By 1989 the Festival not only have gone international, inviting groups from abroad having Colombia, Spain, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica joined the program, but the management became entirely Mario Ernesto’s responsibility. And the rest, as the saying goes, is history. Countless shows from the Iberian and Latin American worlds have graced the festival’s halls, and occasionally from outside countries that ventured to stage works by Hispanic-origin authors, the festival sole requirement, as happened with the companies Lasenkan Theatre from Japan (2003), Insightout from Denmark (2005), and the Slovenian group Ljubijana City Theatre (2008). In passing, we take this opportunity to welcome the nine local, national, and international companies that are honoring our event this year with their presence.

His other great achievement was the founding of his group Teatro Avante, producer of the Festival. It took off in 1978, co-founded with Teresa María Rojas and Alina Interián, under the name RAS Community Theatre. They chose Electra Garrigó, by Virgilio Piñera (1912-79), and brought in the already legendary director Francisco Morín (1918-2017) to repeat his Havana’s 1948 staging which was considered by many critics the introduction to modernity to Latin American theatre. Already under the name of Teatro Avante that accompanies us until this day, Mario Ernesto knew how to surround himself with a stable team of talented actors whose names would be difficult to list without omitting some of those who undoubtedly have contributed to the success of the performances. Among his most frequent—behind the scenes—collaborators, it’s impossible not to mention Ernesto Padilla, Irene Olivera, Leiter Padilla, Gabriel Cutiño, Asela Torres, the designers Pedro Balmaseda and Jorge Noa, and on many occasions the composer Mike Porcel. He worked with countless classic and contemporary authors, including Piñera, whose plays he brought to the stage eight times, and Abel González Melo who became “playwright-in-residence” for several years. As key assistants in his effort to carry out the Festival, he counted on the closest members of his family, with Verónica and Gastón, front and center, as well as the author of these lines who has been in charge of the Educational Component since 1994. Along these lines, the festival, in this new phase that is beginning now, could not be in better hands than those of Melissa Messulam and Néher Jacqueline Briceño, close collaborators and colleagues, whom Mario Ernesto designated as his successors at the helm of the institutions that were part of his manifold legacy.

There is no doubt that his departure has forged an enormous void that is almost impossible to overcome, leaving us before reaching his coveted 40th Festival next year. In his memory, even in the difficult times we live in, every effort will be made to continue his life- long endeavor on behalf also of our traditions, values, and cultural heritage, which, as he pointed out, have made our lives more bearable.

- Beatriz J. Rizk