The son of a political dissident jailed for a time by Castro, Nilo Cruz left Cuba with his parents when he was 10 years old and emigrated to the United States, where he eventually built a reputation as an outstanding young playwright (among his previous works are Graffiti, Dancing On Her Knees and The Museum of Dreams). Cruz returns to his homeland in A Bicycle Country, which is set in the "Special Period," the years following the rupturing of relations between Cuba and the former Soviet Union in 1991. Cut off from its subsidies, Cuba went into a severe economic and social tailspin from which it has only recently recovered. Cruz looks at three Cubans, Pepe, Ines and Julio, who face the hard times together. Julio (Armando Di Lorenzo), a middle-aged clerk, is a semi-invalided stroke victim; Ines (Kadina deElejalde) is the nurse he hires to guide him back to health. Pepe (David Barrera) is the loyal friend to both, a postman with a romantic yearning for a better, more open and satisfying life. He cannot bear having to make do with a single egg for dinner and a bicycle as his main means of transport. Ines, reduced to wearing the same dress every day, shares in his discontent and dreams of escaping to another country, a bigger, richer one. Julio, more concerned with regaining his health than finding nirvana abroad, at first scoffs at their notions of escaping Cuba on a flimsy raft, but his burgeoning love for Ines finally lands him in their camp. He sells all his remaining possessions in order to fund the building of a raft.
Act One, which closes with them about to embark on this desperate, dangerous flight to freedom, is a skillful example of realistic drama -- political drama, really. Act Two, which is set at sea, on the raft (thanks to Craig Siebels' ingenious set and rear projection), becomes more poetic, symbolic -- and static. Circumstances dictate this change: because they are becalmed at sea, without sails or engine, they can no longer take action. Their fate is up to the Gods, to the vagaries of wind and water. Six days go by, six days with neither food nor drink; hallucinations, nightmares and madness take hold and put them through hell. As Cruz shows, the Gods, like Castro, can be exceedingly cruel, but even so, even when in hell, people need not lose their humanity, their dreams of freedom and happiness.
Thanks to a superbly realized production Cruz's somewhat schizophrenic play comes off well. It stands out as a testament to the indomitable spirit of the human race.
