Martí Theater: A new beginning
• The comprehensive rehabilitation process for the capital’s Martí Theater undertaken by the Havana City Historian’s Office is slowly restoring its former glory

Yaima Puig Meneses / Photos: Ricardo López-Hevia

IT is said that the Martí Theater of yesteryear was a highly attractive venue. Its balconies with floral wrought iron railings; the firefly-effect vast lighting system; the graded circles; the scenographic stage curtains; the many doorways; seats of maple and ironwork; its green, ocher and golden tones all made it a majestic theater, the scene of important cultural and political moments in the country since its inauguration in 1884.

However, originally, it was not called Martí but Irijoa, after the last name of its owner; the decision to give it its current name was not made until 1901. A Mecca of the vernacular and Cuban zarzuelas, it was impossible to talk about the Martí and not recall the typical Galician, mixed-race and African characters which so much attracted Cuban audiences of the time. Located on Zulueta and Dragones, eminent artists such as Candita Quintana, Blanquita Becerra, Rita Montaner, Carlos Montezuma, Eduardo Robreño, Federico Piñero, Armando Soler, Enrique Núñez, Rosita Fornés and María de los Ángeles Santana all appeared there.

However, its history is not only marked by culture; the first Constituent Assembly of 1901, where honorable Cubans spoke out against the ominous Platt Amendment took place there, as did another series of meetings with similar political connotations.

Complicated is the word most used by diverse restoration specialists to describe the work underway since 2000 on the emblematic theater, closed to the public 40 years ago. Architects, designers, restorers, muralists, carpenters, researchers and many others have joined forces and intellect in intensive working days to slowly bring back the splendor of the old theater in combination with a certain air of modernity.

To restore it to what is was or create a theater which can be used today was one of the principal dilemmas which faced the Havana City Historian’s Office when it took responsibility for the work, Kenia Díaz Santos, Office projects director, commented to Granma.

The decision made was to give back to the building, also known as the Theater of a Hundred Doors, its principal historic-architectural values and bring from the 19th century an institution able to provide services like any other contemporary auditorium. "On the contrary, we would only be saving a museum," she explained.

That logically implied significant modifications in certain areas of the facility. As the specialist noted, the issue of air conditioning would be one of the most complicated to resolve. "This being a summer theater and completely open to the street, it was almost impossible to maintain the hall with identical characteristics, where functions could be heard in the midst of all the noise which currently surrounds it."

This reality led to an acoustic reinforcement. For that, after restoring the original French carpentry façade, another was placed there, also of wood, with acoustic belts to isolate noise. "Later on, we are going to hang thick velvet curtains and carpet the floors in order to achieve greater acoustic comfort through the drapes," explained Marilyn Mederos Pérez, general project manager.

Acoustically isolating therefore implied air conditioning, for which, she said, it was necessary "to design interior false columns for air conditioning ducts; in the same way equipment was placed under the orchestra pit and above the roofing of the adjoining administrative building in Zulueta Street."

Another inevitable modification was the stage machinery tower, as that of the old theater, in addition to being very deteriorated, had a wooden structure, with papier-mâché decorations made to create an atmosphere for specific performances and not with the objective of making them durable," said the project manager.

Once again the dilemma was to find a balance between rescuing the original historic building and making it function under modern technological and scenographic concepts. "Without raising the structure too much, because then it would lose balance in relation to the stage, a totally new stage machinery tower was designed, made of galvanized steel and very attractive," commented Medero Pérez.

She went on explain, "In 2005, an excavation process began to create the three-meter foundations to sustain the aforementioned structure. It was a very difficult step, in which we had to be extremely careful, because the theater adjoins a number of buildings full of homes, many in quite a precarious state, and it was necessary to underpin these buildings so that they would suffer the least damage possible.

"Together with the new stage machinery tower a basement was constructed under the stage to give more comfort to the work of the musicians. In a general manner, these works went on for more than two years."

At the same time, work went ahead on the process of restoring the trusses, the frame which sustains the stage roof. "The three remaining ones were dismantled and it was possible to do the rest. In these areas there’s very little new wood, almost all of it is the original theater timber," Díaz Santos affirmed.

A new generation discovered the former theater, studied it, is restoring it and returning it to life. After complex and costly initial steps, many might imagine that the internal decorative elements are easy work for the specialists. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Gretel Álvarez Guerra, onsite project manager, recalls that in order to restore the decorative elements in the theater’s interior, including the original colors, they undertook an exhaustive process with the Puerto Carenas finishing construction enterprise, attached to the City Historian’s Office.

"The elements to consider were diverse because both the design and the architecture of this institution have many, varied details. The work has been complex, in some cases we had the complete original pieces or fragments, but in others we had to base ourselves on testimony from the era or photographs, Álvarez Guerra noted.

"For example, in the particular case of the curve element of the false roof, we reproduced it as it was, with small timber boards, all very well spaced out, the same size, respecting what existed, despite the fact that currently, with modern materials, we could have done curved surfaces much more easily."

In the same way, the City Historian’s Office workshop schools played a leading role in these activities. Well before beginning this part of the restoration process, a group of students developed their graduation thesis through an investigation into the theater’s original décor. "The project was very useful to us," confirmed Álvarez Guerra.

Otmaro Medina Muñiz, professor of Painting at the Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos workshop school and coordinator of students collaborating in reconstruction, confided that he was extremely proud of the research work being taken into account.

In order to lighten the roof structure, he commented, a reproduction was made in plasterboard with all the gilt in papier-mâché, except for the exterior ring of the ceiling rose and the center from where the chain runs, which are made of plaster. "The colors and decorations of the false ceiling and its central rose, the grand entrance, the capitals and other elements bear the mark of various students and professors from our workshops."

Yania, Yésica, Maria Elena and Bárbara Wendy are students at the Jovellanos workshop school. The first two specialize in mural paintings, but all four agree on the importance for students of being linked to these works. "It’s a great experience," they affirmed.

In conversation with City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler, we also learned of the detailed research carried out over years by architect Nancy González Arzola, covering the most diverse aspects of the theater and whose studies and projects were finally collected in the book Teatro Martí, published by the outstanding architect in 2011.

This is not just about finding a corrugated dowel and putting it in a specific place, a restoration work of this magnitude is much more complicated and the final touches have their own challenges. "Now we’re working on the false ceiling and completing some of the decorations, work which was begun some time back. In relation to the technical part, the stage mechanism is installed, as is the raising platform under the stage. The work of mounting the lights has begun and other theater systems like lighting, electro-acoustics and curtaining are contracted," stated Álvarez Guerra.

They are also completing details in terms of carpentry and the exterior areas, including the garden. The ongoing restoration is to return the theater to its original conception so the marquise was renovated similar to the original 19th century one. It will have ticket booths, a cafeteria, a corner kiosk for newspaper sales, sculpted benches, lighting and window boxes.

The new Martí Theater will have modern security and fire protection systems. There will be areas for rehearsing small format works, meetings, assemblies and other activities; at the same time, dressing rooms and other facilities for artists such as wardrobe and laundry space are to be extended. "We are conscious of the great effort implied for the Cuban state to undertake a project such as this at the present time. For that reason, the reopening of the Martí also constitutes a challenge," Leal Spengler emphasized to Granma.