Pulitzer-winning 'Tropic' dives into Pacific

Cruz play about pre-Depression Cuban-Americans

By LISA D. HOROWITZ

HOLLYWOOD -- In a staged reading, Nilo Cruz's "Anna in the Tropics," winner of this year's Pulitzer Prize for drama, will be part of the sixth annual Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Repertory in May. It also will have a full production at SCR's Argyros theater this fall, directed by Juliette Carrillo.

Play by Cuban-born Cruz, commissioned by the New Theater in Coral Gables, Fla., is about a family of Cuban-Americans in pre-Depression Tampa who spend their days rolling cigars and listening to "Anna Karenina," read and interpreted by a traditional Cuban "lector," or traveling reader.

Also skedded for the Pacific Playwrights Fest, which runs May 16-18 at the Costa Mesa, Calif., venue, are Amy Freed's "Safe in Hell," directed by SCR producing artistic director David Emmes; Howard Korder's "Sea of Tranquillity," helmed by Michael Bloom; and Donald Margulies' "Brooklyn Boy," directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Jeff Whitty's "The Hiding Place" will receive a workshop production, directed by Mark Rucker.

"Safe in Hell," which centers on a young Cotton Mather and his father, Increase, also will be part of the regular SCR 2003-04 season. "The Hiding Place" and "Brooklyn Boy" are under consideration for season slots.