“Bayamesa” de Abel González Melo

Miami-Dade County Auditorium and Teatro Avante present Bayamesa, a play written by Abel González Melo and directed by Mario Ernesto Sánchez. A theatre company comes across unpublished manuscripts of the poet María Luisa Milanés (1893-1919), an ardent feminist and patriot born in Bayamo, Cuba, and undertakes the task of creating a play based on her complicated life. In the process, the theatre company uncovers the fascinating story of a dangerous clash with patriarchal tyranny. Bayamesa tells two stories, one set in the early 1900 as María Luisa is turning 16, and another in 2019, as the theatre company prepares a show inspired by her life.

María Luisa, was fluent in English, French and Latin, and was a classically educated accomplished pianist and painter. She was progressive in her political and social ideas, such as the right to vote, but her adoring father was bound by societal conventions. A woman clearly born before her time, María Luisa was a strong character even when society discriminated against her. She had her own voice, but also her own anguish. María Luisa was a tragic figure who died at the age of 26 by suicide.

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