Trinidad Rolando Portocarrero

Trinidad Rolando, considered one of the essential actresses of contemporary Cuban theater, passed away in the early hours of Monday morning in La Habana.

Cuban actress Trinidad Rolando. Photo: Juventud Rebelde

This woman developed more than 40 years of intense artistic life, one of whose first presentations was in the groundbreaking piece La corte del faraón, directed by Carucha Camejo at the Teatro Guiñol de Cuba, in the early 1960s.

She also interpreted with grace and wit La mazurca de la sombrilla, in the zarzuela Luisa Fernanda, and from 1968 she became one of the favorite actresses of the renowned playwright and director Gerardo Fulleda León.

Her temperament, keen artistic sense, and dramatic force earned her recognition from critics and audiences on four continents, especially for her leading role in the musical comedy Lady Salsa.

Among her most remembered performances are those in Los cheverones, directed by Miguel Montesco; the Emelina Cundiamor, by Eugenio Hernández Espinosa; her work in La hija de Nacho, by Rolando Ferrer, or her Samarkanda in Noches de satén regio, by José Gabriel Núñez.

Other of her memorable marks on stage were her leading role in Los cuernos de don Friolera, by Ramón Valle Inclán, and her Jabá, from Requiem por Yarini, by Carlos Felipe.

She also achieved a moving Atcide in Chago de Guisa, a notable characterization in Ruandi, and hosting appearances in Provinciana and the Yiyiyi, from Remolino en las aguas, especially written for her, all authored by Fulleda León.

With the death of Trinidad Rolando, Cuban culture loses one of its great creators, marked by talent and unlimited dedication.