Two Sisters and a Piano and Other Plays

Nilo Cruz

• Publisher: Theatre Communications Group
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9781559362580
• eBook ISBN: 9781559366076
• Topic: Literatur
• Subtopic: Amerikanische Dramaturgie

Nilo Cruz is the most produced Cuban American playwright in the United States and was the first dramatist of Hispanic descent to receive the Pulitzer Prize. In his plays, Cruz almost always journeys back to Cuba, even when the play is not set there. Cruz is a sensualist, a conjurer of mysterious voyages and luxuriant landscapes. He is a poetic chronicler, a documentarian of the presence of Latin people in American life. He conveys the strength and persistence of the Cuban spirit through a wholly dramatic imagination.

This volume also includes the one-act play, Capriccio.

Two Sisters and a Piano
“Cruz’s tightly constructed study of incarcerated sisters provides the spine for an authentic study of oppression that bends but never breaks the human spirit.”—Variety

Beauty of the Father
“He is that rare American scribe who embraces the role of stage poet and the legacy of Tennessee Williams.”—The Seattle Times

Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams
“Cruz explores all kinds of loss . . . lost childhood, lost freedom, lost innocence. Yet he infused Hortensia with joy, with desire, with humor and hope and healing.”—The Miami Herald

Lorca in a Green Dress
“Like Lorca, Cruz is a lyrical writer in whom the surreal is grounded in the musical world of the senses . . . it is fresh, wonderful and dazzling.”—Mail Tribune (Oregon)

Nilo Cruz is the author of many plays, including A Park in Our House, A Bicycle Country, Dancing on Her Knees, Night Train to Bolina and other works. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Alton Jones Award and the Kesselring Prize. Mr. Cruz is a professor at the Yale School of Drama. He resides in New York City and is a New Dramatists alumnus.

HORTENSIA AND THE MUSEUM OF DREAMS

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PRODUCTION HISTORY

Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams was commissioned by the Latino Theatre Initiative at Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, California. Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams premiered September 15, 2001, at the New Theatre (Rafael de Acha, Artistic Director; Eileen Suarez, Managing Director) in Coral Gables, Florida. It was directed by Rafael de Acha; the set design was by Michelle Cumming, the lighting design was by Travis Neff, the sound design was by Steve Shapiro; the production stage manager was Amanda Lee Clark. The cast was as follows:

LUCIANA		Tanya Bravo
LUCA		Carlos Orizondo
HORTENSIA/MAMÁ FEFA		Marta Velasco
SAMUEL/OFFICER		Robert Maxwell
BASILIO/OFFICER		David Perez-Ribada
GENERAL VIAMONTE/FAUSTINO/
	TIO LALO/GUSTAVO SOTO/
	HEREDIA	Ramon Gonzalez-Cuevas
DELITA/HOTEL RECEPTIONIST/
	AMPARO DE LAS ROSAS/
	ABELARDA/MERCEDITA PEREZ	Ursula Freundlich

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CHARACTERS

LUCIANA, a woman in her thirties (she’s older in real life)

LUCA, Luciana’s brother, thirties (he’s older in real life)

HORTENSIA, mother of Samuel and Basilio, early fifties

SAMUEL, Basilio’s brother, early twenties

BASILIO, Samuel’s brother, twenties

GENERAL VIAMONTE, works for the Interior Ministry, forties

DELITA, a woman in her twenties

Note: Luciana and Luca should look younger than their actual age, as if their lost childhood has stopped them from aging.

OTHER CHARACTERS:

MAMÁ FEFA (played by the actor playing Hortensia)

OFFICER 1 (played by the actor playing Samuel)

OFFICER 2 (played by the actor playing Basilio)

FAUSTINO, TIO LALO, GUSTAVO SOTO

(played by the actor playing General Viamonte)

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST, AMPARO DE LAS ROSAS, MERCEDITA PEREZ

(played by the actor playing Delita)

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TIME AND PLACE

Cuba. The pope’s visit, January 21–25, 1998.

SET

The set should have a feeling of openness. A Tibetan bell is used as a way of suspending reality.

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ACT ONE

The music of an Afro-Cuban lullaby plays. In darkness we hear the sound of an airplane flying overhead. A slide of a boy and a girl holding suitcases is projected on a wall. Spotlight on Luciana and Luca, each sitting on her/his suitcase. They are in different spaces and don’t relate to one another. Both hold travel journals and address the audience.

Traveling

LUCA: January 2nd: The Airport.

LUCIANA: January 2nd: The Plane.

LUCA: My mother gave me this travel journal.

LUCIANA (Looks at the journal in her hand): She said write everything down.

LUCA: Write everything down, she said.

LUCIANA: Because the island will never be the same.

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LUCA (Opens the journal; laughs): My mother.

LUCIANA (Holds journal close to her chest): My mother.

LUCA (Looks at the journal in his hand): What do I do with a journal? Do I write that I don’t know how to begin? Should I write that I’m looking for my sister?

LUCIANA (Reading from her journal): I am a traveler about to disembark on the land I left with my brother when I was eleven.

LUCA: Should I write that I have to find my sister? Should I write that it’s been so long since I saw her last?

LUCIANA: In case you find this journal, please get rid of it—throw it into the sea . . .

(Sound of a large wave drowning the scene. Airport sounds. Two men dressed in militia uniforms enter the stage. Officer 1 approaches Luca, Officer 2 approaches Luciana. The Officers face the audience.)

The Arrival

OFFICER 1: Passport, señor?

OFFICER 2: Passport, señora?

OFFICER 1: Where are you coming from?

LUCIANA 1: The U.S.

LUCA: The U.S.

OFFICER 1 (Flips through passport pages): Visiting relatives?

LUCIANA: No, I am a journalist.

LUCA: Visiting relatives, Officer.

OFFICER 2: Documenting the visit of the pope?

LUCA: No.

LUCIANA: That’s correct.

OFFICER 1: Where are you staying?

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LUCIANA: Hotel Capri.

LUCA: Staying with relatives, Officer.

OFFICER 2: Proceed.

OFFICER 1: Proceed.

(Sound of drums.)

In the City

LUCIANA: January 2nd: Havana.

LUCA: If I close my eyes I can see it like before . . .

LUCIANA: The seawall . . .

LUCA: Same old streets.

LUCIANA: Same old blue . . .

LUCA: Same cars.

LUCIANA: Nothing like this blue.

LUCA: Just like yesterday.

LUCIANA: This is the place we went to school!

LUCA: This is the park we used to go to every afternoon!

LUCIANA: I can remember Mamá’s voice the day we left . . .

(Lights up on Mamá Fefa, wearing a 1950s dress and a scarf, and holding a small red suitcase.)

MAMÁ FEFA: Never let go of your brother’s hand. Hold on to your ticket. Over there you’ll be in different surroundings . . . Never forget me and your father, and take care of your new shoes...

LUCIANA: But I didn’t come here to retrace the past, I came to see the new generation . . . the new island . . .

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A Place Called Home

Lights come up on Tio Lalo standing next to Luca. He is disheveled, wears glasses and is hard of hearing. He holds an old cigar box full of photographs.

TIO LALO: Here are some old photographs of you and your sister.

(Lights come up on a Hotel Receptionist. She hands Luciana the key to her room.)

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: Here is the key to your room, señora. Here are some papers for you to sign. And I will need your passport again.

LUCIANA: My passport?

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: Part of the procedure, señora.

TIO LALO (To Luca): Here’s a towel and soap. It’s better to bathe in the morning because the electricity is cut off after six.

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: Here’s your itinerary for tomorrow . . . Wake-up call is at eight . . . Your tour guide is Ramon.

LUCIANA: But I don’t want a tour guide.

HOTEL RECEPTIONIST: It’s all been arranged for your convenience, señora.

TIO LALO: Here’s a bucket.

LUCA: But, Tio Lalo.

TIO LALO: If you want to bathe in the evening, you’ll have to heat up water in this bucket. And if you want hot water, you have to take the bucket across the street and buy some charcoal.

LUCA: Tio Lalo.

TIO LALO: I’ll go get you a pillow.

LUCIANA (Facing the audience): I was told about the organized tours for visitors.

LUCA (Facing the audience): I was told about the power outages.

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LUCIANA: I wasn’t going to take part in any of this.

LUCA: But a bucket of water!

LUCIANA: I never liked tours to begin with . . .

LUCA: A bucket of charcoal!

(Luciana and Luca open a couple of maps and spread them on the floor.)

Maps and the City

LUCIANA: If I make a right on N Street . . . If I walk down L Street.

LUCA: If I walk straight through La Rampa Boulevard . . .

LUCIANA: If I make a left on K Street I can cut through the park . . .

LUCA (Folds the map): I’m remembering the streets . . .

LUCIANA (Folds the map): The streets are remembering me . . .

LUCA: Blue skies, faded awnings, orange tiles . . .

LUCIANA: The world is not forgetful . . . A sidewalk never forgets to be a sidewalk . . . A tree never forgets to be a tree.

LUCA: If I stop at the Coppelia . . .

LUCIANA: If I stop at the university....

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Introduction
• TWO SISTERS AND A PIANO
• HORTENSIA AND THE MUSEUM OF DREAMS
• A BICYCLE COUNTRY
• LORCA IN A GREEN DRESS
• CAPRICHO
• Copyright Page