I enjoyed Anna in the Tropics. I like how Cruiz was able to use accessible, simple storytelling with a relatable and classic plot to do many complex things. He is able to contrast the convoluted complexity of Anna Karenina with his own Anna in the Tropics while still keeping the homage clear, pitting the modern problem of technology versus tradition against the ancient conflicts of interpersonal interactions, and touch on such issues as education of the lower class, all with a clear and linear plot that was enjoyable to read.

So much of the material in this class has been alienating to read or obscured and inaccessible, all in the name of complex higher meanings. This play defies those to me, by showing you can acknowledge all of these complexities and non traditional goals without having to abandon linear story telling or simple pleasurable prose.

The only thing that really bugged me was the urination bit in the beginning. What was the purpose of it? It did not fit her character for the rest of the play, that is a juvenile, almost incompetent action, one that suggests that the character cannot even control their own body let alone their own actions. Was it supposed to be a joke? Additionally what is the ‘sound’ of someone peeing themselves? This is a nitpicky criticism but it came so early in the play that I went into the rest with a some what negative opinion, though as I pointed out above, it did win me over in the end.