Performing the Spanish-Cuban-American War on US and Cuban Stages

City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 5-2018 The Other at War: Performing the Spanish-Cuban-American War on U.S. and Cuban Stages Juan R. Recondo The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2744 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] THE OTHER AT WAR: PERFORMING THE SPANISH-CUBAN-AMERICAN WAR ON U.S. AND CUBAN STAGES by Juan R. Recondo A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2018 © 2018 Juan R. Recondo All Rights Reserved i The Other at War: Performing the Spanish-Cuban-American War on U.S. and Cuban Stages by Juan R. Recondo This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Theatre in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. September 18, 2017__ Jean Graham-Jones_______________ Date Chair of Examining Committee September 18, 2017__ Peter Eckersall___________________ Date Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Marvin Carlson David Savran THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ii ABSTRACT The Other at War: Performing the Spanish-Cuban-American War on U.S. and Cuban Stages by Juan R. Recondo Adviser: Jean Graham-Jones The Spanish-Cuban-American War, declared by the United States on April 25, 1898, marks a colonial shift in the history of the Caribbean and solidified the expansionist thrust of the United States outside national borders. Theatres in turn-of-the-century New York, which at this point was one of the theatrical centers of the nation, debated for audiences the imperialist character of the U.S. The Cuban struggle and the resulting Spanish-Cuban-American War permeated U.S. drama, thereby portraying a Caribbean in need of salvation by the military intervention of the United States. New York stages of the time became locations where various cultural representations came into contact. Those voices silenced in New York theatres also negotiated their identity through the construction of a U.S. Otherness. Cuban theatre around the time of the war portrayed a complex picture of the invading nation and the contradictions in its humanitarian mission to liberate the island from Spain. Cuban playwrights conceived their national identity in opposition and parallel to the United States. Their construction of a staged American otherness questioned U.S. imperialism amidst the invasion. This project establishes a dialogue between the representation of Caribbean Otherness on New York stages and American Otherness in plays produced in La iii Habana to examine how national stages commented on the encounter of nations that resulted from the Spanish-Cuban-American War. I contend that the representation of Caribbean difference in turn-of-the-century U.S. theatre about the Spanish-Cuban-American War must be examined alongside Cuban performances of American Otherness. By focusing on difference, this comparative analysis will not only reveal how the United States envisioned itself as an overseas empire, but also how theatres in La Habana questioned the U.S. humanitarian mission in the Caribbean. iv Acknowledgments This has been a process that has taken many years. Yet the long journey has been worth it due to the love and support of so many people along the way. I have a tendency to focus on the details when thinking about those I love and respect. These details are just a peek into the profound impact that all of them have had on my work and my emotional wellbeing. To the members of my committee: David, your conversations that first semester opened my eyes to the beauty of historical narrative. Marvin, thanks to you I was able to literally walk to the theatres of nineteenth-century New York City. You turned theatre fantasy into reality. Jean, you have been my guide through this experience. You are the border and the voice that I most engage with in my writing. Your presence is felt in all my academic projects. The Theatre Department at the Graduate Center has been a space of inspiration. Jim Wilson’s advice and Lynette Gibson’s assistance made the department feel as a home. Here, I also found my New York family: Meg and Rob, thank you for Christmas and your love; Catherine, thank you for the thoughtful conversation; Carly, thank you for Baruch and making me laugh; and Linell, thank you for the sweetness of strawberry-rhubarb pie during one of our darkest moments. Furthermore, I would like to show my gratitude for every conversation that I had with my students from the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Baruch College, LaGuardia Community College, and New York University. Regardless of our distance, my Puerto Rican family never left my side. When I first arrived to New York, Papito’s mustachioed encouragement, Rafael’s profound decency, Rosibel’s explosion of madness, and Beatriz’s energizing happiness always brought me to tears. Sheila’s grace and Richard’s big laugh will always bring back the spirit of parranda. The siblings that I acquired along the road, Angel, Marinellie, and Griselle, are constant reminders of the v beauty of my island home. Alanis’s painful absence, Kahel’s tenderness, Daniel’s generosity, Juancho’s serenity, and Aleco’s smile have taught me lessons never addressed in any doctoral course. Cache’s brilliant conversations, Esther’s inappropriate humor, Gloria’s endearing toughness, and Peter’s mastery of every game in existence always make me smile. My academic family from the University of Puerto Rico has been present every step of the way: the first serious conversations about cinema that I ever had with Rodi; Diane’s love for American cinema, the reason for my obsession with Orson Welles; María Cristina’s introduction to film theory, which simply blew my mind; and Lowell’s examination of Caribbean theatre and performance that made me reconsider everything I knew about my corner on this planet. The Puerto Rico that all of you represent is hidden between the lines of this dissertation. Finally, to the people whose presence redefined my existence. Mamita, not one day has gone by without a phone call from you. Those trips to the movies and the theatre led me to this. Otto, your twelve years in my life have taught me the face of true wisdom. Doña Geo, you may be absent from this plane of existence, but you are always present in every moment of laughter. And Edna, thank you for holding my hand, for your dolls, for your understanding, for your criticism, for your unrelenting perseverance, for every evening and every morning, y por hacer de Nueva York otro lado de nuestra patria. vi Table of Contents Timeline of the Spanish-Cuban-American War in Cuba………………………………………….1 Introduction Confronting Mambises and Negritos with National Fire………………………………………….3 Chapter 1 The Posthegemonic in Melodramatic Invasions and Theatrical Revolutions……………………39 Chapter 2 Negotiating between Cubanía and Cubanismo for a Transnational Audience…...…………….. 89 Chapter 3 Burning Cubas and Laughing Negritos…………………………………………………………139 Conclusion Beyond Empire: The Spanish-Cuban-American War and Its Theatrical Legacy……………....192 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………200 vii Timeline of the Spanish-Cuban-American War in Cuba: 1844: Also known as “el año del cuero” (the Year of the Lash) for the extreme whippings that Spanish authorities used against intellectual and slave co-conspirators involved in “la conspiración de la escalera” (the Ladder Conspiracy). 1849: La Junta Promovedora de los Intereses Políticos de Cuba (the Committee to Promote Cuban Political Interests), or the Cuban Junta, is established in New York City to rally for financial and political support for revolutionary actions in Cuba. 1868: El Grito de Yara (the Yara Revolt) is declared from Carlos Manuel de Céspedes’s sugar plantation, La Demajagua. This event initiated the armed struggle known as the Ten Years’ War (ended in 1878). 1869: The insurgent army names Céspedes the President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms. 1870: Céspedes sends his brother-in-law, Revolutionary General Manuel Quesada, to the U.S. to devise a strategy to smuggle arms into Cuba. For this purpose, Quesada purchases a U.S. ship, the Virgin (later registered as the Virginius). 1873: The Virginius is seized by the Spanish authorities close to Jamaica for smuggling arms into Cuba. Céspedes’s brother, Pedro María, thirty-four U.S. citizens, and nineteen British nationals are executed. Céspedes is ousted as leader of the rebellion and President of the Republic of Cuba in Arms. Salvador Cisneros Betancourt is named president. 1874: Spanish forces kill Céspedes in his mountain refuge. 1878: The Ten Years’ War ends with the Pact of Zanjón. 1895: Cuban rebels initiate el Grito de Baire (the Baire Revolt) under the intellectual leadership of José Martí on February 24. José Martí is killed at the Battle of Dos Ríos on May 19. 1896: Evangelina Cossío y Cisneros is imprisoned for treason by the Spanish authorities. 1897: With the aid of Karl Decker, a U.S. journalist sent by William Randolph Hearst, Cossío y Cisneros escapes from prison and flees to New York. 1898: The U.S. battleship Maine explodes off the shores of La Habana on February 15. U.S. President William McKinley signs the Teller Amendment on April 20, guaranteeing that U.S. military forces will leave Cuba after the island’s independence. 1 The U.S. declares war on Spain on April 25.

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