of Aguijón, it has great diversity: from its repertoire to its cast or crew. We work in that way and we speak to a diverse audience. The support of organizations like CLATA, in many ways, protects and fosters multiplicity on the stage and within companies.
What inspires you more directing or acting?
I am an actor who directs. I have already directed nine shows but I consider myself an actor. I enjoy acting immensely and am very careful with managing that work. But I do not have a preference. I'm always learning. I learn from the actors, from the production team, from the crew. Acting is an act of sacrifice, of exposition. Whenever I direct a work, I learn all the characters, I try to think, to move, to be a part of the cast without being in it. That helps me to better understand the work with the actor. I expose myself. I expose them. We create a communion.
How do you choose the projects you want to work on?
As a director, the writing has to speak to and for me. I think it is very important that a director be clear about the text with which he is going to work. I really like the theater of the author. I respect the work of the playwright tremendously and I always try to collaborate with them in the editing process. The dialogue with the author is essential to me, if possible, of course. As an actor, if the character speaks to me, if he messes with me in a labyrinth, if he attacks me, if he has demons... then I do it without hesitation.
What advice would you give emerging actors and directors?
I cannot give advice, I am an eternal apprentice. I would like for the younger ones to give me advice. I still have a lot to discover.
