Finborough Theatre

The UK Premiere of a gripping new political drama by the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright

Havana, 1961. Luca and Lucianas lives are irreversibly changed when their mother puts them on a plane bound for the United States. The Castro regime prevents her from following them.

Havana, 1998. The estranged siblings return to Cuba to revisit their confiscated childhood. Luca finds himself a Cuban lover while Luciana settles in a village where the Communist authorities will not allow a Museum of Dreams to open.

Nilo Cruz was awarded the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Anna and the Tropics, which ran on Broadway and internationally, including the UK (Hampstead Theatre). Cruzs other plays include Two Sisters and a Piano A Park in Our House and Night Train to Bolina. Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams had its world premiere at the New Theatre, Florida in 2001. Cruz other awards include the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award.

The Cherub Company London has been a creative and pioneering force in British Theatre since 1978. This is new Artistic Director Michael Gieletas first production for the company. His credits include Anyone Can Whistle (Bridewell Theatre), Last Song of the Nightingale and Change of Heart (New End) and Twelfth Night (Norway). He also worked with Franco Zeffirelli on the highly acclaimed production of Absolutely!(Perhaps) at the Wyndhams Theatre.

Best known for her BAFTA Nominated performance as Mrs Khan, the stoic mother in East is East, Linda Bassett plays Hortensia. Bassett’s other film credits include Cora in Calendar Girls and Nelly Boxall in The Hours. Bassett’s prolific stage career has recently encompassed Phyllida Lloyd’s The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe) and Kathy Burke’s Love Me Tonight (Hampstead Theatre).

Tim Hardy plays General Viamonte. Hardy recently played Galileo in the BBC’s Life of Galileo. Other credits include Waiting for Godot at the Finborough Theatre. Simon Harrison plays Basilio. Harrison’s recent credits include Doctor Faustus at Liverpool’s Everyman Theatre. Playing Delita is Lucy Barker. Barker’s recent credits include Love and Understanding at the Old Red Lion. Irini Venieri plays Luciana. Venieri’s credits include A Little Life at the Arcola Theatre and Oedipus Rex at the Rosemary Branch Theatre. Playing Samuel is Alex Waldmann. Waldmann’s recent credits include The Secret Garden and Capital at the Kings Head Theatre. Marcello Walton plays Luca. Walton featured in the recent ITV/Granada series The Last Detective. Stage credits include Jamaica Inn (Salisbury Playhouse) and Abandonment (York Theatre Royal).

THE PRESS ON HORTENSIA AND THE MUSEUM OF DREAMS

"THIS ATMOSPHERIC, WELL-ACTED DRAMA BY PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT NILO CRUZ."
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"IT'S THE SULTRY ATMOSPHERE OF MICHAEL GIELETA'S PRODUCTION THAT BEGUILES, WITH LONGING, PASSION AND EVEN A HINT OF MAGIC"
Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard

“[THE] CAST, WHICH IS A SIGN OF THE KIND OF ACTOR THE FINBOROUGH, IN ITS SMALL EARL’S COURT PUB HOME, CAN ATTRACT THESE DAYS.
Timothy Ramsden, Reviewsgate

"CRUZ’S WONDERFULLY LYRICAL USE OF LANGUAGE HELPS TO ECHO THE STEAMY, STIFLING ATMOSPHERE OF A TENNESSEE WILLIAMS PLAY."
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"DIRECTOR MICHAEL GIELETA’S HEARTFELT INTERPRETATION"
Lucy Powell, Time Out

"LINDA BASSETT IS A THOROUGHLY BEWITCHING HORTENSIA, IMPOVERISHED AND IMPASSIONED IN EQUAL MEASURE"
Lucy Powell, Time Out

"LINDA BASSETT IS A WARM, IMPASSIONED PRESENCE AS HORTENSIA"
Ian Johns, The Times

"LINDA BASSETT…FREQUENTLY TOUCHINGLY FUNNY"
C J Sheridan, Rogues and Vagabonds

"LUCY BARKER IS PHYSICALLY DELIGHTFUL…SEXILY LANGUOROUS"
C J Sheridan, Rogues and Vagabonds

"LUCY BARKER BRINGS A REFRESHING DIRECTNESS TO HER BRIGHT-EYED DELITA" Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard

"IRINI VENIERI…TOUCHING"
Ian Johns, The Times

"PLAYED WITH COOL, CALM UNDERSTATEMENT BY IRINI VENIERI"
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"ALEX WALDMANN GIVES AN URGENCY AND EDGE TO SAMUEL, SEETHING WITH FRUSTRATED SEX AND POETRY."
C J Sheridan, Rogues and Vagabonds

"HORTENSIA’S SONS DEPICTED WITH FANTASTICALLY YOUTHFUL EXUBERANCE BY SIMON HARRISON AND ALEX WALDMANN"
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"A LOVE STORY, AN EXPLORATION OF A CERTAIN KIND OF FAITH, AN ALLEGORY OF LIFE IN CUBA, AND HAS A TOUCH OF LATIN AMERICAN MAGIC REALISM THROWN IN."
Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide

"THE ATMOSPHERE OF MYSTERY GIELETA CREATES IS COMPELLING."
Lucy Powell, Time Out

"THIS PRODUCTION IS A FABULOUS EVOCATION OF ATMOSPHERE AND PLACE, SATISFYING TO THE SENSES"
C J Sheridan, Rogues and Vagabonds

"A MOVING TALE OF INDIVIDUALS COMING TO TERMS WITH THEIR DAMAGED PASTS – BOTH PERSONAL AND NATIONAL – AND LEARNING TO HOPE AGAIN AGAINST THE ODDS."
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"PLAYED BEAUTIFULLY UNDER MICHAEL GIELETA’S MEASURED DIRECTION"
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"ANYONE WHO HAS EVER BEEN TO CUBA WILL INSTANTLY RECOGNISE THE TRANSFORMATION THE TINY FINBOROUGH STAGE HAS UNDERGONE. THE WALLS, HUNG WITH OLD PHOTOS AND CURLING IMAGES OF THE MADONNA, ARE PEELING, AND BRIGHTLY PAINTED SHUTTERS STRUGGLE TO KEEP OUT THE PIERCING CARIBBEAN SUNLIGHT. DESIGNER ALEX MARKER HAS DONE A MAGNIFICENT JOB"
Fiona Mountford, Evening Standard

"BEFORE A WORD HAS BEEN SPOKEN, THE AUDIENCE IS TRANSPORTED TO THE HEAT AND COLOURS AND DECAYING FABRIC OF THE LATIN AMERICAN ISLAND, REALISED BY THE ACCUMULATED DETAIL AND PAINTERLY IMAGINATION OF ALEX MARKER’S EXTRAORDINARY SET. HE RECENTLY CREATED AN ENCHANTED VICTORIAN WORLD IN THE FINBOROUGH’S TRELAWNY OF THE WELLS, AND NOW HAS PROVIDED HORTENSIA AND THE MUSEUM OF DREAMS WITH THE PERFECT SETTING FOR NILO CRUZ’S DRAMA OF DISPLACEMENT AND YEARNING… IT RAISES SMALL HOUSE THEATRE DESIGN TO A NEW LEVEL."
C J Sheridan, Rogues and Vagabonds

"THE SET EFFORTLESSLY EVOKES THE CRUMBLING COLONIAL BUILDINGS OF CUBA, WITH ITS PEELING PAINTED SHUTTERS AND STAINED OCHRE WALLS."
Cheryl Freedman, What’s On in London

"ALEX MARKER’S SET IS RICHLY EVOCATIVE OF CUBA’S DILAPIDATED GLAMOUR."
Lucy Powell, Time Out

"DIRECTOR MICHAEL GIELETA DRAWS GOOD PERFORMANCES FROM HIS LEADING ACTORS. HE ALSO DOES A GOOD JOB IN CREATING THE STEAMY ATMOSPHERE OF CUBA, WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF DESIGNER ALEX MARKER."
Philip Fisher, British Theatre Guide