Cuban Theater Digital Archive

Play script (English)

This work takes place in Cuba during the Pope’s visit to the island in January of 1998.  The two main characters are siblings named Luca and Luciana.  They were born and spent their childhood in Cuba, but at the age of seven their mother sent them through the Church to the United States in a movement called “Pedro Pan’s Children”, in hopes that they will be able to have a life of freedom.   They both return to the island, and as this play shows each journey during this time.  Luca explores the city and the sites of their childhood, while Luciana goes to a small town and meets with Hortensia.  Luciana is a guest at their home and becomes sympathetic to Hortensia’s struggle to open a “Museum of Dreams”, for the government refuses her wish for permission to create her wish.  Through simultaneous stories of the two siblings, their struggle against their past and against current government oppression, Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams presents a view of Cuba during the monumental event of the pope’s visit.