'Anna in the Tropics' to be staged

The Pulitzer-prize winning 2003 play, "Anna in the Tropics," is set almost a century before it was written by playwright Nilo Cruz.

It's 1929. Communism is on the rise, the stock market is about to take a nosedive and labor unions in the southern United States are organizing.

This is the backdrop for a story about a Cuban immigrant family who settle near Tampa to make a living in the cigar-manufacturing business.

While the effects of a world in turmoil are clearly in evidence in the two-act drama, the play offers a close-up look at the family's own internal struggles, said Denise Blank, assistant professor of theater at Aurora University.

"This is more a personal story about this family," she said.

Blank is directing a student production of the play, opening Tuesday for a run in Perry Theatre in the Aurora Foundation Center for Community Enrichment.

In the two-hour presentation, as the family and their fellow workers work their shifts in the factory, a lector reads to them in an effort to educate, entertain and inform.

The story begins with the arrival of a new lector who embarks on reading the text of a literary classic, Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina."

"In reading the story, they start to see their lives very differently," Blank said. "They start to be influenced by the story."

Cruz' script, like Tolstoy's story, is about love, betrayal, class distinctions and family.

"I fell in love with the script when I read it. There's kind of a poetic, lyrical way this playwright writes. It's definitely an adult drama," said Blank, advising that it's not intended for young theater-goers. "There are some pretty heavy situations and some sexual situations."

Blank said John Curran, an Aurora University associate professor of theater who handles lighting and scene design for the show, uses color as a subtle cue.

At the outset, colors are light and bright. As darker events loom, the scenery and lights take on a more monochromatic appearance, she said.

In addition to the English-language performances, Blank said the play will be performed in Spanish at 7:30 p.m. March 25. And at 7 p.m. March 26, Aurora University's first two Spanish majors will lead a discussion before the show, she said.

Admission is free for all performances, but attendees will have opportunities to donate to several charities. Food donations for Holy Angels Church in Aurora, books for the Humanitarian Service Project and cash donations for Season of Concern, an organization dedicated to fighting AIDS, will be collected at the door, Blank said.

If you go

"Anna in the Tropics," staged by Aurora University students

7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and March 26, 27, 28 and 29

Perry Theatre on the Aurora University campus, 1305 Kenilworth Place, Aurora

Free; reservations suggested and charitable donations accepted

(630) 844-5486; aurora.edu