Sarasota’s larger neighbor to the north, Tampa, has a rich history, particularly Ybor City, where beginning in the mid-1880s, immigrants began rolling and selling cigars. Ultimately dubbed Cigar City, Tampa became home to the burgeoning artisanal process aimed to develop a savory delight enjoyed over a good conversation. 

Pulitzer-prize winning playwright, Nilo Cruz chose to celebrate this rich tradition with the lavishly lyrical “Anna in the Tropics” about a family of cigar rollers about to hire a new lector, a person shared the gift of literature with factory workers. As the story begins, the matriarch, Ofelia (Zuleyma Guevara) and her two daughters, Marela (Kanisha Marie Feliciano) and Conchita (Jenyvette Vega) eagerly await the lector’s arrival while reminiscing about the previous one who passed away seemingly from heart troubles, e.g, he lacked the passion to quench the boundless curiosity and search for knowledge of the elegant triumvirate at the center of the story. The whimsical mood shifts when the quintessential tall, dark, and handsome stranger approaches the group. Young Marela can hardly contain her excitement and the young romantic uncontrollably relieves herself at the sight of the suave and brilliant lector Juan Julian (Gabriell Salgado).

Salgado brilliantly lends an air of mystery and passion to the role, and all the ensuing action centers around his character’s intimate selection of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, a tale of a Russian woman caught between her husband and her lover, to read to the community of factory workers. You can see and feel the sweltering heat enveloping the Tampanians as they lean into every word Juan Julian utters while luxuriating in the contrasting setting of the Russian icy frozen tundra.

Soon Marela is dancing around the factory enraptured with the charismatic Juan Julian and the tale he slowly unfurls for them. Feliciano’s natural effervescence blends her growing maturity with her wide-eyed desire to learn and discover another world through literature. But Juan Julian only has eyes for her married older sister Conchita. Vega’s performance was perhaps the most enthralling of the production. Much like Anna herself she is torn between hatred for her cheating husband and a newfound awakening with Juan Julian who makes her feel things she has never felt before, all while clinging to family loyalty all of which flows like an undercurrent through her every move and interaction on stage.

Just as the cigar factory workers lovingly craft their wares, even sealing each cigar with a simple wet “kiss,” Cruz brings us a rich panoply of fully imagined characters who each engage with a highly individuated perspective based on their own life experience.

Even the family partriarch Santiago (Juan Luis Acevedo) reconnects with his creative spirit as he listens shyly at the stairwell from the family’s quarters above the factory. First resolute to hide away in embarrassment about his gambling habit, Santiago tells Ofelia he has been drawn into the story of Levin, who dedicates his life to his farm, and he becomes inspired to return to the factory with a bold new idea. Acevedo brings integrity and gravitas to his role, and he is much like a Tevye of the tropics trying to hold on to tradition.

Meanwhile Cherche, Santiago’s half-brother, nurtures his dreams for transitioning the old-world cigar industry into a lucrative and automated business even as his brooding amorous desires become more desperate.

Art mirrors life as the characters of Anna in the Tropics begin to interact with one another in new ways inspired by the opportunity to broaden their horizons beyond the factory floor through the power of storytelling. We are transported into Prohibition era Tampa just as they find their unbridled imagination soaring through the echoes of Tolstoy’s words.

Cruz is a master storyteller who uses the magic of great literature to tell another great tale of love, devotion, politics, and tragedy. The entire cast pours themselves into their roles lovingly bringing these intriguing souls to life on the Asolo stage.

Don’t miss “Anna of the Tropics” on stage through March 13^th.