The Stone in the Stomach: Looking at Childhood Through Theater

A sincere and profound dialogue with children, in which they are appreciated as intelligent beings aware of what is happening around them, is proposed by «The Stone in the Stomach,» an original show by Swedish playwright and director Rebecca Örtman, in a puppet theater version by Christian Medina Negrín, recently presented at the Pepe Camejo theater in the city of Matanzas.

«The audience at Pepe Camejo is more than educated in puppet theater. It is true that this show has — not a different theme, because themes are always recurring — but a different approach, a different way of telling stories.

«There are children who do show their fears as a game; their fears are represented, and the child always has a certain parenthesis, but it is the parents’ interpretation that makes the parents feel fear, not the child. Darkness may prepare a child for something, but immediately with the dynamics of the show and the characters who are children, they can identify with their games,» expressed Ederlys Rodríguez, director of Teatro La Salamandra.

«Curating the programming of a theater is important because we have fewer and fewer shows, and you have to know what to put on and what to take advantage of for the audience to see.

«Teatro de Las Estaciones organizes festivals and therefore is always aware of what is happening in puppet theater in the country. In this case, a production by Títeres Retablos, by Cristian Medina, or La Salamandra, by Ederlys Rodríguez, is always a temptation.

«We have a debt with them because they couldn’t come to the 16th FESTITIM, and we were still waiting to be able to bring them to the small avant-garde circle of Cuban figure theater, and in that narrow circle are they, with a complicated, difficult Swedish dramaturgy.

«Sweden is a very particular country regarding childhood and loneliness. Rebecca Örtman is a super interesting playwright, risky in her themes, and with that grace and sympathy that a child can have when they see something complicated but see it very easily,» argues Rubén Darío Salazar Taquechel, director of Teatro de Las Estaciones, National Theater Prize.

La Salamandra Puppets and Retablo Puppets unite again, following the success of «Adventures of an Unknown Soldier,» Villanueva Critics’ Prize, to explore a different dramaturgy from that which, inherited from Hispanic ways of making theater, is generally condescending when it comes to showing the contemporary problems of which children are also protagonists.

«This has a precedent in ‘The Unknown Soldier,’ which was here in Matanzas because it is the union of the work of the Retablos group, with Cristian Medina, and La Salamandra. We have been working together for some time now, and that is another gift of life, one of those beautiful things that happen to us puppeteers.

«This is a text by Rebecca Örtman, a Swedish playwright with whom we had the possibility of doing a dramatic reading during a puppet fair dedicated to Sweden. Cristian was inspired and asked her if he could make an adaptation for puppet theater, which has its own dynamics.

«We came together again, and this show emerged, more elaborated in puppetry, with Cristian’s ways of making, as he is a puppeteer of many mechanisms. So once again we shared the stage, and that’s how Retablos and Salamandra have remained together.»

Encouraged by the transgressive codes of its author — a playwright and director who frequently deals with existential themes and whose characters often struggle for their freedom and the enjoyment of imagination — «The Stone in the Stomach» does not shy away from difficult themes such as loneliness, parental absence or rejection, death, physical pain; rather, it places them at the center of the story with sensitivity and respect for the youngest spectators.

The story brings together Juan, Soran, and Andrea, three children who meet and play in the forest, near a lake, and assume different stances toward certain life situations that lead them to express their deepest fears. In a kind of metaphor, the stones lodged in their chests or stomachs cause them discomfort until they manage to remove them and leave them far behind.

On stage, on a table to the left, rod puppets develop the main actions of the story. The narrative is reinforced by the use of bright colors and warm lighting. On the right, with cold tones, amorphous and monochromatic puppets and objects, somewhat gloomy and grotesque, represent the fears and negative feelings that are also part of the lives of children and adults.

Premiered in 2024, «The Stone in the Stomach» included in its cast two graduates of the Puppet Theater Specialty from the mid-level Theater School, who accompany the experienced actress and puppeteer Ederlys Rodríguez on stage and achieve an evident cohesion, refined technique, and cleanliness, resulting in an admirable performance.

«This is my second visit to Matanzas. The first was at the last FESTITIM, as an invited student. It is a big and beautiful change. Before, I saw theater from the outside; I went to as many shows as I could. Now, being on this side and giving a performance to this wonderful audience that surrenders to the show and lives it is the gift of having graduated. I graduated with this show this school year, and being able to give it to people who enjoy theater has been the best,» comments David Alejandro Góngora.

«For me, it has been very nice because Matanzas is a city where they have a strong culture of going to the theater and taking children to the theater. Performing for children who are used to going to theater is spectacular.

«It is also very special that children come accompanied by their parents, and the parents take away a different reading than the children’s, especially because this show has a different dynamic, a bit more serious, a bit darker, where it talks about fears, the loss of loved ones. Children interpret it differently; it has been very nice to do it for them and for them to see another type of theater,» adds Frank Normand.

Ederlys confessed the privilege that performing in Matanzas, precisely at the Pepe Camejo theater, constitutes for them.

«Performing here for me is an immense gift. The previous times we have come to Matanzas, during FESTITIM, La Salamandra has performed at Teatro Papalote or at El Mirón Cubano. This is the first time I perform at Pepe Camejo. This is a gift that will make me very happy.»

«The Stone in the Stomach» is being presented these days at the 7th International Meeting of Arts for Childhood «Corazón feliz» (Happy Heart). According to Ederlys and Rubén, the show should soon return to Matanzas stages.

Photos by Adversy Alonso