By: MsC. Yuldys Márquez Díaz
The area where the Avellaneda Theater was built, and where it is currently located, conjures up a story that, by rare coincidence, has a lot to do with the writer Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, to whom it owes its name.
The land of the house where Gertrudis lived for a few days on her last trip to Santa María del Puerto del Príncipe coincides with one of the two spaces chosen by Juan Guarch Milá to build the theater. Although it cannot be attested that Guarch even knew of this coincidence, remember that the theater was built in 1913 and the writer visited the place in 1860. Only the existence of a Guarch business in La Norma store locates the Spanish businessman in the vicinity of this perimeter.
But who was Juan Guarch Milá, and how did he manage to build what is known today as the Avellaneda Theater?
The most distant reference to the area where La Avellaneda Theater was built dates back to 1798. The house number 31 on Estrada Palma Street, formerly called Soledad, which was owned by Don Diego Venancio Cisneros was donated after his death to his legitimate children Rosa, Juan Antonio, Josefa and María Soledad de Cisneros, for this date it was valued at 2,783 pesos.
In 1849, the references found in the Northern Property Registry of the province of Camagüey and that is also evidenced in the study carried out by the Department of Applied Historical Research of the Office of the Historian of Camagüey city, testify that this property was in the name of María Soledad de Cisneros.
For those same years, the father of our writer, the exalted Tula, had a natural daughter, precisely with María Soledad Cisneros, who was baptized in the parish of La Soledad with the name of María Gertrudis Anastasia Gómez de Avellaneda y Cisneros, on the May 13th, 1809.
There are also references that for the nineteenth century before the war of 68, the house that concerns us was owned by Doña María de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda y Cisneros. In this same period, the writer, the other Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, visited the Island, and the Camagüey Philharmonic Society wanted to pay homage to her.
Her return
On May 10th, 1860, the illustrious writer arrived in the city of Camaguey; after more than twenty years of absence. It was known to all that the temperament of this woman from Puerto Príncipe did not fall into doubt as she had to transgress social conventions and without any taboo she decided to settle in the house of her natural sister, in the same place, where years later the theater with her name will be built.
The tribute took place on June 3rd, 1860. A chronicle by Emilio Peyrellade published in El Fanal, tells us the details. On June 10th, 1860, the writer left Puerto Príncipe and she never returned.
In 1868, the natural sister of the writer and owner of the house, died and the place was inherited by the husband Don José Roura and their children Pablo and Ángela Roura Carnesoltas, and the relatives who came from another marriage of the named husband, who were the owners until the end of the 19th century. Pablo Roura Carnesoltas, after his death, donated half of the house to his wife, Doña María de los Ángeles Montejo y Varona, who is the one who sells the building to Juan Guarch Milá, the first owner of La Avellaneda Theater. This man builds it after taking ownership of the house in Avellaneda number 36, and unifies both in order to obtain the area where the theater was built.
The plans of this building, and the consecutive letters sent to the Mayor, detail the location of each room within the theater, and the model of the façade.
The first of these letters written to the Municipal Mayor tells the plans of the businessman, dated March 14th, 1912:
That on the 38×22-meter plot (836-meter flat) that make up the plots where the houses of my property Estrada Palma No.31 and Avellaneda No. 36 are currently located, I plan to build a new building that will be used as a Hall-Theater for public-cinematographic shows, duets, varieties, etc.-for which purpose I request the corresponding license, […]
In this letter of request signed by Guarch and the master builder Orlando Freyres, the layout of the new theater is also explained, and the blueprints are added. In these blueprints the characteristics are observed. It was a large eclectic building, typical, large, but very modest. It was a simple construction, without many pretensions, and this is what Guarch says in the first letter to the Mayor when he describes the projected work.
Distribution of the floor- (…) the public will have access to the premises through two doors open to Estrada Palma Street and they will exit through four doors that will open onto Avellaneda Street. (…)
Facades: – They will have the simple ornamentation that is indicated in the plan. Having drawn only a part of the one that leads to Avellaneda Street because it is symmetrical to the others. (…)
Roofs- The one in the Waiting Room will be a roof terrace formed by beams and slash pine plank, railing and two simple brick floors. The showroom will be “gabled” (…)
[…] Doors- all the doors will open towards the street and will be made of wood painted in oil and in the shape of a blind- as in the blueprint that is drawn- to facilitate the ventilation of the place- In the openings where there are no doors, they will be placed likewise fixed blinds for the indicated purpose. […]
When the theater was supposedly going to be inaugurated with the image that its owners wanted, the municipal architect, Mr. José S. Acosta, wrote to the Mayor saying that he could not allow the official opening because certain details such as the placement of the brackets were missing, among other architectural aspects. The inauguration is finally announced for May, 1913.
The history of the modifications did not stop there. But this would be another article with which we can evaluate the current architecture of the Bombonera de Tula, as it was also called.
On May 20th, 1913, it was the opening performance, and although some researchers claim that it was not as lavish as that of the Main Theater, it was a relevant event for the lives of the locals.
Translated by: Aileen Álvarez García
