Cuban actress Yerlín Pérez responded to critical comments about the theatrical production of "Fresa y Chocolate" in Miami and stated that the play has achieved 46 performances with a full Teatro Trail.
In a video posted on social media, the performer recalled that when she announced the project, there were comments from “clarias” predicting the show would fail. “That’s just two performances and back to their homes,” commented someone ill-intentioned; but the reality has been very different, said the actress from Villa Clara.
Pérez explained that the "clarias" receive payments for internet access from official entities in the country, such as the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), to criticize artists or opponents.
During his message, Yerlín celebrated the success of the production but stated that the cast’s greater aspiration transcends artistic results. “Do you know what we really want? That in the middle of a performance, before the season ends, we can stop it and go out into the street to shout and celebrate that Cuba is free,” he expressed.
The post generated hundreds of reactions and comments from followers who celebrated the success of the work and supported the artist's message. Some users also shared their wish to see a homeland in freedom and mentioned the cause of political prisoners, while others highlighted the quality of the production and the performances.
The theatrical adaptation of Fresa y Chocolate, directed by Yusnel Suárez, reinterprets the emblematic Cuban film from 1993, which is itself based on the story “El lobo, el bosque y el hombre nuevo” by Senel Paz. The narrative tells the story of Diego, a dissident artist and homosexual, and David, a young communist university student, who develop a friendship despite their deep ideological differences and the prevailing taboos regarding sexual orientation at that time.
The stage version includes music, dance, and new characters, featuring a cast comprised of established figures such as Susana Pérez and Albertico Pujol, along with young talents who have solid careers like Yuliet Cruz, Roberto San Martín, Luis Manuel Bangán, Jeffry Batista, the director himself, Yusnel Suárez, and Yerlín Pérez.
The production will be held at the Teatro Trail in Miami, starting December 5, 2025, with scheduled performances until the next March 22, during a season primarily aimed at the Cuban exile community.
In this update about the first Cuban film nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, “the conflict between Diego and David ceases to be solely a metaphor for the intolerance of the nineties [...] and becomes a mirror of the ideological and emotional fractures that still run through the nation and its diaspora. Havana is not just a physical setting, but an open wound projected onto the collective memory of those who live there and those who have left,” commented the critic Eliecer Jiménez Almeida in Rialta.
Yerlín Pérez, remembered in Cuba for characters like Arturita from the comedy "Deja que yo te cuente," has previously expressed her wishes for transformation and democracy for the island, as she believes, “it is impossible to live in a country where everything is questionable, questioned, and censored, where its inhabitants have no rights.”
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