Seeing Holguin’s Venecia Feria Borja performing at the same time several characters and transit through dissimilar nuances in the scene is a true delight. Talented actress, her greatest virtue is the versatility with which she assumes roles ranging from a child to an old lady.
In the 18th National Festival of Humor, Aquelarre 2012, she received many laurels, including the one for best female performance, and since then her name is heard in the Cuban scenic landscape. She recently won the Caricato award for best female performance in humor, by her character in the play Sobras Escogidas.
When did you come to the world of humor?
I studied acting at the National School of Art in the affiliate of Granma province. Upon completion of studies I returned to Holguin to make the Social Service. There I met the boys of Etcetera Group and they invited me to make sporadic appearances with them, some sketches where they needed a woman.
In 2012 I asked Eider Pérez, director of the group, to write me a text, a bit more serious and thought where I could work more the humor. He writes me the monologue 120 enterabay, with which I debuted as an actress in Aquelarre 2012.
How did you receive the news of winning the first prize for female performance in 2012?
It really surprised me the fact that the work I started doing in 2012 to be recognized and rewarded. I think the scarce presence of women in humor has led my work to be admired by people.
For a long time the Center for Promoting Humor (CPH by its Spanish acronym) did not welcome a woman in its catalog. Right now there are only four women comedians: Yasnay Ricardo Mireya Abreu Perez (Mireyita), Aleanys Jáuregui (Cuqui la Mora) and I, who joined them in 2012. In Cuba, few women are devoted to comedy.
What references did you have to work the humor?
I had never done humor. At school I had made some characters with humorous elements. I did not know I had those conditions but Eider knew how to work with me and find that humor which was totally unknown to me. Previously I had always done dramatic theatre.
And what caught you of Etcetera Group?
Something that drew me from the beginning was the scene representation of reality around us and searching for comedy items of tragic things in real life. Sometimes you give them an artistic treatment and make them look ridiculous on stage.
The humor that Etcetera Group makes is identified by the creation, the variety of characters and a strong work on characterization. We try to premiere a new play monthly, because the public demands our repertoire to be dynamic and constantly renewed. That is easier to do in humor than in dramatic theater, because the making process is longer in the latter. That’s what attracted me to the humor.
I am interested in performing different characters. First I made an old lady; then a girl; now, a Miss Universe. I like everything and more in this moment I’m learning. I feel like I was in a test tube, experimenting with everything.
What did you set out when performing a Miss Universe?
That Miss Universe is called Yany Ciper and belongs to a show entitled Vanality Show consisting in a competition where there soap operas, plastic surgery, a movie.
In the show the Miss Universe is interviewed by a television presenter and a journalist. We ridiculed the character. She is a very pretty girl but lacks information both cultural as politics. The presenter starts asking her questions related to that and her answers cause much laughter.
The four CPH women will soon star in a new show together. What can you tell us about that?
The show was written by Eider Perez and Kike Quiñones (CPH director). It is entitled Casting. It is about four actresses who have auditioned for a movie. Each wants to be the chosen one. We are in the staging process but the date of its release is yet defined. I cannot tell anything else.
Do you have some new working projects?
In this March we plan to release a new show that is still being written by Eider. In addition we will participate in the next CPH National Winter tour. I have also received some offers to work on television but still nothing has been materialized.
Authors
Maya Quiroga,
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