Aquiles frente al gran espejo of Teatro La Rosa

Aquiles frente al gran espejo, a solo performance by the Cuban company Teatro La Rosa, will be presented on 11, 12 and 13 November as part of the 20^th Havana International Theatre Festival.

At 8:30 pm, in the El Ciervo Encantado cultural centre (Calle 18, entre Línea y 11, Vedado), all eyes will be on Dorian Díaz de Villegas, the actor who will be responsible for defending the character, his reflections and his stories.

The myth of Achilles, the Trojan War and the legends surrounding the genealogy of the gods and their relationship with mankind are some of the themes explored in this production directed by Roxana Pineda.

The audience is taken on a journey back to Ancient Greece, while at the same time the issues of the time, such as war, double standards and insecurity, remain close and constant.

According to theatre critic Kenny Ortigas Guerrero, «the production has an interesting visuality, a fine craftsmanship that extends from the score of the physical actions to the world of objects that make up the scenery. In its dramatic structure, it renounces an Aristotelian logic and fragments itself into reveries and epiphanies that cross the body of the actor-performer, who transforms himself into Achilles or a simple mortal – Cuban or from any other country – to discourse on the paths of morality and its constant threats.»

«Maestro Roxana, articulates each mosaic of the play with lyricism and order. She takes us to the sands where Hector was dragged by his adversary Achaeus with her poetry, accompanied by beautiful music and arranged in small elements: puppets, boats, crosses from a cemetery, a Trojan horse, among other accessories and props. Or she wraps Achilles in a translucent veil that reveals the longing and frustration of a memory that feels traversed by impositions and stigmas, suggestions that bring the Homeric epic down to earth in today’s Cuban context,» adds Ortigas Guerrero.

Santa Clara was the birthplace of the Teatro La Rosa. And it was the Teatro La Caridad, in this town in the province of Villa Clara, where Aquiles frente al espejo premiered in June 2021.

Later, the reflections promoted by the play reached other geographical areas and in specific contexts, such as the 5th Latin American Monologue Festival and Terry Prize 2023, held in Cienfuegos from 9 to 12 February.

The solo performance won the prize for best staging and the accompanying prize awarded by the provincial board of the Hermanos Saiz Association, while Dorian Díaz de Villegas received a special recognition for his quality as a performer. «The best production was Rosana Pineda’s (…) thanks to the creative and perfectionist use of objects, the scenic composition, the choice of the theme of ancient Greece with resonances in contemporary Cuba, and the intergenerational dialogue that favours the transmission of theatrical heritage, all of which were masterfully handled in the performance,» states the newspaper Venceremos.