Q: What inspired you to write ALL EYES AND EARS?  

    A: Eduardo Machado, Artistic Director of INTAR, went to see another play of mine and he was immediately struck by a character in it. He said, “That character deserves her own play.” I agreed. And that was the beginning. The character’s name changed, her circumstances changed, but I found inspiration both in that original character and the people who lived near me in Cuba...just a few houses down.
 

   Q: The play really explores the clash of Cuban and Russian cultures after the inception of Communism in Cuba.  How much of this clash did you experience while living in Cuba?  
 

   A: Growing up in Cuba I idolized Russians. They got to space first. Yuri Gagarin was an idol of mine. The tension that exists in the play is a tension I personally was not privy to when I was in the middle of it. Once I stepped back...once I started to closely examine where I came from, only then did I start to discover that there was tension between these two allies, that they didn’t always get along. When Yuri Gagarin arrived in Cuba to a hero’s welcome he got a terrible sunburn. We had trouble adapting to each other’s climate much less to the ways we each pursued Communism.
   

    Q: In the play the past, present, and future seem to vie for dominance over the world.  How do you see this relationship affecting the actions of the characters?
   

    A: I think in a revolution you are trying to shock the system into the future. However, not everyone is prepared for that kind of shock. Some people cling to the past, some cling to whatever is in front of them, while others blindly rush forward. The characters in the play all react differently. What I think is relevant for today is that the past refuses to let go. It refuses to go away.

MARTIN SOLA and TERUMI MATTHEWS in ALL EYES AND EARS

by Rogelio Martinez, directed by Eduardo Machado

Photo by Carol Rosegg

                                      

 

                            
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