Irina Pino’s Diary

Walking down 5th Avenue in Havana with my earphones in, listening to music on my phone, wearing comfy clothes and a pair of tennis shoes, is all I need for an hour of therapy.

Set in Havana and a rural town, it tells us the story of a love triangle between a young guajira and two men from her childhood. One of them is the sugar mill manager’s son, and the other one is a poor boy. The story unfolds from 1950 until 1994, year of the Rafter Crisis and the mass exodus.

The act of looking at a photo of a naked body is surrounded by prejudice. Just doing it is a whole thing. People who have posed for these kinds of photos keep them hidden away. Maybe because twisted minds would use them for blackmail or business purposes.

Obsessive compulsive disorders cause a lot of harm. It makes people uneasy to watch others who suffer from these kinds of disorders… although this time, it takes the play written by French playwright Laurent Baffie as its basis, which made its debut with Cuban theater company A teatro limpio.

I live in La Puntilla, a neighborhood in Havana’s Miramar district, which is decaying. What can we do in the face of so much incompetence, indolence? I have an idea: fix up the neighborhood, but to the extreme. (8 photos)

Playwright Carlos Celdran has just taken his new production Misterios y pequenas piezas (Mysteries and Smaller Pieces) to the stage at the Adolfo Llaurado theater, on 13 and D Streets, in Vedado. Packing the theater for three weeks now, it is a tribute to Cuban director and teacher Vicente Revuelta on what would be his 90th birthday. 

Last year brought me a lot of joy: my latest book was published, I traveled, I shared moments with friends and relatives, events that all give life some kind of meaning. This 2019 has only brought me painful events, illness, accidents, people who meant something to me have passed away.