Summary
Scene 1
Act Two opens with a sex scene between Conchita and Juan Julian, while a recording of Juan Julian's reading plays in the background. Juan Julian tells Conchita that he wants to meet up with her for trysts in places other than the factory, but Conchita refuses. Juan Julian also asks her about why she looks so sad sometimes after they make love, and Conchita does not directly answer him. Suddenly, however, someone comes in, and Juan Julian rushes out to dress himself.
The people who were just outside are Cheché and Ofelia, engaged in an argument about a machine that Cheché has brought in to the factory. Ofelia tries to call for Santiago's help, but Cheché keeps demanding to speak over Ofelia, advocating for the mechanization of the cigar rolling process. This, he says, will allow their factory to keep pace with other cigar brands that are economically outpacing them. Ofelia tells Cheché that the way they make cigars matters to them and their workers, and applause from the workers suggests that they too spurn the advent of machinery in the factory. Cheché, however, insists that they look at their sales records and make an informed decision regarding the change to mechanical cigar rolling, and he brings up that they have already had to let two workers go. Ofelia then corrects Cheché, saying that one of these two employees was Cheché's wife, who left of her own accord.
With the threat of machines replacing them clear, the crowd of workers begins to get anxious. Cheché suggests to the crowd that refusing to mechanize is absurdly regressive and ineffective, and that, even with mechanization, workers will still have a place at the factory as the ones who work the machines. Palomo then brings up what a lector from another factory has said about mechanization, and this sets Cheché off on a rant about how lectors are a waste of money and detract from productivity. This clearly strikes a nerve with the workers, and Juan Julian steps in at this point to advocate for himself. He says that the lector tradition is not just a luxury, but rather a sacred ritual component of cigar rolling that dates back to the Taino Indians, where the Cacique (Chief) would use tobacco leaves to translate the words of deities while others listened in. Moreover, Juan Julian mentions that Cheché feels the need to mechanize only because modern cultural conditions overemphasize speed and "progress," while really detracting from the traditions that make life pleasurable and worth it in the first place. Even though this draws the applause of everyone but Palomo and Cheché, Juan Julian then offers to leave the room so that the factory workers can democratically decide for themselves whether they want him to stay as lector.
Just then, Santiago enters the room. He asks what is going on, and the others tell him that they are taking a referendum on Juan Julian's presence in the factory. Santiago calls this absurd, introduces himself to Juan Julian, and then insists that he not leave the room while they take a vote as to whether or not to keep their lector. Everyone but Palomo and Cheché vote to keep Juan Julian on in the factory, and this former vote in particular dismays Conchita. In response to the vote, however, Santiago announces that they will instead try to make business boom by coming up with a new Anna Karenina line of cigars, for which Marela will pose as Anna. Santiago then repays Cheché honorably and tells him to get the machinery out of their factory: he has taken out a loan and is betting on their factory one more time, trying to make things work the authentic way. He then asks Cheché to get him a calendar, and he is shocked to hear that Cheché has already crossed out that day's date on the calendar. Santiago tells Cheché that crossing off his days before he has even lived them can cause apprehension and anxiety, and Cheché then tells him that he is being driven mad by the constancy in the factory, as well as the memory of Mildred (his wife who left him for a lector).
Cheché goes on to tell Santiago that he is bereft not just from the loss of Mildred but also because the love stories of the factory serve as a constant reminder of what he has lost. Just then, Marela enters dressed as Anna. Santiago compliments her beauty, then leaves her alone with Cheché. Cheché tells Marela she is beautiful, and so too does Juan Julian, who enters and exits the scene briefly. As he leaves, Marela wistfully tells herself that she wishes Juan Julian would "take a picture of [her] with [his] eyes" (59). Alone with Cheché, Marela then begins to paste magazine cutouts of celebrities and Russia on her desk. Cheché then scolds Marela, accusing her of being too distracted by Juan Julian and his book, and he tells her that her cigar rolling has become poor. When Marela pushes back on these accusations, he then brings out some cigars to show her as evidence of her waning attention to her work.
After he brings out the cigars, Cheché then teases Marela by saying that she probably imagines the cigars to be parts of a lover, so she licks them instead of pasting and sealing them properly. This makes Marela uncomfortable, but Cheché is unrelenting in his suggestive advances. He tries to touch and kiss Marela, but she pushes him to the ground and yells at him. As the scene ends, Marela leaves in a tizzy, telling Cheché never to touch her again.
Scene 2
The scene opens with Juan Julian, sitting in a chair and reading from Anna Karenina, isolated from the remaining action of the scene. He reads a scene in which Anna's husband begins to contemplate the social scandal of Anna and Vronsky's affair and so resolves to talk to her about it. Similarly, in this scene, Palomo approaches Conchita and tries to talk to her about Juan Julian.
Palomo begins by asking Conchita about where and when she meets her lover. She replies always in a vague and perfunctory way to these and other questions he asks, but the tempo eventually changes when Conchita brings up the guilt that her affair has instilled in her. She says that, in order to alleviate her fear and guilt, Juan Julian tells her that she has to get used to his body and also tells her obscene and romantic things to make her feel alive and present. She also tells Palomo that she and Juan Julian discussed her relationship with her husband, and she tells Palomo what she told Juan Julian—that she believes Palomo simply fell out of love with her, though she still loves him. This then prompted Juan Julian to ask Conchita to show him how she loves Palomo on his body, and she recounts a series of sexual events where she and Juan Julian were like actors in a play, surrendering themselves to each other and giving up all other pretenses. Palomo then asks Conchita to teach him how to love like this, and she obliges as soft music plays. They exit the stage, and Juan Julian, still off to the side, closes his book.
Scene 3
The scene opens at the inauguration party for the new line of cigars. Santiago, Juan Julian, and Ofelia are dressed in their best clothes, and they come in carrying rum and glasses. They have a private toast and discuss their nervousness to launch the new brand, then exit to bring in lanterns. Palomo and Cheché then enter, carrying palm leaves to decorate the factory with. They are talking about Conchita's affair with Juan Julian: while Palomo talks about his anxiety and jealousness over Conchita's affair, Cheché suggests that he take Conchita up north in Trenton, where there are plenty of other cigar factories. This, he says, is what he wanted to do with his own wife Mildred before she left.
Juan Julian then enters carrying lanterns. Palomo and Cheché ask Juan Julian about the book's conclusion—specifically, if Anna's husband considers killing Vronsky in cold blood. Juan Julian tells them that a duel would be better to preserve honor, and he says that it is not unreasonable for Anna's husband to react the way that he does in the novel. Cheché continues to assert that Anna's husband is a weakling for not being more aggressive with Vronky, and Palomo, for his part, probes Juan Julian with questions about why the lover approached Anna in the first place. Knowing where Palomo is going with such a line of questioning, Juan Julian then says that it is obvious why Anna took on a lover—because she believed that he could help her love again and see herself as a woman once more.
Santiago and Ofelia then re-enter, followed by Conchita, who is dressed in a paisley gown with her newly cut hair. Ofelia and Palomo comment on how fitting Conchita's new bohemian look is, and they begin to celebrate together. Juan Julian then asks those assembled why liquor is banned in America (the play being set during the Prohibition Era). In response, Palomo wisely comments that liquor is like literature, which brings out the best in happy people and the worst in unhappy people; since the majority of Americans are unhappy, they have banned liquor. Ofelia then more humorously comments that people banned liquor in America because most Americans are not good dancers. Marela then enters, dressed in an elegant black gown like Anna on the night of the ball. She is complimented on her beauty, and they then set to work on smoking the first of the Anna Karenina cigars. It is passed between all present, but when Palomo passes it to Juan Julian, he notably passes it directly, which is an offensive gesture (since there must always be a mediator to facilitate communication with the gods). Everyone loves the cigar, so in celebration, the Alcalars (minus Conchita) go outside to fire three gunshots.
While the others celebrate, Palomo and Conchita remain inside. Palomo tells Conchita that he is jealous of Juan Julian, and he urges her to break things off with him. The others re-enter, and Ofelia tells a story about how she once posed for a cigar label with a carnation behind her ear. Noticing the pervasive drunkenness afflicting the party's guests, those present then chose to disperse, but Marela chooses to stay behind with Juan Julian. She tells him how glad this night has made her, and she tells Juan Julian that a great deal of the most bright moments of her life so far have involved him. Getting her meaning, Juan Julian then compliments her beauty and tells her that others will learn to see the beauty and purity in her as well. Juan Julian then goes to leave, but just before he does, Marela asks him to lend her the book. He then leaves her, and she turns to the book for consolation and an escape from her loneliness. She reads a bit from it, and is then surprised by Cheché, who grabs her as the lights black out.
Scene 4
The following morning, Palomo, Conchita, Santiago, and Ofelia are cleaning up after the party. They collectively wonder where Cheché is, and Santiago jokes with Ofelia that her slippers were "louder than a running train" that morning (80). Just then, Marela enters, still wearing the fur coat from her Anna Karenina costume. She says that she wants to keep winter all around her and make things still, prompting Ofelia to ask her if she is all right. Juan Julian then arrives and begins to read from Anna Karenina. The section he reads is about Anna's husband considering the merits of a duel to rid himself of Vronsky. As he reads, however, Cheché enters, "his head [...] heavy with dark thoughts" (81). Cheché then pulls out a gun and shoots Juan Julian, who falls to the floor. As Juan Julian falls and the lights black out, Marela reaches out to him.
Scene 5
Three days have passed since Cheché killed Juan Julian. The workers are rolling cigars, but Ofelia suddenly cries out that the silence in the factory is thicker and more stark than ever before. Marela says that she wishes to sweeten his name again and will not be dissuaded from doing so, and she also expresses her desire to have the book continued. She says that tears are for the weak, and seems to be very hardened by the experience of losing Juan Julian. When the workers look for someone to continue the reading, then, Palomo steps forward and offers to fill the vacancy. He reads from Anna Karenina and, as the play closes, specifically reads a line about Anna's husband "writ[ing] everything he had been meaning to tell her" in a letter (84).
Analysis
If Act 1 was the place where Nilo Cruz introduced us to many of the significant binaries being contested in Anna in the Tropics, Act 2 is where he accelerates the dynamics of these contestations and brings the tensions inherent in these binaries to their head. At the same time that he brings these thematic conflicts to their breaking point, however, note that it is also a place where the interpersonal relationships of the play's characters fluctuate in unpredictable and erratic ways. Palomo and Conchita are able to reconcile in Scene 2, but in Scene 3, they are entangled in jealousy once again, only to have this break down in Scene 5 when Palomo stands up to read after Juan Julian's death. Santiago, too, has a seismic shift in his relationship with Ofelia after he is able to pay back Cheché and take creative control of the cigar factory's reinvention. Cheché becomes hyper-fixated on Marela and is prepared to kill for her in the span of only one act. Conversely, Marela directly confronts Juan Julian with evidence of her love for him, and he gently passes her up but is killed anyway out of jealousy. In sum, while the thematic dynamics of the play seem to constantly pitch up in Act 2, note that the interpersonal aspect of the play's exploration, just as important to Cruz as these large-scale thematic considerations, also seem to be intensifying, though not always in a consistent direction. This observation is consistent with the observation that Anna Karenina, once introduced to the play's characters, continues to bring chaos into their personal and interpersonal lives.
On the other hand, just what is being pitched up in terms of the play's themes? In order to answer this question, we shall return to the major binaries explored in our analysis of Act 1. Again, chief among the binaries that dominate both Act 1 and Act 2 is the division between modernity and tradition. In this act, however, the focus of this conflict is predominantly business-related, centering mostly on the different ways in which different factions hope to make cigars. First, we have the direct confrontation of the Alcalar's cigar production method, posed by Cheché and his machines in Scene 1. This not only provides a dramatic and tangible embodiment to the otherwise quite nebulous conflict introduced earlier in the play, but it also reminds us of the historical context in which the play itself is set (i.e., since the late 1920s saw the mechanization of many cigar factories.) Additionally, this confrontation sets the stage for one of the most significant and arresting moments of the entire drama—that is, the moment in which Juan Julian argues in favor of lectors and hand-rolling cigars, where he both links cigar rolling to a divinely ordained tradition and explicitly lays out the ways in which modern values are antithetical to smoking cigars. After this confrontation, too, however, we see ways in which tradition and modernity clash on Cruz's stage. Consider, for example, the way that the Anna Karenina cigar line flies in the face of traditional cigar branding, which usually focuses on beautiful women in exotic or tropical settings. Consider also the fact that, despite modern restrictions on alcohol, the Alcalar family celebrates the launch of their new cigar line by drinking rum, an integral part of Cuban culture and economy.
Just as the conflict between modernity and tradition heightens in Act 2, so too does the tension between men and women in the play. On the more regressive side of things, in Scene 1, we see Cheché scold Ofelia over his proposed mechanization of the factory, relenting only when her man (i.e., Santiago) arrives. Later, too, we see Cheché possibly assault Marela, and we also see him kill Juan Julian over Marela—a woman who does not even return his affections. On the other hand, however, we also see in Act 2 the various ways in which women are able to free themselves from the oppression imposed on their gender. Conchita, for example, teaches Palomo how to love her again after embracing the bohemian and independent style that she had earlier kept hidden. Marela is able to escape into the fantasies of life as an Anna-type figure by dressing up elegantly and dressing in costume for her family's new cigar brand. Through the development of Cheché's character arc, we see the ways in which he is lambasted and heartbroken over the loss of Mildred, who chose to leave him and free herself. Finally, in the play's ending, we see how machismo and jealousy can give way to tenderness when men take the time to learn from the women in their lives as Palomo has Conchita.
Even the North-South divide continues to press our characters in the play's second act. This most explicitly happens when Palomo and Cheché are talking in Scene 3, and Cheché suggests to Palomo that he take Conchita to Trenton and start their marriage over. While Cheché tells Palomo that Trenton has cigar factories that will allow them to maintain some semblance of their past life, the one thing he also takes care to tell Palomo is that there are no lectors in the Northern factories. The question of North and South here, then—as in Act 1—thus necessarily plays into all that has heretofore been associated with lectors. The tension is no longer just between North and South, but also between romance and sterility, machismo and tenderness, literature and reality, and tradition and modernity. The intersections between the North-South dynamic and the other thematic dynamics within the play is also evident by the continued use of parallelism between the world of Ybor City (Southern) and the Russian world of Anna Karenina (Northern). Marela poses as Anna, though Conchita is more deserving of this role based on her actions. Just before a major death in the play, Santiago references the noise of a train, which clearly links to the cause of Anna's ultimate demise. Finally, in a clear instance of foreshadowing, just before Juan Julian is killed, he reads a section of the text in which Anna's husband ponders killing Vronsky in a jealous duel.
So, with all of these elements thrown into more clear contrast, where are we left by the end of the play? One might think that, with the introduction of Anna Karenina to the Alcalar factory, a great deal of chaos and discord has been sown, but the last scene points to a different conclusion. Certainly it is true that the novel inspired Conchita to take more control of her life and test her marriage more forcefully, and it is also true that Juan Julian's choice to read the novel inflamed passions in Marela and Cheché that ultimately get him killed. Many look at this evidence alone and choose to say that, like Tolstoy's novel, Cruz's play has a tragic end. At the same time, however, we do well to note exactly what these changes have brought to the characters' lives: Marela, though bereft at the loss of Juan Julian, ends the play as someone who is more steely and less naive—ready to face all the world has to give her. Conchita and Palomo, for their parts, seem to have an increased understanding of the importance of tenderness and transparency in their relationship, as evidenced by both Palomo's choice to read the novel and the section of the novel itself that he reads. Finally, with Cheché seemingly gone, the other Alcalars are free to embrace the lector tradition and have literature read to them while they work, though not in the way that they originally anticipated. In sum, while the play's ending is certainly marred by tragedy, it is unfair to say that Cruz leaves us on a pessimistic note, without any hope for healing and reconciliation. Rather, just as Anna's own demise is instructional for readers of Tolstoy's novel, so too are the play's tragic events instructional in a different way for its characters.
