PHOTOS
Alicia Grega-Pikul
The national theater community was abuzz when Nilo Cruz won the Pulitzer Prize for
Anna in the Tropics in 2003. Not only was the Cuban-born playwright the first Latino scribe to win the prestigious prize, but the play hadn't even been staged in New York. Set in Ybor City, a section of Tampa, Fla., the play premiered at the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Fla. The show's Broadway production, directed by Emily Mann and starring popular television actor Jimmy Smits, didn't open at the Royale Theater until that November.
Thanks in part to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the 570 welcomes the regional premier of
Anna in the Tropics at King's College this week. The theater department production opened Wednesday under the direction of Brother James Miller, C.S.C., and will continue through Saturday in conjunction with an interdisciplinary conference titled "Landscapes of Latin America: Economic Development, Ethics and the Environment in the 21st Century (
www.kings.edu/IDC).
The play evolves in a cigar factory operated by a family of Cuban immigrants during the Great Depression. At that time, it was common for a "lector" to read to the illiterate laborers as they toiled, providing not only entertainment to keep them motivated, but also education.
Anna in the Tropics begins as fallen aristocrat Juan Julian arrives to take the place of the former lector.
Though the play is in English with only a spattering of Spanish for color, Cruz's use of language is rich with "the rhythms, colors and inflections of his native tongue," dramaturge Janice Paran wrote for Princeton's McCarter Theater.
"His storytelling likewise conveys a cross-cultural vigor that reflects his own experience of the world. His theatrical voice is poignant, humorous, humane, often extravagant and always disarming."
Cruz's poetic dialogue is complimented by Julian's reading of Tolstoy's
Anna Karenina. The passionate Russian novel incites the workers' emotions while talk of machination looms.
"One of the family members wants to modernize and bring in machines to speed up the rolling process and eliminate the job of the lector," Miller explained. "It's the same thing you see today. It's a matter of bringing something in to make things better perhaps for production but at the same time eliminating positions and jobs."
Casting the show wasn't as difficult as one might expect, Miller said.
"I have one Puerto Rican actor and a couple of others who look extremely Latin. God was good. These women that came to audition had never auditioned for me before and it has turned out very well."
Among those featured in the all-student cast are Kevin Stemple of Freemansburg as Santiago; Colin Walsh of Northampton as Cheche; Valerie Saporito of Exeter as Ofelia; and Sean Colin Hankins of Lake Ariel as Eliades.
Miller described
Anna in the Tropics as a drama with a lot of comedy and doesn't recommend it for young children due to mature themes.
Tickets are $7 for adults or $4 for seniors and students. All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Call the box office at 208-5825 for reservations. Seating is limited.