Adria Esther Santana Rodríguez

Adria was one of the greatest actresses Cuba has ever had, in theater, film, and television. A beautiful woman, expansive and cheerful. She graduated with a degree in acting from the National School of Art (ENA) in 1970.

Starting in 1971, she began a long and successful theatrical career, with also ventures into television and film. She made her debut with the Teatro Estudio group, directed by Raquel and Vicente Revuelta, in March 1972.

Her first tours were with the Cubanacán Theater Group, made up of graduates from the class of '70 (herself, Andrés Marí, Othón Blanco, José Raúl Cruz, Yana Elsa Brugal...).

Among her favorite roles are: Camila, from Santa Camila de la Habana Vieja (José Ramón Brene); Greta, from Las penas saben nadar, and the mother, Lola-bride and Carlota-sister, from Vagos rumores (both by Abelardo Estorino).

She has worked with the most brilliant theatrical directors (Héctor Quintero, Vicente Revuelta, Jorge Alí, Berta Martínez, Armando Suárez del Villar, Carlos Díaz), though it was Abelardo Estorino—with whom Adria made her professional debut in La discreta enamorada by Lope de Vega—who became her favorite director.

Her performances in Medea, Bernarda in La Casa de Bernarda Alba, Lalita in Contigo, pan y cebolla, Camila in Santa Camila de La Habana Vieja, the Cuban work Vagos rumores in which Santana believed she "developed as an actress," and especially her work with Abelardo Estorino, with whom she debuted in theater as Belisa (La discreta enamorada, by Lope de Vega), were notable.

In film she worked, among others, in the movies Polvo Rojo (1982), Jíbaro (1984), Isla Negra (1995), and Casa Vieja (2010).

She worked at the Teatro Repertorio Español in New York where she was awarded the Prize from the Association of Entertainment Critics of the city (1997) and at the International Monologue Festival in Miami (2001). Among her distinctions in Cuba were the Omar Valdés National Prize from the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba and the Alejo Carpentier Medal from the Council of State of Cuba.

Between 1997 and 2000, she maintained close collaboration with Estorino and the Teatro Repertorio Español in New York, and other directors such as Colombian Jorge Alí Triana.

During this period she was recognized with the Prize from the Association of Entertainment Critics of New York for her character of Greta in Las penas saben nadar in 1997, and the award from the International Monologue Festival in Miami, Florida, in 2001.

In 2006 she graduated from the Higher Institute of Art (ISA) in Havana. She has received numerous awards at theatrical festivals both in Cuba and abroad.

At the time of her death she held the Distinction for National Culture and the Alejo Carpentier Order, awarded by the Cuban State.

She passed away on September 30, 2011, at the age of 63, a victim of cancer. With her death, Cuban dramatic art lost one of its most steadfast personalities.

She is survived by her husband, musician Pablo Menéndez—with whom she had been married since 1969—their son, musician Osamu Menéndez (1969-), and two grandchildren.