El vendedor de la plaza Chen Weng (1963)
Play script (Spanish)
Notes:
"One of my Black aunts was married to a Chinese man who practiced traditional medicine in Chinatown, and he gave me access to a library that had Chinese texts in Spanish. There I found some traditional folk tales—I don’t remember from which dynasty—and I was inspired to write the children’s play, but I don’t know if it was ever staged at the Teatro de Muñecos, where I worked, because there were no specialists in Chinese culture. Teatro de Muñecos closed in 1964, merging with other puppet troupes to form Teatro de Muñecos de La Habana. In 1965, I was sent to the UMAP, and that marked the end of my work in children’s theater, although even after I went into exile, my plays continued to be staged under different names." (Héctor Santiago; email correspondence with Lillian Manzor)