The Play
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Anna in the Tropics (PRINT AND EBOOK AVAILABLE) by Publication Date: 2009Winner of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
"This lush romantic drama depicts a family of cigar makers whose loves and lives are played out against the backdrop of Depression-era America. Set in Ybor City (Tampa) in 1930, Cruz imagines the catalytic effect the arrival of a new "lector" (who reads Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to the workers as they toil in the cigar factory) has on a Cuban-American family. Cruz celebrates the search for identity in a new land."
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Anna in the Tropics (audio recording, 1 hour 36 minutes)
An L.A. Theatre Works production recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in June of 2005. Directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela and starringJimmy Smits as Juan Julian. Note: Use the "Send to Mobile" option to listen to this recording on a mobile device.
About Nilo Cruz
VIDEOS
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Nilo Cruz at the NYS Writers Institute in 2008 (video, 3 minutes)Discusses his creative and writing process.
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I AM THEATRE: Nilo Cruz (video, 2 minutes)Cruz discusses how he became a playwright.
ARTICLES
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Art Talk with Playwright Nilo CruzInterview for National Endowment of the Arts. October 20, 2016.
About Anna in the Tropics
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Playwright finds the heritage is the thingPersaud, Babita. "Playwright Finds the Heritage is the Thing: [SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]." St.Petersburg Times, Apr 20, 2003
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The Ybor of His MindFleming, John. "The Ybor of His Mind: [SOUTH PINELLAS Edition]." St.Petersburg Times, Dec 21 2003.
Articles in Spanish
Historical Context & Related Sources
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The historic role of El Lector in educating cigar factory workers (article and video)Peñate, Jennifer. News 19. September 24, 2020.
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Lectors of Ybor CityKylan Cameron and the Tampa Historical Team, “Lectors of Ybor City ,” Tampa Historical.
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The Reader and the Worker: "Los Lectores" and the Culture of Cigarmaking in Cuba and FloridaPozzetta, George E., and Gary R. Mormino. “The Reader and the Worker: ‘Los Lectores’ and the Culture of Cigarmaking in Cuba and Florida.” International Labor and Working-Class History, no. 54, 1998, pp. 1–18. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/27672498.
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ANNA IN THE TROPICS theatre program (PDF)Includes background articles: "El Lector", "The Capital of Cigars," and a summary of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Program for South Coast Repertory's performance SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 19, 2003.
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Anna KareninaBrief summary of novel from Britannica Online.
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The Cigar Industry Changes FloridaPhotos, documents, video and histories from the Florida Memory Project.