“Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary” at The Goodman Theatre

Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary has started its limited engagement run at the Goodman Theatre as a part of Destinos – the 3rd Chicago International Latino Theatre Festival. This production also marks the midwest premiere of Marissa Chibas’ autobiographical solo piece. The piece looks at Cuba’s turbulent political history through the lens of three people who have had the biggest impression on Chibas’ life: Raul, her father, Eddy, her uncle, and Dalia, her mother. Chibas has said that it has been an honor to share their stories, and it is truly an honor to hear and see her pass their stories on. 

During her adult life, Chibas had been taking trips to Cuba to research her family history. All of the snippets of information and recollections are unravelled in front of us in the performance after Chibas falls into a lake in a cave and begins to drown. As she gasps for breath, not only her own life flashes before her eyes, but also the lives of her father, mother, and the uncle that she never knew. The rest of the evening is a winding path, collecting what she had learned from these people, who were all public figures in their own way. Her father, Raul, co-wrote an important manifesto with Fidel Castro for the Cuban revolution. Her uncle, Eduardo, was a radio host who was so influential that it was thought that he would become the next Cuban president before he committed suicide as a political statement. Her mother, Dalia, was the runner-up for Miss Cuba in 1959. As she emerges from the water and resumes her life, public and personal memories can finally merge with the present. 

Projections by Peter Guimaraes aid in transporting us from memory to memory, from Cuba to the United States, but the intelligent spareness of the stage (Set design by Melanie Waingarten) creates a memory purgatory that suspends us. Lights by Gina Patterson arrest time as we are submerged underneath the water. 

Making it very crucial to see this production is not only the fact that it is a limited run, but that all of the themes are relevant. It explores what it means to be Cuban in Cuba and Cuban in the United States, and, layered on top of that, it explores what it means to be a Cuban woman in Cuba and a Cuban woman in the United States. What’s the difference between history and memory? Is it the amount of people who remember it? What makes a bigger impression? Lightly touching many people’s lives or deeply touching a handful? We investigate these questions through the juxtaposition of the family members. Eduardo was a more prevalent person in the eyes of history books and was harder to erase than Raul, but Chibas never met Eduardo. Through this performance, Chibas reclaimed her father’s place in history, who, even though he was more easily erased by history, cannot be erased from her own life. From her mother, she learned to be a woman who sought life, when society teaches that women are supposed to be sought. 

As a performer, Chibas is as clean and precise as her writing. Both her performance and her writing elucidate the beauty of frankness by being matter of fact. None of the characters were portrayed as caricatures, but none of them were airbrushed into idols. There is no need in finding beauty when a performer and writer is as talented as Chibas is; it’s just a matter of opening the box and placing it on stage in light for everyone to see. 

Daughter of a Cuban Revolutionary is also a collaboration between the Goodman Theatre and the Chicago Latino Theatre Alliance (CLATA). Performances are October 9-13. Curtain times are 7:30 pm on the 9th and 10th, 8 pm on the 11th and 12th, and 2 pm on the 12th and the 13th. The performance time is around 70 minutes with no intermission. Performances are at the Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn Street) in the Healy Rehearsal Room. Tickets are available at goodmantheatre.org/daughter or at the box office (312-443-3829). 

Highly Recommended 

Sophie Vitello 

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.