La edad de la ciruela by the Ecuadorian playwright Arístides Vargas, staged by the D’Dos theatre company and directed by Julio César Ramírez, has its two characters share their infancies with the audiences, revealing natures and truths that are desires and potential harbours in which to cast anchor.

Final de partida (Fin de Partie), one of Samuel Becket’s masterpieces, produced by Argos Teatro and directed by Carlos Celdrán, became a classic of the Theatre of the Absurd Sala Argos Teatro, 1st Nov, 8:30 pm).

La muerte de un viajante (Death of a Salsman), by the US playwright Arthur Miller and directed by Pancho García, is about Willy Loman’s grey and frustrated existence and his suicide to save his family, especially his children, from experiencing a similar fate (Sala Hubert de Blanck, 7 Nov, 6:00 pm y 8 Nov, 5:00 pm).

La legionaria, monologue by Fernando Quiñones, has won the actor Pancho García important national and international prizes for his display of stage resources in these confessions and reflections of an old prostitute (Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht, 8 Nov, 11:00 pm).

Las penas saben nadar, the touching account of the frustrations and aspirations of an aging actress who never received recognition, and Medea sueña Corinto, the classical character of Greek mythology revisited, both monologues by Abelardo Estorino with the performance of his favorite actress, Adria Santana (Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht, 6 Nov, 11:00 pm).

Los Atridas, a play written by Joel Sánchez, based on another myth of classical times, relives in the production by Estudio Teatral of Santa Clara, in a heartrending cry against violence in today’s world (Sala Hubert de Blanck, 1st Nov, 6:00 pm).

Shakuntala, a beautiful show based on the book of the same name by the Indian author Kalidasa, capable of establishing a dialogue between Indian culture and elements of Cuban culture.

Una historia de amor by Enrique Carriazo, a sentimental comedy that defends “”second chances” (Teatro Trianón, 1st and y 2 Nov, 8:30 pm)

Aquicualquier@, a monólogo by Osvaldo Doimeadiós, in which the actor displays his amazing acting abilities.

Ay mi amor, written by Norge Espinosa based on texts by the late Cuban actor Adolfo Llauradó and William Shakespeare, excellently portrayed by Léster Martínez in this successful play by Teatro El Público which delves the intimate and professional life of the late Adolfo Llauradó, one of the most important actors of the Cuban stage and cinema (Teatro Trianón, 2 and 3 Nov, 9:00 pm).

Puerto de coral, written by Maikel Chávez, links the dreams of four women who intend to free themselves from their everyday monotonous existence. This is the play that has received more prices in Cuba in recent years.

Si vas a comer, espera por Virgilio, the multi-prizewinning play by José Milián, delves into the personality of also playwright Virgilio Piñera, a key figure of Cuban theatre, narrative and poetry, marginalized during the 70s due to his iconoclastic position and homosexuality, and cult writer for many young Cuban intellectuals today (Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht, 1st Nov, 5:00 pm).

Versiones de la cubanosofía, a play written and produced by Nelda Castillo--also responsible for stage design, music, general direction and head of the El Ciervo Encantado theatre company--deals with the meaning of “being Cuban”, which philosophers and poets obsessively search for.

Marx en el Soho, prize-winning one-man play with the Cuban actor Michaelis Cue based on Howard Zinn’s work, in which a demystified and ironic Karl Marx counters his theories with the theories of neoliberal realism in New York’s Soho (Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht, 1st Nov, 9:00 pm).

Alasestatuas by Teatro la Cueva delves into the transcendence of man, and Smell! (Yo no soy ese tipo de gente), by Escena 163 theatre company, questions controversial aspects of human behaviour (sala Argos Teatro, 7 Nov, 8:30 pm and 8 Nov, 5:00 pm), both from Bolivia.

Neva, multi-prizewinning play by Guillermo Calderón from Chile and his Teatro en el Blanco, which has been performed in over 15 countries. The play gives life to the actress Olga Knipper, Anton Chejov’s widow, caught up in the revolutionary turbulence of Saint Petersburg in 1905 (sala Adolfo Llauradó, 6-7 Nov, 8:30 pm and 8 Nov, 5:00 pm).

Other plays include:

Calcetines, mentiras y vino by Álvaro Solar (Germany)

Teruel y la continuidad del sueño by El Bacín Teatro (Argentina)

El trompo metálico by Heidi Steihardt, and the El Trompo theatre company from Argentina

Tiempo de soja by Rubén Monreal, and the Sala 420 troupe, also from Argentina (Centro Cultural Bertolt Brecht, 3-4 Nov, 8:30 pm)

Orestiada, from Brazil (Pabellón Cuba, 6-7 Nov, 5:00 pm)

Para nao dizer que nao fa lei das flores, also from Brazil

Cartas cruzadas, free version by Cubans Raquel Carrió and Flora Lauten of the play María Estuardo by Friedrich Schiller, is performed by Corporación Teatral Tragaluz from Ecuador (sala Buendía, 3, 4 and 5 Nov, 8:30 pm)

La flor de Hiroshima, dance-theatre by Danza Butoh de Los Andes (Sala Las Carolinas, 2-3 Nov, 8:30 pm

For the complete program, see www.festivaldeteatro.cult.cu