Within the framework of 18th-century Cuban theater, a theatrical form known as Relaciones emerged. This was performed by groups of free Black people who offered performances in the various towns they visited on their travels. The texts, which displayed a vigorous narrative gabela, were written by the group members themselves.

It was during this five-year period that the first Cuban play emerged, when Santiago Pita y Borroto wrote his work, El príncipe jardinero y fingido Cloridano (The Gardener and the Pretended Prince). It was published between 1730 and 1733 in Seville, Spain. It features qualities such as joviality and gallantry. It is the oldest Cuban play of which we have any references.

If this play is considered the first of its kind in Cuba, then Santiago Pita y Borroto is the first Cuban playwright, a scion of two of Havana’s most notable families. Leonor López is the first actress of whom we have any news today, and for this reason, she is considered the first Cuban actress.

It was in the 18th century that the first theater, named Coliseo, was built in Cuba. It hosted performances by both foreign companies and Cuban artists. This was the first opera performance in the Cuban archipelago, entitled Didone abbandonata. Since then, the opera genre has become very popular in the country, becoming one of its main entertainment venues.

Other Cuban theater spaces of the time included living rooms in the homes of wealthy families, inhospitable premises, dismantled warehouses, and makeshift stages in the streets. To stage interludes, open-air wooden platforms were erected in Jústiz Alley.

Among the festivities of the five-year period, we find the Altar de Cruz de Mayo, which dates back to the 17th century and continued to develop in the Cuban archipelago in the town of Sagua de Tánamo.

Two authors from that period have survived: José Sotomayor, who wrote a play in Havana considered the first by a Cuban author; and José Surí, whose plays premiered in Santa Clara.

The plays staged in Cuba in the 18th century were primarily works taken from Spanish theater. There was no construction for the plays.