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Problems in Cuba
Since Cuba originated, it was illegal to leave the island without government permission. -
Birth of Nilo Cruz
Nilo Cruz born to Tina and Nilo Cruz in Matanzas, Cuba. He was the youngest of three because he had two older sisters. -
Incarceration of Father
Shortly after Nilo was born, his father was imprisoned for two years for attempting to leave Cuba. Nilo was eventually raised by his mother and two older sisters. -
A better life
When he was nine, Nilo and his parents fled Cuba on a freedom flight, leaving his sisters behind, in hopes of better opportunities in the United States. -
A New Home
Nilos family begins a new start in the little Havana neighborhood in Miami, Florida where he quickly picked up English and started writing poetry at the age of 10. He was amazed how words came to life in the creation of art. -
Reunion
Nilo returns to Motanzas, Cuba to visit his two older sisters who had initially remained in the island. -
Early Interest
He became interest in theatre as an actor and director which led him to study theatre at Miami-Dade Community College. During college, he was mentored by fellow Cuban actress and educator, Teresa Maria Rojas who pushed him to be a writer, rather than a director. -
Maria Irene Fornes
Nilo directed a scene from "Mud" which the playwright, Maria Irene Fornes saw and loved. She invited him to her artist incubation project she ran, INTAR Hispanic Playwrights Laboratory . -
NYC
Nilo moved to New York City to be able to work and study under Maria Irene Fornes. -
Brown University
Fornes recommended Nilo to Paula Vogel, an American Playwright, who later offered him a scholarship to study playwrighting with her at Brown University. He moved to Rhode Island to study in the university to which he graduated with an MFA (a degree for writing careers in the contemporary theater) in playwrighting in 1994. -
First Play
Night Train to Boliña, was Cruz's first play which premiered at the Magic Southside, in 1994 when he was 34. This play is about the harsh life of two children who escape their villlage during a war in their Latin-American country. Cruz's own immigration experience impacted many of his plays allowing him to express what he went through during those times. -
"A Park In Our House" & "Dancing On Her Knees"
Cruz served as a playwright-in-residence for the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J where he premiered "A Park in our House". This play ties back to Nilos youth in Cuba, about the "Ten Million Tons of Sugar Harvest" program in 1970 by Fidel Castro. He describes it as a play that helps him explain the loss of his innocence. Later that year, he premiered "Dancing on her Knees" in New York at Joseph Papp Public Theater. -
Two Sisters and a Piano
Premiered in the McCarter Theatre at Princeton, NJ, the play is based on Cruz's sisters as well as the Cuban poet Maria Elena Cruz Varela, who was imprisoned by Castro for her writings. It is about two women who, even though they live in very harsh conditions, make the best of their lives while under house arrest. -
A Bicycle Country
"A Bicycle country" is similar to Cruz's experience leaving Cuba as the play is about a group of three friends leaving Cuba in search of freedom. The play was premiered in the Florida Stage at Manalapan, Florida. -
Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams
The play "Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams" is about two siblings, a brother and a sister who were forced to flee Havana to the United States by their mother. It was premiered in the New Theatre, at Coral Gables, Florida. -
Anna in the Tropics
In 2002, Cruz created the play "Anna in the Tropics" which is a romantic drama Cuban immigrants who have come to Florida to work as cigar-makers and have an impact due to the Great Depression in America. Cruz was also the playwright for the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, which commissioned Anna in the Tropics -
Pulitzer Prize
Due to the play "Anna in the Tropics" Cruz received the Pulitzer Prize for having a strong script. He was the first Latino playwright to ever be awarded the prize. -
Lorca in a Green Dress
The play "Lorca in a Green Dress" is about the life and death of Federico Garcia Lorca, a Spanish poet and playwright who was murdered by Fascist Forces in 1963. It relives the multiple themes of life Lorca had. The play was premiered in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival at Ashland, Oregon. -
Capricho
Later that year, they premiered "Capricho in the McCarter Theatre at Princeton, New Jersey. The short play is about brief moment in the life of Lolo, a forgotten actor in the Lope de Vega play. -
Tony nomination
The play "Anna in the Tropics" made its way to be premiered in Broadway with Jimmy Smits as the lead role. During the same year, Cruz received a 2004 Tony nomination award for "Best Play". -
Beauty of the Father
"Beauty of the Father" was premiered in the New Theatre at Coral Gables, Florida. The play was about gay Spanish artist and his daughter, both of whom happen to be in love with the same man, a young Moroccan perfume-seller. -
The Color of Desire
The play "The Color of Desire" is about the romance of an American Businessman and a Cuban actress in Havana. The actress believes he will help her escape the island but finds out about a tragic affair. It was premiered in the Actor’s Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre at Coral Gables, Florida. -
Hurricane
The play "hurricane" is about the tragic accident of a man who ends up with Amnesia after a hurricane. The play was premiered in the Ringling National Arts Festival at Sarasota, Florida. -
Sotto Voce
The play "Sotto voce" is about a Jewish-Cuban young man determined to find the S.S. St. Louis, which left Nazi Germany for Cuba filled with Jewish refugees but was turned back by Cuba. The play premiered in the Theatre for the New City, New York. -
Bathing in Moonlight
The play premiered in the McCarter Theatre, at Princeton, New Jersey. The play is about a forbidden love between a Catholic priest, Father Monroe, and a parishioner. -
Exquisita Agonia
The play premiered at the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington, DC. It is about opera singer who struggles with grief and romantic obsession after her husband passed away in a tragic car accident. -
UCLA
Cruz was the Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Visiting Playwright-in-Residence at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television during the 2019-2020 academic school year.