Opening weekend of Cosumnes River College’s theatre arts spring performance at the Black Box Theatre kicked off with a bang, drawing more than 200 attendees. Though the story was hard to follow at times, the overall plot and acting made the show enjoyable.

“Anna in the Tropics,” directed by theatre arts professor Ryan Perez Adame, is a play set in late 1920s Florida following a Cuban-American family as they run their cigar factory. The family’s world gets flipped upside down as the newly-arrived storyteller reads them the Leo Tolstoy story, “Anna Karenina” that slowly starts to mirror their lives.

Walking into the theater, you are immediately transported into the setting as Latin music fills the room, hinting at the Cuban-American family that will soon take the stage.

The set design was simple, yet it gave the feel of being in an older cabin. Everything was a nice, dark brown wooden piece of furniture, from the movable tables and chairs to the porch, ramp and pillars. Even the floor features a sketched hardwood pattern.

The themes in this play center on family, tradition, love and hardship and had a good balance of comedy and seriousness. Some plot points revolve around whether to modernize the cigar factory with machines and technology or keep the traditional way of working by hand. The use of a lector, or professional reader and storyteller, who reads to them as they work is also debated—whether to keep up the tradition or cut costs.

There are scenes where the couple Conchita and Palomo are struggling to connect in their marriage. They try to find other methods that will satisfy both parties with Conchita even saying they should try and “love in a different way,” leading to more issues as the story unfolds.

The play’s use of on-stage effects was interesting to see. In the beginning of the play, there are two scenes happening on stage at the same time in two different locations. To make that happen, the spotlight would be on the active scene as the characters interact while the other group of characters freeze in their last positions out of the spotlight.

The way the show transitioned between scenes also added a layer to the performance. In one scene where some characters get intimate, the lights go off in a fade-to-black transition before “doing the deed.”

The acting in the show was strong, especially the subtlety in certain scenes. In one scene, the character Conchita experiences unexpected bursts of passion that surprises her, and the actress, 23-year-old theatre arts major Audrey Di Paolo, freezes as all of her emotions rush to her face. It was an amazing moment to watch.

One of the best things CRC does for students is having a “pay what you can” model for all performances at the Black Box Theatre, allowing students who may not have the money to see a show to enjoy the arts regardless of their bank account balance.

The next performance of “Anna in the Tropics” is Friday at 7:30 p.m. followed by the last two performances on Saturday. You can get tickets in person at the Black Box Theatre or online