bookish_gina 's review for:

Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz

5.0

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I have attended many plays before, but I had never read one up until now. This play was assigned reading for my Florida Writers course. The premise of the play is about a Cuban family that immigrated to Tampa and set up a Cigar factory in Ybor City. The play is set in 1929 when it was common for Lectors to read to the employees as they rolled cigars in the factories. Many of the cigar rollers did not know how to read, but they could quote from Literature like no one's business. They regarded the Lectors so highly that they would pay from their own money to keep them employed. With the advancement of technology many of the cigar rollers were replaced with machines that could roll the cigars much faster. The noise of the machines made it difficult for the Lectors to be heard, therefore they began to loose their jobs. Also, at the start of the Depression era many jobs were cut and the Lectors were one of the first to go in this industry. The history of the Lectors and cigar factories really peaked my interest as my background is Cuban, but I knew nothing about the Lectors. Our professor had us not only read the play, but listen to it through audible, which really brought the story and characters to life. I would highly recommend you do the same.