When Cuban playwright Abel González Melo's Chamaco (Boy at Vanishing Point) opens Saturday at Coral Gables' Teatro Trail (in Spanish with English supertitles), it will be the first time in seven years that director and scholar Alberto Sarraín has presented a play in Miami.

Sarraín is known for the raw, confrontational work his company La Má Teodora produced here from 1995 to 2002. During that time he also helped create the short-lived but groundbreaking International Monologue Festival, which opened the door for Cuban actors, directors and playwrights to perform in Miami.

In the years since, Sarraín has lived in Spain and Cuba, directing three plays, publishing two books and writing numerous essays about theater.

One of the most important things he did, he says, was to direct Los siete contra Tebas (Seven Against Thebes) by Antón Arrufat, a 1968 play that resulted in the playwright's 14-year ostracism.

The experience not only brought Sarraín closer to Arrufat, one of Cuba's living literary icons, but ``allowed me to get to know many young Cuban artists who worked side by side to get this venture up and running.''

One of them was González Melo, who asked Sarraín to take a look at his script. Directed by Sarraín, Chamaco is a shared effort with the newly revived La Má Teodora, the Latin Quarter Cultural Center and the Cuban Theater Archives of the University of Miami.

Set in the predawn shadows of contemporary Havana's park benches and side streets, Chamaco reveals an underside of contemporary Havana not seen until now on a Miami stage. The fate of the Depás family is irrevocably altered when it collides with Kárel Darín, an alluring but troubled young man portrayed by Adrián Más.

Chamaco debuted to critical acclaim in Havana in 2006 and was produced in Turkey later that year. The play has been translated into several languages, and a screen version directed by Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti was filmed in Havana in 2008.

The play's themes of prostitution, poverty and violence have resonated powerfully with urban audiences.

``It's a beautiful play and a harsh one,'' says Lillian Manzor, director of Latin American Studies at the University of Miami and a consultant for the production. ``It speaks to a disenchanted youth, young people who are grappling with what to do with their lives and getting involved with criminality by chance. Chamaco could be set in any world capital.''

But Sarraín is betting that his directorial vision and the collaboration of local actors will endow the play with a unique local resonance.

``Unlike other places where the play has been produced, Miami has in its hands all of the decoders necessary to decipher a work written in Cuban code,'' he says.

From the beginning, Sarraín says, the actors easily connected with a script whose characters are ``a banquet served up to satiate the most voracious artistic appetite.''

Juan David Ferrer portrays Alejandro Depás, a man living a double life and whose entanglement with Kárel has dire consequences. The actor says he welcomes the challenge of the complex characters González Melo has created.

``Alejandro is paralyzed by two forces,'' Ferrer says. ``On one hand, he's a judge, and, at the same time, he's a sexual addict. It's a fascinating role to explore on stage because his expressions and gestures are very constrained, very cinematic.''

Kárel, meanwhile, ``is motivated by anguish and desperation to survive,'' Ferrer says. ``It's like he's riding a horse whose reins are never in his hands.''

González Melo recognizes the unique opportunity of presenting his complex Cuban drama to a cast of mostly Cuban actors in Miami,

``There's a lot of bravery in them, in the gesture of bringing a contemporary Cuban play to the stage without falling into stereotypes or useless illusions,'' the playwright says. ``They're excellent actors who don't limit themselves, who step on stage to devour the world, and up there they are fierce.''

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@