Arquímedes Pous

Cuban actor, author and theatrical entrepreneur. Outstanding renovator of the vernacular stage.

He was born in the city of Cienfuegos, into a well-to-do family that wanted to see him become a successful doctor. But his passion for theater revealed itself in him at a very early age, as he would improvise stages in his house and perform little plays written by himself, in which he had his classmates participate. Upon completing his high school education, he went to Havana and enrolled in the medical program at the University. However, shortly thereafter he abandoned his studies, in opposition to his family's wishes, to dedicate himself entirely to the stage.

Attracted by the Cuban vernacular theater genre, he made his debut incognito as a "negrito" at the Actualidades theater in his native city in 1906, and during the following years he performed in various provincial locations. Havana at that time offered considerable competition in the style of acting in which young Pous had ventured, who was completely unknown in the theatrical world when he arrived in the capital.

In 1911 he managed to present himself with general acceptance alongside Angelita Martínez at the Chantecler and Molino Rojo theaters, where he performed duets (short dialogued scenes that end with a sung number) and typical dances.

Immediately his popularity began to grow, because from his beginnings the novice actor developed a style of acting in which an overwhelming creole charm and great dancing ability predominated. The entertainment weekly El Teatro Alegre published his photograph in two issues that year. In July he presented himself as a guest artist at the Martí Theater during a tribute to a "negrito" colleague. The press wrote that "Rarely has such a great ovation been heard," as the one given to Pous on that occasion. The entrepreneur of that venue immediately hired the young actor as director of the ensemble. He was accompanied in the enterprise by Conchita Llauradó (his future life partner), Consuelo Novoa and Marcelino Areán. At the Martí, Pous premiered his first titles: La viuda loca and the duet El botellero, popularized in the performance by the author and Novoa.

In September he moved with the same actors to the Polyteama Chico or Vaudeville, on the rooftop of the Manzana de Gómez, facing Central Park. There he premiered El santo del hacendado, La canción del mendigo and El tabaquero, his first famous titles. The press highly valued the warm reception given during that season by an audience accustomed to rejecting, through their absence, the discomforts of that theater. The spectacular triumph had repercussions in the results of an El Teatro Alegre contest to choose the best and most likable "negrito." Pous obtained first place among nine other actors, all great interpreters of the typical character.

From that moment on, Pous's career followed an ascending and unstoppable path of triumphs. On more than one occasion Regino López tried to attract him, never succeeding, to the stage of his Alhambra theater, the preferred venue of the genre's fans at that time. Quite the contrary, Pous was the only vernacular actor capable of facing him competitively and emerging victorious in the attempt. In 1913 he accepted instead the proposal of Raúl del Monte (a famous "negrito" whom he had defeated in the recent contest), to travel to Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico and Central America. Upon his return he presented himself, as a recognized actor with his own company, in his native city and other provincial locations. The following year he took his ensemble to Mexico and repeated his visit to the Caribbean zone. On that tour he conceived the titles Mérida carnaval, Yucatán souvenir and De México vengo, where he described his experiences in Mexican territory. Back in Havana, he worked at the Actualidades and Payret theaters and, in July 1916, he premiered his successful title Las mulatas de Bambay at the Arena Colón theater, with which he opened a triumphant season at the Payret the following month. His ties with that theater strengthened as he repeated his performances there until 1921, when he contracted Mexican soprano Luz Gil for his ensemble, a famous exclusive star, until that moment, of the rival Alhambra enterprise. From those years are his works El submarino cubano, from 1918; La clave de oro and El 17 se acaba el mundo, from 1920; Brisas del Hawai and La favorita del gran cabaret, from 1921. He traveled to the United States, hired by the Columbia company, to record some of his dialogues and musical numbers. To the Iron Babel he brought for the first time a Cuban genre company, to present it to the Spanish-speaking public.

Two years later, in 1923, another great figure of the theater on Consulado and Virtudes streets deserted the ranks of Regino López. This time, the talented Catalan set designer Pepito Gomís joined Pous in a joint enterprise. The new entity Pous-Gomís rented the Molino Rojo theater and transformed it into Teatro Cubano, with the objective of erasing with the name, and a novel ambiance of the hall, the disrepute that that venue had gained through several decades of lascivious and vulgar presentations. The possibility of having a great set designer incited Pous to the creation of spectacular revues where, without losing in the least his innate creole character, he reverted cosmopolitan influences acquired on his pleasure trips through Europe and the United States. Thus arose Escenas europeas, Oh, míster Pous; Oh, La Havane; Habana-Barcelona-Habana, alternating them with typical farces Del ambiente, La borracha del circo or the highly famous cycle Pobre papá Montero; Los funerales; La resurrección and El proceso de papá Montero.

Upon concluding that season, which lasted two years at his Teatro Cubano, Pous left on a tour throughout Cuba and after performing in Santiago de Cuba, began another through the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, with the intention of extending it to all of South America, to Buenos Aires, with the repertoire premiered in his last great campaign. In Puerto Rico he presented himself for two months at the Tres Banderas theater in Santurce, San Juan; in Arecibo and at the Yagüez theater in Mayagüez. Pous had left Cuba besieged by a sinister premonition, and began to feel progressively worse. His third performance, in the last city, took place amid horrible pain, caused by untreated peritonitis. He died tragically the next day, April 16, 1926, near his 35th birthday.

For the history of Cuban theater, Arquímedes Pous proves to be an integral paradigmatic figure, insufficiently studied to date. As an actor, he displayed great versatility in interpreting with equal perfection all the typical characters of the creole stage: negritos, Gallicians, leading men, fools, drunkards… As a prolific author, he put his ingenuity to use in banishing from the national stage bad taste and vulgarity, without rejecting the roguishness and double entendre innate to the vernacular genre. Finally, as an entrepreneur, he demonstrated uncommon dynamism and organizational sense, which explain his successes and his enduring popularity.

He knew how to surround himself with the best collaborators. The composers Eliseo Grenet, Jaime Prats (musical directors of the company), Jorge Anckermann (director of the rival Alhambra), Ernesto Lecuona and Moisés Simons put genius music to his librettos. Outstanding in his cast of actors were Luz Gil, Conchita Llauradó, Luisa Obregón, Mimí Cal, María Bica and Fernando Mendoza.

In 1930, the Havana newspaper El Mundo successfully promoted a campaign to move his remains to Cuban soil. In 1950 a bust was unveiled, in front of the Terry theater in his native city, to perpetuate his memory.

Upon the commemoration of the third anniversary of his death, the Lecuona-Gomís company paid him tribute at the Regina theater. The poet and playwright Gustavo Sánchez Galarraga expressed on that occasion a most just assessment of the significance of his figure for Cuban popular theater: "[...] Arquímedes Pous restored the refinement of the creole farce [...], resurrected the prestige of delicate wit in the stages of our farce, […] and created a repertoire where everything is honest grace, fine wit, Attic ingenuity, with which he dignified the mentality of Cuba; Of Cuba, which can never recognize a low, coarse and vile theater!... [...]".