Stage plays about the Cuban exile community and the uncertain search for freedom is nothing new in this town. In fact, it can be must-see theater when it’s done right. But Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz’s A Bicycle Country, opening Friday at New Theatre at the Roxy Performing Arts Center (1645 SW 107th Ave., Miami), just might be the best this genre has to offer.
Like most plays that tackle this timeless and poignant subject, Bicycle Country tells a moving story that delves into familiar themes of oppression, freedom, survival, and hope. But Cruz’s poetic prose and penchant for telling stories that are drenched in symbolism and fantasy is what sets this play apart from others. Three exiles tell harrowing tales of personal treacherous journeys to Miami from their oppressed island nation, and audience members — Cubans and otherwise — are thrust into a contemplative examination of cultural identity to which we can all relate.
Thursdays-Sundays. Starts: June 8. Continues through June 24, 2012