Anna in the Tropics

Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics takes place In Ybor City, Florida in 1929. Here, a Cuban-American family eagerly awaits the arrival of their new lector, Juan Julian. In a cigar factory owned by the Patriarch of the family, Santiago, Juan Julian is hired to read to the family during their long days of rolling cigars by hand. Most of the family is overjoyed by the presence of a new lector, but when he starts reading from the Russian classic, Anna Karenina, the scandalous lives of Tolstoy’s characters start to intertwine with the lives of his listeners. As Juan Julian reads, the hot, humid Florida summer starts to resemble the cold Russian winter of the story. Infidelity, money problems, and violence spring to the surface as the family members grapple with their new found understanding of life and relationships. Conchita, Santiago’s daughter, confronts her husband, Palomo, about his extramarital affairs, and Palomo becomes aware of a budding relationship between his wife and Juan Julian. Cheche, Santiago’s half brother, tries to take over the factory, and Santiago has to admit to his wife that he is neck-deep in gambling debt. Instead of discovering the love and acceptance they seek, the family is met with tragedy in the end, just as in the story of Anna Karenina.