Taos Onstage presents ‘Anna in the Tropics’
WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD FACING the shift of cultural and social structures, leaning on theater arts to translate our more complex and provocative experiences may reveal a healing balm we never knew we needed. To paraphrase Nina Simone, “It is an artist’s job to reflect the times.” Today, it seems we are being asked to re-identify the thread that keeps us together. This week, Taos Onstage presents, “Anna in the Tropics,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by Nilo Cruz, under the direction of resident director Lynn Hamrick.
Set in a steamy seaside cigar factory in Ybor City, a Cuban-American town outside of Tampa, Florida, “Anna in the Tropics” is a vibrant and gripping play that tangles with tradition and change. The play swiftly unfolds during the liberating and fast-paced 1920’s, and Lynn Hamrick has adapted to this energy, encouraging her actors to take creative risks as she “fast tracks” this production in just six short weeks. Besides the challenge of time, Hamrick shares “Five out of the eight actors have never performed in a full-length, three-act play. [But] this doesn’t mean that they aren’t professionals, or performers, so it is thrilling to collaborate with such talent in shared vulnerability, and unknown creative territory.”
The story of “Anna in the Tropics” revolves around the arrival of a lector, Juan Julian, played by Orlando Torres, whose role is to read novels to the workers as they roll cigars. The chosen novel, Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina,” triggers a series of events that mirror the novel’s themes of love, passion and societal expectations. Soon, the factory owner’s daughters, Conchita, played by Camilla Lopez, and Marela, played by Lin Diagonales, find themselves captivated by Juan Julian’s readings, leading to a complex interplay of emotions and desires. As the characters become engrossed in the unfolding drama of “Anna Karenina,” their lives start mirroring the events of the Russian novel.
“Acting holds up a mirror for you to face all the places where you still hold resistance or discomfort on a personal level” says Jennifer Peterson who plays Ofelia. “Your character could be required to express anger, show vulnerability or sit in intimacy. You are encouraged to go deeper into yourself to face these challenges.”
Through rich symbolism and poetic language, Nilo Cruz weaves a narrative that delves into the complexities of love, infidelity and the struggle for personal liberation. The tropical setting becomes a metaphor for the intense passions and contradictions that define the characters’ lives, while the cigar factory simultaneously grapples with the introduction of mechanization that threatens the artisanal craftsmanship of cigar rolling, challenging societal expectations and the confines of their cultural heritage.
This conflict runs very closely to the heightened awareness around AI and the decline in demand and or threat to the value of human contribution.
“I absolutely fell in love with this play when I first read it in college for a Latin American studies in 2003” says Sam Joseph, who plays Cheche. “Then, it was still a new play, and while set in 1929, [it] seemed amazingly prescient to a young man trying to keep up with the fast pace of New York City. Fast forward 20 years and imagine my joy when I re-read it this winter and discovered that Cuz’s words are more relevant than ever. With its theme of modern machines grating against the needs of the human spirit — my biggest challenge has been how to do Cruz’s words justice.”
In addition, the emotional journey of “Anna in the Tropics” will pique the cerebral with the poignant execution of the transformative power of literature and the ways in which art can mirror and shape our lives. Cruz’s play invites the audience to reflect on the universal themes of love, sacrifice and the pursuit of individual happiness against the backdrop of a changing world and cultural expectations.
A week out from opening night, Lynn Hamrick says “If anything, I have been humbled, to not take this thing so seriously, for everything to be so perfect, to take it one day at a time and allow it to grow one day at time. It is a privilege to be working as an actor or any performer today, and it takes great bravery to even step one toe on that stage.”
Nilo Cruz’s masterful storytelling and rich character development in “Anna in the Tropics” creates a captivating and emotionally charged theatrical experience. The play invites the audience to reflect on the complexities of love, duty and the ever-present tension between the old and the new, all set against the vivid and evocative backdrop of the tropical atmosphere.