In the script notes for "Anna in the Tropics," playwright Nilo Cruz encourages directors of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play to infuse their productions with the sights and sounds of his native Cuba. At MiraCosta College, director Eric Bishop has taken Cruz's advice to heart, with a magical "Anna" production that pulses with the heat, rhythms and sensuality of the tropics.
Set in 1929 in a struggling cigar factory in Tampa, Fla., Anna is a tragic love triangle drama that evolves between two Cuban immigrant cigar-rollers (the unhappily married Palomo and Conchita) and the handsome Cuban lector Juan Julian, who is hired to read novels to the factory workers.
Cruz's language is poetic and evocative, but it's Bishop's direction that makes the play sing. He has marshalled all the college's resources to create another world inside the MiraCosta Theatre, complete with vibrant, live Latin music, authentic accents, traditional Latin dance, lavish period costumes, tropical lighting and an imaginative set. This is the first time "Anna in the Tropics" has been produced in San Diego, and MiraCosta's production is as professional as anything you'd seen at the major local theaters.
Like the plays of Chekhov, "Anna in the Tropics" captures a moment in time where traditions of the past are melting away and the characters are struggling to adapt to the modern age. Here in the steamy Tampa region known as Ybor City, a tug-of-war is under way between half-brothers Santiago and Cheche. The factory's longtime owner, Santiago, wants to stick to what has worked in the past -- hand-rolled cigars and a lector paid to read romantic novels to the workers (a tradition brought from Cuba in the 19th century). While the ambitious Cheche wants to mechanize the factory with noisy, cigar-rolling machines (that will eliminate the need for lectors) and a shift to producing cigarettes (for cost- and time-conscious workers who prefer a quick, cheap smoke).
Time would prove Cheche the true visionary -- within two years, lectors would be replaced by radios, machines would replace hand-rolling, and pricey cigars would fall out of favor as the Depression deepened -- but in this captured moment, the optimistic Santiago foresees only a bright future with his latest idea: a new cigar named for the heroine in the Tolstoy novel being read that month in the factory, "Anna Karenina."
The events of the play mirror those in Tolstoy's novel. The arrival of the handsome lector Juan Julian (and his progressive choice of reading material, about a Russian gentleman's wife who has an extramarital affair with a handsome soldier), inspires Conchita to find love outside her marriage (just as her husband, Palomo, has already done). Conchita bobs her hair and embarks on an open affair with Juan Julian. Surprisingly, Conchita's newfound independence, confidence and sensuality intrigue Palomo, and ultimately it draws them back together. In a second love triangle -- also mirroring Tolstoy -- Conchita's younger sister, the dreamy romantic Marela, pines for Juan Julian but instead draws the unwanted advances of Cheche. As in "Anna Karenina," tragedy looms, but not in the ways you might expect.
The two-hour play has adult themes -- with cigar-smoking, a scene of sensuality and a frank discussion about sex -- but Bishop and his cast handle the subject matter with discretion and honesty. Lust is as oppressive a factor in these workers' lives as the Florida heat and humidity. As a result, they tend to deal with the subject matter of sex openly and, quite often, with humor, so their conversations don't seem all that shocking. And with poetically choreographed party and death scenes, Bishop lifts the scenes into the same classical territory as the lofty literature that inspires the play and its characters.
Bishop's 19-member cast is uniformly strong and they all look the part (some of his young student actors grew moustaches to age themselves). Leading the cast as the lector Juan Julian is Adam Oliveras, who's tall, dashing and dignified -- just the sort of man to set the tobacco girls' hearts aflutter. Evaleen Bakeman has an earthy, sexy femininity as Conchita. And bright-eyed Anyelid Meneses brings a childlike comic presence to Marela, who get so excited in Juan Julian's presence that she often wets her pants.
Sassan Saffari aches with sad longing and intensity as Palomo, the husband who learns to love his wife Conchita only after she takes a lover. And Aleks Awad simmers menacingly with anger, desire and jealousy as the factory manager Cheche. Toni Billante and Melba Novoa are especially believable as the kindly factory owner Santiago and his strong, intelligent wife, Ofelia. Lio Gallardo (as the cockfight proprietor Eliades) leads a 12-member supporting ensemble.
Spotty foreign accents can scuttle the best of productions, but fortunately dialect coach Gedaly Guberek draws authentic Latin accents from the multiracial cast. Adding a big boost to the production is the original score, created and performed live backstage by music director (and trumpeter extraordinaire) Mario Gonzales and his MiraCosta Latin Jazz Orchestra. MaryBeth Hughes' Latin choreography also gives the show a boost, and Caroline Mercier's costumes are finely detailed and authentic. Dixon Fish's open-beamed factory set allows Paul Canaletti Jr.'s colorful lighting to shine through, coloring the play with all sorts of emotions. Kelly Kissinger is technical director; Dane Schultz designed sound; Bryon Anderson created the projections; Larry Jorgensen designed the makeup; Bonnie Durban designed props; and Carrin Strain is stage manager.
"Anna in the Tropics"
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday
Where: MiraCosta College Theatre, 1 Barnard Drive, Oceanside
Tickets: $12, general; $10, seniors and staff; $8, students (because of adult situations, violence and cigar-smoking, the play is not recommended for children and younger teenagers)
Phone: (760) 795- 6815
