(TAMPA, FL) – Ybor City takes center stage in Stageworks Theatre’s performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “Anna in the Tropics,” which will be performed each weekend from May 6 through May 23. Select performances will be performed in Spanish by the bi-lingual cast.
Described as “poignant and poetic,” Miami-based playwright Nilo Cruz set “Anna in the Tropics” in an Ybor City Cuban-American cigar factory in 1929, where cigars are rolled by hand and lectors are on staff to educate and entertain workers. When a new lector begins to read aloud from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, the classic story suddenly parallels the lives of the factory workers and forever changes their world. Passions are ignited, affairs are consummated, and gunshots are fired.
“Anna in the Tropics is a beautiful play about longing, love, and betrayal,” said Karla Hartley, Stageworks Theatre’s producing artistic director. “But it’s also about the power of literature and its effects on our lives. Although it’s set in Ybor City, “Anna in the Tropics” explores topics that are still relevant worldwide, such as masculinity, women’s independence, and corporate finances and responsibility.”
The majority of “Anna in the Tropics” cast members have been a part of Stageworks Theatre’s Hispanic Initiative since its inception. With its debut in 2015, Stageworks regularly performs plays in both English and Spanish aimed at highlighting the contributions of Hispanic authors and playwrights.
Opening Night of “Anna in the Tropics” is Friday, May 6 at 8 p.m., followed by performances each Friday and Saturday night at 8pm, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. through May 22.
Performances in Spanish will be held on Saturday, May 7 at 3 p.m., Friday May 13 at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 14 at 3 p.m., and Saturday, May 21 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Tickets range from $35 to $50 and can be purchased at www.stageworkstheatre.org. Stageworks Theatre is located in the Channel District at 1120 E. Kennedy Blvd., in Tampa.
Stageworks is grateful to Tucker/Hall for its sponsorship of this outstanding play. Tucker/Hall has been a generous sponsor of the Hispanic Initiative for many years. Additional sponsors include J.C. Newman Cigar Company, Enrique and Carol Woodroffe, and Tampa Bay Library Consortium.
Stageworks’ concludes its season in June with an audience favorite, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”, which takes center stage June 3 – 19, 2022. The TONY-award winning hit-musical comedy about the high-stakes world of middle-school spelling competitions teaches everyone the valuable lesson that winning isn’t everything.
Tickets and season pass options are available for purchase online at www.stageworkstheatre.org. For everyone’s health and safety, COVID-19 procedures and practices have been put into place for all audience members and performers and may be updated throughout the season. To view guidelines, visit www.stageworkstheatre.org/covid19.
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