A Reading | The Presence of Absence by Andrea O'Reilly Herrera

Play cover image, Absence Revealed 005, created by María Martínez Cañas.

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The Presence of Absence (a Cuban nocturne) is a bilingual memory play that chronicles the lives of several generations of Cuban women. Set in both pre- and post-revolutionary Cuba, the play moves fluidly through time and memory. At its center is Margarita, an exile living in the United States who struggles to reconcile her divided identity, a traumatic past she has long suppressed, and her fear of passing her cultural heritage on to her American-born daughter, Lily. The play explores a range of current themes regarding mental health, intergenerational trauma, and the conspiracy of silence surrounding painful family histories, with particular attention to post-traumatic stress and the repression of memory as a survival mechanism. Ultimately, The Presence of Absence testifies to the power of forgiveness and healing.

Cuban American author Andrea O’Reilly Herrera is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. A published poet and essayist, her book-length projects include a collection of testimonial expressions, ReMembering Cuba: Legacy of a Diaspora (University of Texas Press); a novel, The Pearl of the Antilles (Bilingual Review Press); and an edited collection of essays, Cuba: Idea of a Nation Displaced (SUNY Press). Her most recent work is a monograph titled Cuban Artists Across the Diaspora: Setting the Tent Against the House (University of Texas Press). Her play, The Presence of Absence (a Cuban nocturne), will be premiered as a fully realized production in New York City in June 2026 by Thalia Spanish Theatre in collaboration with the Cuban Cultural Center of New York and director Nicole Quintana. The play is currently under contract for publication with the University of New Mexico Press (2027).

Nicole Quintana is a Miami-born Cuban-American theatre director, set designer and educator with 26 years of experience in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. She holds a BFA in Theatre from Florida International University and has produced and directed over 50 musicals and one-act and full-length plays, ranging from Shakespearean classics to original works. As a Cuban woman in the arts, Nicole is deeply committed to creating spaces where diverse voices and stories are celebrated.

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