Alicia Bustamente, One of Cuba’s Best Actresses, Dies

Alicia Bustamante worked in France as of 1991 as an actress and artistic director with the theater company Les Turpials. (blogger)

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, 15 March 2018 — The actress Alicia Bustamante died on Thursday as confirmed by family and friends on social networks. The actress had an extensive career in theater, film and television, in addition to serving as a teacher and theater director.

On learning of the death of the artist there have been the first reactions within the world of entertainment. “I heard from a friend that Alicia Bustamante died today, without doubt one of the best actresses in our country,” said humorist Marcos García on his Facebook account.

Born in 1935 in Havana, Bustamante studied pedagogy and later entered the Faculty of Arts and Letters, from which she graduated in the specialty of dramatic arts in 1960.

As of that same year she was part of the National Theater of Havana and in 1962 she joined the cast of The Chalk Circle, by the playwright Li-Tzing-Tao, which became the first work staged by the University Theater Group.

In 1963, the actress joined the National Dramatic Ensemble and two years later the experimental group La Rueda (The Wheel) directed by Rolando Ferrer, where she remained until 1967 when she joined the renowned Studio Theater, where she remained until 1978.

The Musical Theater of Havana attracted her attention and she joined its actors until 1989. Later, in 1990, she began working in television, where she played the main character of the popular humor series La rebambaramba.

Among her most remembered cinematographic works are her performances in films such as Adorables Lies and Esther Somewhere, both directed by Ricardo Chijona, With You Bread and Onion, by Juan Carlos Cremata, and the short 25 Hours, by the young filmmaker Carlos Barba.

Bustamante taught master classes in France with the Colombes Theater Company. She also directed plays, such as Pachencho Alive or Dead by Abelardo Estorino and Exercises for an Actor, as well as the opening musical gala of the XVI Havana Film Festival.

Starting in 1991, she worked in France as an actress and artistic director with the theater company Les Turpials. In the mid-nineties she directed the musical show Between Two Worlds, premiered in 1994 in Berlin at the Hebel Theater, along with the German actress Hanna Schygula.

Also in Germany she performed with a program of Cuban Readings, as well as a show with music and poetry from the Island.

_____________________

The 14ymedio team is committed to serious journalism that reflects the reality of deep Cuba. Thank you for joining us on this long road. We invite you to continue supporting us, but this time by becoming a member of 14ymedio. Together we can continue to transform journalism in Cuba.