In the nighttime we saw Carlos Diaz’s play, Las Lágrimas de Petra von Kant. I found it incredible. The way Diaz plays with gender and sexuality throughout the entirety of the play was riveting to watch. The way the audience completely accepted all the explicitness is something I know in countries like Dominican Republic would not fly. The freedom, therefore, in this performative sense was fascinating to see happen in front of us. The actors themselves I thought were incredibly talented especially with the way they used language (increasing volume and the space they left between words) to perfecting deliver a line. I thoroughly enjoyed the play in general.
—Amy
The entire time I was on alert to what would happen, although I already knew how the story was going to end.
-Cecilia
I was surprised by the amount of interest Cubans had in the play. Although the play was on a Monday, many people were in the audience. For me, it was the first time seeing a drag show, and it was very interesting to compare between the film and the play. There were many explicit sex scenes and it seemed to me that there were more signs to indicate that Karin was a prostitute. The use of a catwalk made me feel like I was part of the show.
— Hayoung
The play we saw was truly impressive. In the play I was impressed by how gender dynamics were treated (it is a play about a woman who falls in love with another woman, but the actors are men dressed as women). In some instances the actors talked about “living together” as women, but other times of “living together” as men. I don’t know if it was on purpose, but the gender play in the language they used seemed very interesting to me. We could relate to either Petra or Karín, the two main characters. Everyone has experience with being in love.
—Diego
I can’t lie, the piece completely disarmed me. I did not expect that the film would be transformed into drag, nor did my companions, based on our conversations. I think the transformation added a lot of humor to the work and I enjoyed it immensely, much more than the original. I think the elements of drag and homosexuality were interspersed to disturb an audience that would normally expect to be seated and comfortable.
—Sergio
I thought the theater production was much better than the movie. There was much more energy and action in the show.
-Marisela
How impressive and fun! I was left with my mouth open. I don’t even know how to explain how much I loved that work. The way the actors transmitted the strong emotion of love, hate, pain and obsession was shocking. They made you feel part of the work, as if you were in Petra’s room. The genre game was a key part of the play and it was very interesting how the use of clothes and the movements of the actors helped to play with the audience’s expectations. Marlene’s role was my favorite, I do not understand how someone who did not have to say a single word could dominate the stage. My favorite line of the play was when Sindonie tells Gaby, “You just missed a tremendous opportunity … to shut your mouth.”
-Daniela
In the first scene I was very surprised that the actor was so comfortable in being naked in front of a large audience. One of the most apparent aspects was that the actors were men, dressed as women. This adds another layer of complexity to the work, since at the beginning of the Cuban revolution homophobia was present in society and they associated homosexuals and transsexuals as counterrevolutionaries.
-Andrea
It was the most interesting and simultaneously confusing play I have ever seen. It started off with a man wearing a sheer robe walking around the stage and then taking off the robe. We were all shocked and confused. There were multiple scenes where the actors were partially naked and partaking in sexual conduct. While comical, the characters were very expressive about their sexual fantasies. Although the original German film was originally comprised of a cast of women, the main characters in this play were all men. This dynamic created an interesting interpretation of the piece considering it was supposed to be a feminine plotline.
-Tori
