Anna in the Tropics- Theatre Critique In 4, October 2011 I had the tremendous opportunity to experience one of the most well performed plays I have ever seen. I saw Anna in the Tropics written by Nilo Cruz and presented by Texas State University- San Marcos Department of Theatre and Dance at the Texas State Mainstage Theatre. This magnificent play takes place in a Cigar Industry in Ybor City, Florida owned by a Cuban immigrant couple, Santiago and his wife Ofelia. This story by Nilo Cruz drew my attention in a matter of seconds thanks to the good quality of the play. In general, the acting was good but not superb. Some actors in this play often forgot or made pauses/breaks in their lines which made it difficult to understand or focus what the story is trying to say. As the play was making progress, I figured that some actors needed more capability to react to other character’s lines more naturally. The interactions between actors felt awfully in sequence. For example, when an actor said a long line or speech the responding actor waited and the feedback felt like a memorized line instead of a natural respond. The actors performed very nicely individually, but didn’t when they interacted. Overall, the acting really made the story feel real but there is a huge room for improvement for some actors to react and respond in a more naturalistic way. During the show, I very much enjoyed the performance of Philip Ray Guevara as CheChe. This actor exceeded my expectations, before I saw the show. Philip played CheChe, the perverted and lunatic brother of Santiago. CheChe had just been abandoned from his wife and is clearly in depression. Phillip Ray Guevara did an astonishingly amazing job portraying what it seemed to be a lonely man full with resentment towards Lectors. During the whole show, Guevara never stopped talking with a Cuban accent and always stayed in character. His remarkable performance showed how CheChe was suffering deeply and always wanted to be in competence with everyone. I would also like to discuss the performance of Lizette Zuniga as Ofelia, Santiago’s wife. Zuniga plays Ofelia, the co-owner of the Cigar Company and wife of the owner. Ofelia brings an amusing sense of humor to the play. Zuniga did an excellent job to portray a character that seems to be the center of the play. She made Ofelia seem like a proud and dedicated woman. For example, CheChe wanted to replace workers with machines but Ofelia opposed because she
