La Colmenita theater troupe will perform its play 'Abracadabra' at Hostos Friday night.

THE STORY of the Cuban Five is a complicated one, but that’s not stopping a troupe of child actors from tackling history.

The Cuban children’s theater group La Colmenita (Little Beehive) will mix fantasy and reality to tell the tale of these Cuban national heroes tonight at Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture.

The play, “Abracadabra,” speaks to a top concern among Cubans, said Carlos Alberto Cremata, who founded the group in 1990.

“In Cuba, in all the neighborhoods, in all the schools, they sing and paint and write poetry about these heroes,” he said. “All the children know they are heroes because they were fighting against terrorism against Cuba.”

To ward off terrorist attacks, Cuba had sent spies to the U.S. to monitor militant Cuban exile groups. U.S. officials had been watching them since the 1960s.

In February 1996, disaster struck when Cuban military jets shot down two airplanes run by an exile group, killing four Americans. Five Cuban intelligence officers were arrested and convicted of espionage, among other crimes, for providing Cuba with information about military bases that was used to down the planes.

Tonight, La Colmenita will revive their story.

This is La Colmenita’s first time in New York, and only its second time in the U.S. It will perform in Harlem tomorrow at Public School 154/The Harriet Tubman Learning Center, 250 W. 127th St., before continuing to California. Troupe members are UNICEF goodwill ambassadors.

Filled with music, singing and dancing, “Abracadabra” was written by the 22 young actors, who range from 6 to 15 years old. In it, a teacher gives students the names of classic fairy tale heroes and challenges them to bring the heroes home.

In real life, the Cuban Five received lengthy prison terms. One, Rene González, was released this month.

Asked whether he considered the subject matter controversial, Cremata said he “never thought about it.”

“We come bringing the best will and hope,” he said. “We hope that people who come to see us understand what Cubans today are feeling.”

Hostos’ arts center has a long history of hosting Cuban performers, like Los Van Van, dating to the early 1990s, said Wally Edgecombe, the center’s director.

There was a lull in the mid-2000s, when the Bush administration clamped down on this cultural exchange, but that has since changed under President Obama.

In recent years, the arts center has hosted such Cuban groups as pianist Dayramir González and Septeto Nacional.

“Our focus is on Afro-Caribbean and African-American arts,” Edgecombe said. “We have a lot of Puerto Rican programming and a lot of Dominican programming. Now we’re getting back into Cuban arts, and it’s great.”

NY Daily News: For the Cuban Five Young theater troupe brings story to life

Photos: Bill Hackwell, with captions from Alicia Jrapko

This Tuesday La Colmenita (The Little Beehive) set off early for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington. It was a long day of rehearsal in preparation for the performance the following day at the prestigious school. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Today it was Ramón…We talked with another of the Cuban Five!

Topping off five days of one surprise after another, today, after having rehearsed tomorrow’s performance at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, located in the upscale neighborhood of Georgetown, where many luminaries from the arts world in the United States have studied, we received another huge surprise. A call from Ramón! And for the first time (we’re hicks after all) we figured out the speakerphone and everyone could listen and talk at once.

The members of La Colmenita are preparing to leave Washington, carrying beautiful memories with them of having been able to speak daily with each of the Cuban Five. Photo: Bill Hackwell

First off, we heard the hearty laugh of this good, noble Cuban.  Afterwards we commented that anyone with a laugh like that could not possibly harbor any ill will. Immediately he told us that he was up to date with all that was happening on this tour, and we told him the many things we know about him, through our incessant questioning of everyone who knows him. For example, we know how much he loves cans of condensed milk, and his very special way of drinking them (once again, the hearty laugh)…

We also know about the time our Ambassador gave him a Three Musketeers bar and he waited for the Ambassador to get up and go to the restroom in order “to gobble it down, feeling like he could eat six or seven more Musketeers.” Another laugh, deeper still, and then the inevitable suspicion, “Hey, where did you learn so much?!” but said again with a laugh, as only he could.

His strong clear laughter is the kind that fills the soul.

One afternoon when we had a long talk with Ambassador Jorge Bolaños, he told us how much Ramón likes adventure stories and his fondness for Alexandre Dumas and “The Count of Montecristo.” Today he told us by phone: “How I’d like to be with La Colmenita in its adventures traveling the world, carrying love and truth!”

“You’re with us, Ramón, you’re with us!” the children reminded him, and Carolina sang to him, she sang softly and tenderly and this bear of a man let loose: “Look, you’re going to make me cry.” Later he told us that he knew that we’d invited Rene to see [the Cuban movie] “And yet…” at its debut soon, and he said “Don’t forget to save a seat for me!”

And just to tease this man who laughs so freely, we asked, “…well, ok, Ramón, how many seats should we save for you?”  He chuckled and said “Well, plenty” (and we laughed like crazy) and he explained:”Sure, because there’s my wife, my daughters (another laugh); I have a big family!”

Lilita recited the letter from his daughter, sent to him in prison when she was very young, with the poem “The Four.” Ramón, a large, strong man, the sports champion at Jessup Prison (in Georgia) just as he was at the prison in Texas and later in Kentucky, whom everyone respected and admired, said once again, “Come on, come on, you’ll make me cry…” And we, who every once in awhile were crying ourselves and could scarcely conceal it, passed the phone to our little Captain, Federico – the Argentinean, our Che on this Granma – and a beaming Federico told him how much we loved him, and how much he is loved in Cuba and all over the world, while Ramón whispered back: “Federico, I know you and I know all about you.  How wonderful it is to talk to you, my boy!” And at that point we begged him to save the few telephone minutes left to him for his loved ones, while we improvised a huge chorus that came straight from the heart: “Ramón, take very very great care of yourself!”

And when we were about to hang up, more than ever we felt that he is at our side all the time, that he is with his brothers, that they must return very soon to Cuba, that it is impossible that injustice could continue to deny us the ability to hear the laughter of these great and good men with whom we’ve spoken like fathers.

Before hanging up, he repeated the phrases that we’ve heard a million times, but that coming from his serene and emotionally charged voice seemed new to us: his desire that Fidel, Raúl and the Cuban Revolution live on, and then he shared with us a prediction that we carry deep within for the path ahead: “You, Cuba’s children, are the guarantee that the future of our homeland and Revolution will be much better than whatever we could have done.”

The members of La Colmenita are preparing to leave Washington, carrying beautiful memories with them of having been able to speak daily with each of the Cuban Five. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Iraida Malberti, video director and La Colmenita queen bee. Photo: Bill Hackwell

On Wednesday, the group heads to New York with its baggage filled with love...the tour continues. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Carlos Alberto Cremata refining details from the performance. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Rehearsal. Photo: Bill Hackwell

Photo: Bill Hackwell

Photos: Bill Hackwell, with captions by Alicia Jrapko

Photo: Bill Hackwell

Today, October 16, was another beautiful day in this tour of the U.S. capital.

We had the enormous pleasure of visiting the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum where we had many moving experiences, among them the unforgettable Planetarium, the Apollo 10, and the first flight of the Wright brothers.

Afterwards, we visited the White House. There the children engaged in a spirited dialogue with Concepción Martín (“Connie”), a Spaniard with U.S. citizenship who has held a peaceful vigil in front of the White House since 1981!!! Thirty years, twenty-four hours a day in Lafayette Park, facing the White House, “suffering” as she told us, “prohibitions, cruelties and incidents, temperatures below freezing in winter and extremely elevated in summer, rain and snow. Why am I here? To make the people who visit the White House understand that we cannot live under the continual threat of global nuclear war that would mean the end of humanity. I am here for peace, because at the end of the day there’s nothing more important.”

Later the children went on to enjoy themselves, play and interact with friends from the Cuban solidarity movement, in a warm house in Maryland, and just when they were playing with their balls, bicycles, and were at the height of their games, once again there was a cry: “Guys! Tony Guerrero is calling…and it’s his birthday today!” We immediately passed the telephone around and quickly improvised a “Happy Birthday” chorus which turned into an infectious conga in the La Colmenita style, imitating Los Papines [a Cuban percussion group]. Afterwards we had a lovely conversation where the story was repeated about the group of children who dedicate themselves to lifting the spirits of those who suffer the unspeakable, and become re-energized with a stronger and more serene initiative than ever.

Tony told us that he’d spent his birthday with a visit from his family that had made him extremely happy and that “Imagine, now I’m talking with all of you…”

In an attempt to calm the moment down, Carolina Fernández began to sing a song to Tony that has become very popular among the members of La Colmenita whenever a beloved has a birthday, and she sang softly into the receiver the tender song “Besitos” [Little kisses], by our friend David Torrens. Our brother Tony was so moved that he said to Carolina: “You can’t imagine how I’ll sleep tonight after having received all these little kisses from all of you”…and later he told me very quietly: “This conversation with your kids is one of the gifts that I had kept for myself on this birthday.”

Carolina is the same girl who plays a leading role in one of the scenes from Abracadabra, when one night, after one of the first rehearsals while she is sleeping in Muma’s (the teacher in Abracadabra) house, in the middle of a power blackout, she says that she can’t sleep because of the heat and mosquitoes. After a long silence, Carolina, a child who at the time was only ten years old, asked quietly, “Muma, how will the Cuban Five sleep? …Will they be hot? Do their cells have windows?”

Days later when by chance that question reached Tony’s family, they sent a message to La Colmenita: Tell Carolina that Tony saw his first window in these twelve years… last May.”

This is one of the lines spoken by Carolina, playing María Silvia, in our Abracadabra.

La Colmenita in Washington. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita in Washington. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita in Washington. Photo: Bill Hackwell

"In the evening when we were at the house of a friend in solidarity, enjoying their friendship, a call came from Tony, who after talking with Tin and some of the children and with a bit more time left before lockup, told him that this was the birthday gift he'd wanted. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to him and a little bee, with all the sweetness in the world, sang "Besitos," disarming everyone. It was unforgettable." - Alicia Jrapko. Photo: Bill Hackwell

La Colmenita in Washington. Photo: Bill Hackwell

The children from La Colmenita sing "El Mayor" by Silvio Rodríguez, to René González, who spoke with them by phone. Photo: Bill Hackwell

By Carlos Alberto Cremata,* Special to Cubadebate

On October 15, the first performance of Abracadabra by La Colmenita [The Little Beehive] was held at the Kay Chapel at American University in Washington DC.

It was a gorgeous performance, where the public was entertained by its beauty, and moved to tears (just as we’ve experienced in Cuba).  But the real surprise of the evening was a last minute phone call that came right at the end of the performance, and the cry went up:

“Everybody, hurry up, Tin is talking with Rene!!!”…

It was a call from Rene González, who was kind enough to call us and spend almost an hour speaking with the 22 children who make up the La Colmenita troupe that is touring the U.S. And every possible decibel of human emotion (as one would expect when a child’s authenticity meets up with the wisdom, security, and tenderness coming from the Cuban Five) was registered in the conversations.

The only comment from the children afterwards was that they “tried to lift Rene’s spirits, and they ended up having their spirits lifted and re-energized by him.”

But the most beautiful note of the evening came when a young member of the troupe named Olito was the last to have the privilege of speaking with Rene, after Robertico, Andy, Muma and Ernestico, the actors from Habanastation [a recently released Cuban movie] had their turns. Before putting him on, I explained to Rene that Olito who has the leading role in the upcoming Cuban film, debuts as Rudy Mora with La Colmenita. The film is titled And yet and all the music is by Silvio Rodríguez, sung by the children along with the songwriter in his debut as a supporting actor.

Rene asked lots of questions about the movie and Olito answered in an especially kind manner, especially when Rene asked Olito if he knew when the film would open in Cuba. The boy moved the phone away from his ear to ask me. I said “tell him that we still don’t know, but it might come out in December or January.” And Olito, quick as an arrow, spoke into the phone: “Listen, Rene. Tin says in December or January, so just in case, I’ll save you a seat at the Chaplin cinema, in the front row.”

*Carlos Alberto Crimata (Tin) is the director of the Cuban theatre company La Colmenita, which is on tour in the United States.

The Washington, DC-based Brownstone Foundation funded La Colmenita’s U.S. tour which will include a private show next week at the United Nations and performances at several venues in New York and San Francisco. For more information on the tour, which began in Washington, please see www.lacolmenitacuba.com

One of the plays performed by the children, ages 5-16, is inspired by the Cuban Five, a group of men imprisoned for conspiracy after trying to infiltrate right-wing Cuban exile groups engaged in terrorist acts against Cuba. For the cast of La Colmenita, these issues are very personal. Cremata’s father was killed in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that was tied to extremist Cuban exile groups. “I am shocked that a U.S. politician would try and prevent a group of children from performing their art,” said Carlos “Tim” Alberto Cremata, founder and director of La Colmenita, which means “The Little Beehive” in English.

“She is treating us as if we were terrorists when the facts are quite the opposite. It is a small segment of the Cuban exile community who has used threats and violence to keep Americans and Cubans apart. We are simply Cuban artists who are coming to the U.S. with a message of social justice, peace and understanding. All we want to do is to share our stories with those Americans who want to know more about the things that are important to the Cuban people. Stopping us from doing that is, frankly, un-American.”

La Colmenita, named the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, has been welcomed in 25 countries and last toured the United States in 2003. This is the first time they have been able to obtain visas since then and were able to do so, in part, because the Obama Administration has loosened guidelines to encourage educational and cultural exchanges.

“La Colmenita is here because the Obama Administration and most Americans recognize that expanded communications, between our two countries is critical to reducing tension and increasing understanding,” Cremata added. Abracadabra, one of La Colmenita’s newest plays, is based on the case of the Cuban Five, who were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 15 years to two life sentences. Rene Gonzalez was released last week after serving 13 years in prison. Supporters of the Cuban Five have asked the Obama Administration to reconsider their lengthy sentences on humanitarian grounds; wives of two of the men have never received U.S. visas to visit their imprisoned husbands.