Magali Alabau (born 1945) is a Cuban-American poet, theater director, and actor. Born in

Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 150,000. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, especial ...

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, she has lived in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

since 1966. She co-founded the Spanish-English ensemble Teatro Dúo/Duo Theatre with Manuel Martín, Jr. and the lesbian theater Medusa's Revenge with

Ana María Simo Ana Maria Simo is a New York playwright, essayist and novelist. Born in Cuba, educated in France, and writing in English, she has collaborated with such experimental artists as composer Zeena Parkins, choreographer Stephanie Skura and filmmakers E ...

. She began writing poetry after retiring from theater, and published eight books between 1986 and 2015.

Biography

Early life in Cuba

Alabau was born in 1945 in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Following the Cuban Revolution, she received a government scholarship to study theater at the Escuela Nacional de Arte de Cubanacán (National Art School) in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

. After three and a half years she was expelled along with a group of students on suspicion of

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

.Matías Montes Huidobro and Yara González Montes (Hg.): ''Celebrando a Virgilio. Tomo 2'' S. 34f, Plaza, 2013 (Spanish). They decided to form the theater group Teatro Joven and staged Abelardo Estorino's

one-act play A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writi ...

''Los Mangos de Caín''. It premiered in the auditorium of the University of Architecture (Havana) on August 15, 1965. Shortly before the planned third performance of the piece, the Executive Bureau of the Young Communist League shut the show down. Under the increasing

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

and cultural intolerance, Alabau left Cuba for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.Viera, Félix Luis
"Magali Alabau, Nueva York"
''Cuba Encuentro''. January 16, 2012. (Spanish).

Theater in New York

Alabau left Cuba through the help of her friend Inverna Lockpez and her mother, who claimed Alabau as a foster daughter. She received an exit permit in 1966 and traveled to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

through the Freedom Flights. They settled in New York City, where she continued her theater training and worked as an actor and director. She also studied religion and philosophy at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

. She acted in productions at INTAR, Greenwich Mews Theater, and

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

. She also directed theater. In 1969, she partnered with Manuel Martín, Jr. to co-found the bilingual theater project Teatro Dúo/Duo Theatre, one of the first Spanish-American theater companies in New York. In January and February 1973, when Teatro Dúo/Duo Theatre mounted a bilingual production of

Tom Eyen Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dreamgirls'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends ...

's ''The White Whore and the Bit Player'' (in Spanish: ''La Estrella y la Monja''), Alabau played the role of La Estrella. In the English-language version of the same production, that role was played by

Candy Darling Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress, best known as a Warhol superstar and transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not ...

. When the company staged Martin's ''Francesco: The Life And Times Of The Cencis'' later that year at La MaMa, Alabau played the role of Beatrice Cenci. In 1974, she appeared in

Ahmed Yacoubi Ahmed ben Driss el Yacoubi (1928–1985) was a Moroccan painter and storyteller. He was born in Fez, Morocco. Career Yacoubi met the American composer and writer Paul Bowles in Fez in 1947, and later in Tangier. Yacoubi then began doing tran ...

's ''The Night Before Thinking'', directed by Ozzie Rodriguez. In 1981, Alabau appeared in La MaMa's production of Jose Triano's ''The Night of the Assassins'', directed by Endre Hules. In 1976, wanting to create a lesbian community space, she co-founded the lesbian theater Medusa's Revenge with

. Medusa's Revenge was the first lesbian theater in New York City.

Poetry

In the mid-1980s, Alabau retired from theater and devoted herself to poetry. In 1986, she debuted with the poetry anthology ''Electra y Clitemnestra''. In the book, she reinterprets the

Greek myths A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...

of Clytemnestra and

Electra Electra (; grc, Ήλέκτρα) is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, '' Electra'' by Sophocles and '' Electra'' by Euripides. She is also the centra ...

, transforming the context from heterosexual to

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. Central themes in her poetry include intimacy, eroticism, and lesbian love. Her collection ''Volver'' (2012) deals with her exile and her relationship to her homeland of Cuba. After living for 28 years in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, she moved to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

in upstate New York in 1996.Luis de la Paz:
5 preguntas a Magali Alabau
'' In: ''Diario de las Américas'' vom 26. Januar 2013, retrieved, via ''Artefactus Magazine'' 4. September 2013 (Spanish). She retired from the literary world and devoted herself to the rescue of abandoned pets. In 2009, she began writing poems again.

Selected works (poetry)

* ''Electra y Clitemnestra. Poema''. New York: Maitén Books, 1986. * ''La extremaunción diaria''.

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

: Gedichtband, Rondas, 1986. * ''Ras''. New York: Medusa, 1987. * ''Hermana''. Madrid: Betania, 1989. . * ''Hemos llegado a Ilión''. Madrid: Betania, 1991. . * ''Liebe''.

Coral Gables Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the U ...

: La Torre de Papel, 1993. * ''Dos mujeres.'' Madrid: Betania, 2011. * ''Volver.'' Madrid: Betania, 2012. Amor fatal, Madrid: Betania, 2016 Ir y Venir: Bokeh Mordazas: Bokeh 2017

Awards and recognition

*First prize in ''Lyra's Magazine'' poetry contest, 1988 * Cintas Fellowship, 1990 *Latin American Institute Writers Poetry prize for best Spanish-language poetry book for ''Hermana'', 1992

References

External links

Magali Alabau
on the official Cuban online encyclopedia '' EcuRed'' (Spanish)
Magali Alabau
on the Betania blog (Spanish)
Magaly Alabau's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alabau, Magaly 1945 births Living people Cuban emigrants to the United States Cuban poets Cuban stage actresses Cuban theatre directors Hunter College alumni Cuban women poets Date of birth missing (living people) Cuban lesbian writers Cuban LGBT poets Lesbian poets