***** Leave it to Writers Theatre to bring a work like “Two Sisters and a Piano” to their stage. Written by Nilo Cruz ( who many will recall as the playwright who brought us “Anna and the Tropics”), brings Cuba a little closer to us as he takes us back to 1991, when the Russians left Cuba. Cuba, having lost its power broker, now has to take matters into its own hands. Author, Maria Celia ( a wonderful performance by Andrea San Miguel) and her sister, Sofia ( deftly handled by Neysha Mendoza Castro) are under “house Arrest”. Maria’s husband had left Cuba and is in exile, fearing to return, leaving his wife and sister-in-law in the hands of the military.

The story revolves around these two sisters, their lives, before and presently. Being under House Arrest, they are not allowed to leave the building and even the letters that they write or are sent to them, do not get in their hands. The military, under the leadership of Lieutenant Portuondo ( a dynamic character developed by Adam Poss) these two women are in many ways trapped in the mansion they call home, but now has become a sort of prison.

While these are the three main characters, we also have a few soldiers and a wonderful character, Victor Manuel ( the piano tuner) who brings a spark of life to Sofia’s very existence. We are unsure of what the climate change will bring for Cuba, and of course, the sisters are concerned about how the government will handle their new situation. The Lieutenant finds himself captivated by Maria and her books, wanting to know what is next for his reading pleasure. At the same time, he has confiscated all of her letters seeing them as some sort of secret code that will one day cause his ruin.

The Lieutenant makes a deal with Maria, allowing the letters to be read ( by him and then her) in order to hear what her next romance novel will be, and during this period, they find themselves becoming lovers. At the same time, Sofia, after flirting with her piano tuner feels that this is what she must do in order to gain back some type of life. Under the clever direction of Lisa Portes on a massive set designed by Brian Sidney Bembridge, this story takes on a life where we, the audience, feel that we have indeed broken the fourth wall and are peering into situations that could bring people from one extreme to the other.

Each character, finds themselves escaping from the reality that surrounds them and in many ways scares them, in order to find what might be a better life. While it doesn’t hold true for all and in the end, no one is truly better off than they were at the start, for a period of time  they had an adventure that allowed them to escape ( on a mental basis) from the world that was falling apart around them. I thought that every detail of this production was solid. From the costumes ( Izumi Inaba), lighting (Jason Lynch) and sound ( Andre Pluess). There was a little choreography in this one, splendidly done by Jonny Martinez and a tip of the hat to Greg Geffrard for the intimacy and violence movement.

“Two Sisters and a Piano” will continue Thru – Mar 29th with performances as follows: