Anna in the Tropics
By ROBERT L. DANIELS

(Roger S. Berlind Theater, McCarter Theater Center, Princeton, N.J.; 380 seats; $48 top) A McCarter Theater Center presentation of a play in two acts by Nilo Cruz. Directed by Emily Mann. Set, Robert Brill; costumes, Anita Yavich; lighting, Peter Kaczorowski; sound, Dan Moses Schreier; stage manager, Cheryl Mintz. Artistic director, Mann. Opened, reviewed Sept. 17, 2003. Running time: 2 HOURS, 5 MIN. Cuban-born playwright Nilo Cruz's "Anna in the Tropics," winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for drama, inaugurates the plush 380-seat-performance space at Princeton's historic McCarter Theater Center. The 1929-set drama takes place at a cigar factory in Ybor City, Fla., back when stogies were rolled by hand. The story revolves around the arrival from Cuba of a lector, or reader, who's hired by the illiterate employees to fill their toiling hours by reading classic literature to them. He informs and educates with tales of faraway places and romantic encounters, peopled with exciting, colorful characters.

Eliades/Palomo - John Ortiz Santiago - Victor Argo Cheche - David Zayas Marela - Vanessa Aspillaga Conchita - Daphne Rubin-Vega Ofelia - Priscilla Lopez Juan Julian - Jimmy Smits

"Anna Karenina," Leo Tolstoy's sprawling novel of infidelity, is the book the lector selects to read to his captive and spellbound audience. The passionate novel stimulates the workers into various stages of discovery and conflict.

Cruz, the first Latin American dramatist to receive the Pulitzer, weaves a seductive tale of a close-knit family drawn into emotional conflict, sexual frustration and tragedy. It is a beautifully compelling play.

The writing is spare and to the point, with elegant poetic flashes. The narrative is braced with humor and heartbreak. Cruz is an impressive storyteller and a supple weaver of dreams. There is no political subtext here, as in his previous plays ("A Park in Our House" and "Two Sisters and a Piano"; both were produced at the McCarter). Instead, Cruz offers the clashes between old and new, tradition and modernity.

The playwright has crafted theatrically absorbing characters, and the Princeton cast rises triumphantly to the occasion. Jimmy Smits is the tall, dark and handsome lector, who commands the stage with his presence and the infectious imagery conjured by his voice. The sexually unfulfilled Conchita is acted with grace and allure by Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Victor Argo plays Santiago, the hapless owner of the cigar factory and a pathetically unlucky, debt-ridden gambler. As Santiago's elusive half-brother, David Zayas adds a burly presence of danger to the narrative. Vanessa Aspillaga is the impressionably awkward sister, with dreams of the "white snow and dancing waltzes" of Tolstoy's world. Aspillaga brings a warming touch of wistful humor to the proceedings.

Priscilla Lopez plays the stately matriarch whose tipsy dance step is an enlightening moment. John Ortiz doubles as a steely, frustrated husband and a feverishly controlling cockfight gamester.

Emily Mann's staging accents a robust family life and the playwright's fervent sense of romanticism. She beautifully captures a time and place of the sort one might find in Chekhov.

Plaintive guitar strains add a flavorful atmospheric touch. Robert Brill's cocoa-colored warehouse set is enhanced by Peter Kaczorowski's seductive lighting design. The cool, summery, white and beige costumes by Anita Yavich are distinctively smart.

The six-week Princeton run is sold out, a first for McCarter Center. A Broadway engagement at the Royale Theater will begin previews Nov. 1 for a Nov. 16 opening. Additional productions of the play will be staged at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago and at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Septiembre - 2003