Cuban playwright Raúl Alfonso died early Tuesday in the Spanish capital at the age of 56 following a heart attack.
Actors and artists on the island mourned the teacher, actor, theater and audiovisual director who suffered from a terminal illness. “It is an irreparable loss for the Cuban theater,” they said.
Actress Vivian Acosta highlighted Alfonso’s fruitful work and stated that he was satisfied with the premiere of the play “Mamá” in Havana.
“You left quietly, like those who don’t want to disturb! Rauli died of a heart attack at 3:55 a.m. in Madrid!” he confirmed on Facebook.
He also said that the body would be cremated.
“The Cuban theater is mourning again!” he emphasized.
His friend Norge Espinosa recalled that Raúl Alfonso made his breakthrough in the Antonín Artaud Hall in the late 1980s with the work El Grito, “which looked at half of Havana,” “as a bitter and necessary reinterpretation of the events of Mariel.” , of the acts of rejection that cannot be erased from memory, and of the disagreement that this fact forever imposed on two friends.
This play, along with “El Culpable,” “El Silencio,” and “Bela de Noche,” are considered pioneers of contemporary Cuban dramaturgy.
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He explained: “Over the last few days, a person we both respect very much has taken it upon himself to inform me of his already precarious condition and the number of hours predicted by the doctors. I waited for the news with the conflicting wish that these hours would be longer, but also to avoid further suffering,” he said.
As an audiovisual director, Alfonso made three short films: La Seduction, Off Vampiro and Foto Shock.
In 2001, Alfonso left Cuba for Mexico and soon after settled in Spain. There he taught acting, directing and dramaturgy.