Ce travail porte sur les performances scéniques qui naquirent à Cuba de la rencontre entre l'idéologie marxiste, officiellement adoptée par le gouvernement depuis 1961, et les religions afro-cubaines, pratiquées sur l'île depuis l'arrivée des premiers esclaves africains. D'un côté, le gouver-nement révolutionnaire entreprit de transformer les rituels afro-cubains en folklore national, tout à la fois pour en neutraliser la portée religieuse et pour les intégrer au patrimoine d'une nation en pleine construction. De l'autre, il exigea au fil des années un militantisme croissant de la part des artistes et notamment des dramaturges, auxquels il était demandé de produire un théâtre social, au service d'une cause politique résolument athée. Ces deux univers, celui des rituels afro-cubains et celui du théâtre engagé, étaient donc a priori bien distincts. Certains dramaturges entreprirent cependant de les mettre en contact : Carlos Felipe (Réquiem por Yarini, 1960/1965), José Ramón Brene (Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja, 1962), José Triana (Medea en el espejo, 1960 et La muerte del Ñeque, 1964), Eugenio Hernández Espinosa (María Antonia, 1964/1967) et José Milián (Mamico Omi Omo, 1965). Leurs approches et leurs objectifs sont très variés mais d'une manière ou d'une autre tous en vinrent, par le détour théâtral, à restituer au langage rituel l'efficacité qu'il avait perdue sur les scènes folkloriques et à produire, le plus souvent involontairement, un théâtre qui s'apparente à de maints égards au théâtre de la Cruauté théorisé par Antonin Artaud, ce théâtre de « l'invisible rendu visible » - théâtre justement décrié par les autorités révolutionnaires. / This work studies on stage performances created in Cuba as a result of the encounter of Marxist ideology, officially adopted by the government in 1961, and Afro-Cuban religions, practised in the island since the arrival of the first African slaves. On one hand, the revolutionnary government set out to transform Afro-Cuban rituals into a national folklore in order to both neutralize its religious significance and insert it within the heritage of a nation in building; on the other hand, artists, playwrights in particular, were ordered over the years to be the activists of a staunch atheist political cause. Therefore these two worlds, Afro-Cuban rituals and socially engaged theater, were a priori quite distinct. However, some playwrights took on bridging the gap between them : Carlos Felipe (Réquiem por Yarini, 1960/1965), José Ramón Brene (Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja, 1962), José Triana (Medea en el espejo, 1960 and La muerte del Ñeque, 1964), Eugenio Hernández Espinosa (María Antonia, 1964/1967) and José Milián (Mamico Omi Omo, 1965).Their approaches and goals were diverse but, somehow or other, by the detour of theater, they all came to restore the effectiveness of the ritual language, lost in the context of folk scenes, and to create, often unwittingly, a theater similar to the Theater of Cruelty theorised by Antonin Artaud, the theater of « the invisible made visible » – the one precisely criticized by the revolutionary authority.

This investigation into modern Cuban theater examines the self-reflective discourse of Afro-Cuban women and her masks in the mirror. This study arose in response to the lack of critical analysis undertaken on this subject matter. Although the number of plays with female Afro-Cuban protagonists is relatively small, there is a growing body of plays with specific concepts that identify them as Contemporary Afro-Cuban Theater, where the life and culture of the Afro-Cuban people is viewed as through a mirror commenting on their own experiences. The persistence of certain themes, formal elements, staging, and an anti-colonial world view form the unique markers of this genre within Cuban theater. The three plays that constitute the primary material for this study are: Juan Revolico (1944), by Flora Diaz Parrado, Medea en el espejo (1959), by Jose Triana, and Maria Antonia (1964), by Eugenio Espinosa Hernandez. Each of these plays is a tragedy with a modern heroin that challenges the stereotypes established by a patriarchal and Eurocentric society, and creating new archetypes.The investigation analyzes the disobedience and rebelliousness of the heroines as they strive against the established power structure. It uncovers a unique approach to Cuban national identity in which the marginalized Afro-Cuban woman is cast in a protagonist role; it is through these protagonist roles that she subverts pre-established notions of race, class, and gender, from the women's tragedies in the patriarchal Euro-centric Cuban society.A re-structuring of gender roles is brought about through the feminine powers of seduction. Throughout each play the Afro-Cuban woman sees herself in the mirror and is able to gather the pieces of her fragmented identity. Afro-Cuban culture and religion are central to the solution of the thematic, formal, and plot conflicts.Among the most relevant contributions of this study is the idea that contemporary Afro-Cuban Theater exists as its own genre. Afro-Cuban Theater exists with its own aesthetics, profile, and anti-colonial perspective. Here the perspectives of Afro-Cuban woman are explored through the protagonists of three of the most significant models of this genre, Juan Revolico, Medea en el espejo, and Maria Antonia.