It seems almost every day there鈥檚 another story about censorship in Florida鈥檚 public schools. But what about something being uncensored?
Miami-Dade County high schoolers are once again able to see performances of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 鈥淎nna in the Tropics.鈥� At first, district officials in Miami-Dade County Public Schools on school field trips but later amid public outcry.
On a recent Wednesday morning, kids from a dozen different high schools streamed off their buses and into the Colony Theater on Miami Beach to see 鈥淎nna in the Tropics鈥� 鈥� many of them dressed in suits and ties, heels and dresses 鈥� as if they were going to a Broadway show.
鈥淚 was reading the playbill just now, 鈥� Ernesto Hernandez said, giggling. He鈥檚 in the drama club at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High.
鈥淚'm excited! Because I want to make sure I don't know anything. So when I see something, I'm surprised,鈥� he said.
This was a performance Ernesto and his classmates almost didn鈥檛 get to see.
Earlier this school year, MDCPS officials decided students shouldn鈥檛 be able to go to the play on official field trips, due to concerns that some of the sexual content in the show isn鈥檛 age appropriate.
鈥淲hen the news came to me that they were censoring the piece, it just broke my heart,鈥� said Nilo Cruz, the show鈥檚 playwright and director.
鈥淚 became very depressed, because, I mean 鈥� this is where I live,鈥� Cruz said on WLRN鈥檚 Sundial. 鈥淚 grew up in Miami. I went to Miami Senior High 鈥� and Shenandoah 鈥� that's where I discovered Shakespeare, and Shakespeare changed my life.鈥�
鈥淎nna in the Tropics鈥� made Cruz the first Latino to win the in 2003.
It tells the story of Cuban cigar workers in Tampa in 1929 whose lives are transformed by Leo Tolstoy鈥檚 classic novel 鈥淎nna Karenina.鈥� To pass the monotonous hours in the stuffy factory, the workers hire a to read to them.
Anna Karenina鈥檚 passionate affair with Count Vronsky offers her an escape from an unhappy marriage and shows the cigar workers new ways of living and loving.
The tragic love story makes two of the play鈥檚 characters, Conchita and Palomo, rethink their own relationship.
鈥淪o what鈥檚 going to happen to us, Palomo?鈥� Conchita asks her husband.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know! Do you want a divorce? We can travel to Reno and get divorced in six weeks!鈥� he cried. 鈥淏ut your family will be opposed to it, and the same with mine, so divorce is out of the question!鈥�
Conchita winds up cheating on her husband with the lector. In a steamy scene, the audience sees the lovers entwined in a passionate embrace, though the only nudity depicted on stage is the man鈥檚 bare chest.
It鈥檚 this sexual content that school district officials said wasn鈥檛 鈥� at a time when new state laws are what can be taught in Florida classrooms.
鈥淚f kids can go to a play and see themselves and find some joy in that, and that they could do something more with their lives than what we鈥檙e told 鈥� I think, why not?鈥� said Gaylee Garcia, a student at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High, where she's a vice president of the drama club.
Garcia said the ban hit home because her family is Cuban.
鈥淭hese are our lives. These are our stories. Our families,鈥� she said.
At its core, 鈥淎nna in the Tropics鈥� is a story about the power of art to change lives, and that can make it dangerous in the eyes of some, said Michel Hausmann, the artistic director of , the theater company putting on the show.
鈥淪tories are powerful. And I think that the powers that be, on a certain level, understand the power of stories and understand the power of empathy,鈥� Hausmann said. 鈥淭hat's why they want to censor it.鈥�
Ultimately, Hausmann said the district's superintendent Jose Dotres and the production team forged a compromise. The intimate scenes were toned down and the theater got parents鈥� permission for students to attend.
鈥淭he superintendent was a great person to sit down to have a conversation [with], 鈥� somebody who understood the need and importance of art education,鈥� Hausmann said.
At a performance just for high schoolers on Feb. 1, the teenage audience was enraptured, gasping and crying and hanging on every word. Theater staff later said they thought it was the best audience the production had seen so far.
鈥淚'm completely enamored. I'm incandescently happy right now. I am totally taken away with the story,鈥� said Isabella Bravo, a student at Miami Coral Park Senior High School.
鈥淚 had to hand out tissues,鈥� said Isabella鈥檚 teacher, Leia Cole. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e really into it.鈥�
For many of the students, this was the first professional theater production they had ever experienced, created by someone not so different from them.
鈥淭hey feel like they're limited in their ambitions, because of where they started,鈥� Cole said. 鈥淎nd so it's really nice to point at someone that started in the same place and has come so far. That makes it very real for them.鈥�
For Isabella, 鈥淎nna in the Tropics鈥� is proof that a kid from Miami can grow up and live their dreams.
鈥淭hat could be any of us. Especially since we're theater kids,鈥� Isabella said. 鈥淭hat could be any of us.鈥�
If You Go
What: 20th anniversary production of Nilo Cruz鈥檚 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 鈥淎nna in the Tropics鈥�
When: An extended run of performances is scheduled thru Sunday Feb. 12
Where: Colony Theater on Lincoln Road
Tickets and more information at
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