Dos Patrias: la poesía de Cuba

This is about the words. Words that cut across vast leagues of time and space to bring to life the history, triumphs and complexities of Cuba. Words that retain the beauty and mystery of the original Spanish. Coming off a two-week run at their Santa Fe theater, Teatro Paraguas brings Dos Patrias: la poesía de Cuba to Albuquerque this weekend only. Letting the words shine means relying on minimal staging—the floor painted to look like Spanish tile, the actors seated in a line like a second audience and the poems’ English translations projected simply onto a screen at one side. Standout pieces include Nancy Morejón’s haunting “Amo a mi amo” (“I Love My Master”), the waggish “Mirando un grabado erótico chino” (“Looking at an Erotic Chinese Engraving”) by Luis Rogelio Nogueras and Nicolás Guillén’s Santeria-inflected gambol “Sensemayá” (“Song to Kill a Snake”). With foot-stomping dance and the susurrations of flamenco guitar in addition to impassioned lyrical recitations, Dos Patrias is sure to please Spanish-language learners as much as lovers of language and poetry. Catch it on Friday, Oct. 25 or Saturday, Oct. 26 at 7pm and Sunday, Oct. 27 at 2:30pm at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fourth Street SW). Free, though donations are accepted. (Lisa Barrow)