This poignant and poetic Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Nilo Cruz captures 1929 Florida at a time when cigars are still rolled by hand and lectors are employed to educate and entertain the workers. The arrival of a new lector is a cause for celebration. But when he reads aloud from Anna Karenina, he unwittingly becomes a catalyst in the lives of his avid listeners, for whom Tolstoy, the tropics, and the "American Dream" prove a volatile combination.
An L.A. Theatre Works full cast performance featuring:
Jimmy Smits as Juan Julian
Onahoua Rodriguez as Marela
Adriana Sevan as Conchita
Alma Martinez as Ofelia
Jonathan Nichols as Palomo/Eliades
Winston Rocha as Santiago
Herbert Siguenza as Chéché
Includes a conversation with actor Jimmy Smits.
Directed by Jose Luis Valenzuela. Recorded before a live audience at the Skirball Cultural Center, Los Angeles in June of 2005.