"It rains" inside the National Theater of Cuba

The National Theater of Cuba leaks and when it rains in Havana the musicians who rehearse there get wet, as do their instruments and scores.

"While the asers played, musicians, pianos, string and electric instruments, all wet," a user who identifies himself as Liborio in Cuba denounced on Twitter.

The Internet user shared a video in which the effects of rain can be seen inside the emblematic theater, provisional headquarters of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba.

The water falls from the ceiling and falls on the music stands, wetting sheet music and musical instruments, in front of the eyes of the musicians who suffer from apathy and institutional abandonment, which other Cubans denounce on social networks.

"The Karl Marx and the Gran Teatro closed by termites, (also termites in the National), the Amadeo destroyed,...who answers?" asked the Internet user.

CyberCuba He wrote to the theater management to verify this information, but so far they have not responded to the messages sent.

The National Theater of Cuba opened its doors in September 1979, with a gala for the delegations to the Sixth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It is made up of two rooms: the largest is named after the Spanish-Cuban writer "Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda" and the smallest is named after the Cuban actor "Francisco Covarrubias".

Its construction was approved in 1951, under the administration of Carlos Prío Socarrás, and although work began the following year, inspired by the Radio City Music Hall in New York, it took longer than expected and in 1959 a large part of the structure was missing. construction site.

The situation of theaters in Cuba is increasingly critical and citizens realize the problem and denounce the government for investing resources only in hotels and tourist sites.

The Great Theater of Havana "Alicia Alonso" continues closed to the public because the false ceiling of the "García Lorca" room has termites and there is a slab with a detachment, as explained by deputy director Enmanuel George.

Another theater that remains closed to the public, at least since 2014, is the "Amadeo Roldán" Auditorium, headquarters of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, because the structure was in danger of collapsing, the newspaper reported that year. 14 intervene.

While the building languished, the luxurious hotel was built a few meters away Grand Aston Havana, intended for international tourism, a situation that he criticized Cuban newspaper.

In 2020, the Minister of Culture, Alpidio Alonso, promised that in the first quarter of 2022 that theater would be open to the public, after the structure was stabilized, although he acknowledged that the restoration of the façade, internal conditioning and installation of technology and furniture were pending. Since then the official media has forgotten the issue.

The crisis is not only a problem in Havana: in Santiago de Cuba the "Dolores" Room It is closed to the public due to danger of collapse, without the authorities investing in its conservation and restoration.

Dampness on the ceilings, cracks in the walls, destroyed ventilation systems, broken tiles, rotted wooden beams and debris are the current panorama of one of the places with the best acoustics in the country.