Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma and Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Artistic Director Braden Abraham, continues its 2025/26 Season with Two Sisters and a Piano, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz. Celebrated Chicago director Lisa Portes joins Writers for the first time to direct. Two Sisters and a Piano will run February 26 – March 29, 2026, in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. The Press Opening is Friday, March 6, 2026 at 7:30pm.
Trapped under house arrest, novelist Maria Celia and her sister Sofia can still hear the rumors of the Russians’ departure from Cuba in 1991. While awaiting news from Maria Celia’s exiled husband and dreaming of their freedom, the two sisters find their small world unexpectedly shaken by the arrival of a romantic young piano tuner and a charismatic military officer infatuated with Maria Celia’s writing. Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz (Anna in the Tropics) weaves an authentic tale of oppression, human spirit, and intertwining fates in a world of shifting global politics.
Tickets are on sale at Writers Theatre at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe; 847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org.
“The particular convergence of firsts in this production is exciting to me,” said Artistic Director Braden Abraham. “A major contemporary American writer, Nilo Cruz, and a celebrated long-time Chicago director, Lisa Portes, both making their Writers Theatre debuts. Nilo’s plays delight on the page, but they are really sensory experiences meant to be experienced on stage. Two Sisters and a Piano combines the palpable heat of an unlikely romance with the high stakes of a political thriller. Nilo has little interest in debate; instead he’s interested in the shape of desire, the cost of repression, and the contradictory forces that shape his characters."
The cast includes Arash Fakhrabadi (Victor Manuel/Understudy Lieutenant Portuondo), Neysha Mendoza Castro (Sofia), Adam Poss (Lieutenant Portuondo), Andrea San Miguel (Maria Celia), Veronica Garrubbo (Understudy Sofia), Richard Gomez (Understudy Militia Guard/Victor Manuel) and Carisa Gonzalez (Understudy Maria Celia).
The creative team includes: Lisa Portes (Director), Brian Sidney Bembridge (Scenic Designer), Izumi Inaba (Costume Designer), Jason Lynch (Lighting Designer), Andre Pluess (Sound Designer), Jonny Martinez (Choreographer), Greg Geffrard (Violence & Intimacy Director), and Michelle Lopez-Rios (Dialect Coach), and Francesca Patrón (Assistant Director). The stage manager is Katie Klemme and the assistant stage manager is Olivia Leslie.
Fact Sheet / Two Sisters and a Piano
Two Sisters and a Piano
Written by Nilo Cruz
Directed by Lisa Portes
Arash Fakhrabadi (Victor Manuel/Understudy Lieutenant Portuondo), Neysha Mendoza Castro (Sofia), Adam Poss (Lieutenant Portuondo), Andrea San Miguel (Maria Celia), Veronica Garrubbo (Understudy Sofia), Richard Gomez (Understudy Militia Guard/Victor Manuel) and Carisa Gonzalez (Understudy Maria Celia).
Creative Team: Lisa Portes (Director), Brian Sidney Bembridge (Scenic Designer), Izumi Inaba (Costume Designer), Jason Lynch (Lighting Designer), Andre Pluess (Sound Designer), Jonny Martinez (Choreographer), Greg Geffrard (Violence & Intimacy Director), and Michelle Lopez-Rios (Dialect Coach), and Francesca Patrón (Assistant Director). The stage manager is Katie Klemme and the assistant stage manager is Olivia Leslie.
Dates: First performance: February 26, 2026
Press opening: Friday, March 6 at 7:30pm
Closing performance: March 29, 2026
Performance Schedule:
- Wednesdays: 2:00pm and 7:30pm
- Thursdays: 7:30pm
- Fridays: 7:30pm
- Saturdays: 2:00pm and 7:30pm
- Sundays: 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Open Captioned Performance: Thursday, March 19 at 7:30pm
ASL-Interpreted Performance: Saturday, March 21 at 2:00pm
Pay What You Can Performances: Thursday, February 26 at 7:30pm and Sunday, March 22 at 7:00pm
Location: Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe
Prices: $35-$95
Discounts are available for students, educators, theater industry professionals, active military personnel, veterans, police officers, firefighters, and their immediate families. Information is available at: https://www.writerstheatre.org/plan-your-visit/box-office-and-theatre-center/pricing--special-offers
Box Office: The Box Office is located at 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe; 847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org
NOTES OF INTEREST
· Playwright Nilo Cruz won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Anna in the Tropics, making him the first Latino to receive that honor. His opera El último sueño de Frida y Diego will be produced at the Lyric Opera this spring. He is the most produced Cuban-American playwright in the United States.
· Celebrated Chicago director Lisa Portes joins Writers for the first time to direct.
· The production features a new prologue to the second act.
· The play is set in Cuba in 1991. It explores themes of oppression, resilience, love, and the power of art through the story of two sisters under house arrest. Two Sisters and a Piano is a poetic drama about resilience, the soul's yearning for liberty, and how art and love struggle to survive within the confines of political oppression.
· Two Sisters and a Piano was inspired by the imprisonment of Cuban poet and activist Maria Elena Cruz Varela.
EVENTS:
The Green Room: Lisa Portes
Wednesday, February 4 at 7pm
Interview with director Lisa Portes about Two Sisters and a Piano
Lisa Portes is a former Chicagoan who is very excited to make her WT debut with this rarely seen play she has wanted to direct for years. At this event, Lisa will discuss growing up in a Cuban-American family, her love of Nilo Cruz's plays, what was going on in Havana in the early 1990s when the play is set, and what discoveries are happening in the rehearsal room.
Family Matinee Series
Saturday, March 14 at 2pm
Going to the theatre just got a little bit easier for parents and caregivers. Enjoy a Saturday matinee while your young ones engage in active, creative play with WT Education’s professional teaching artists at an onsite class.
The Final Word Audience Discussion
Sunday, March 29 at 12pm
Join fellow audience members and WT Artistic staff for a lively, in-person discussion delving into the characters and themes at the heart of Two Sisters and a Piano.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Nilo Cruz (Playwright) is a Cuban-American playwright who gained national prominence in 2003 when he won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play Anna in the Tropics, for which he also received a Tony Award nomination. The immigrant experience is a common theme in many of Cruz's plays and he has become known for his ability to successfully weave strains of magic realism and other literary traditions into his works. In addition to the Pulitzer, he has received numerous awards, including those from the Kennedy Center Fund, American Theatre Critics and the Humana Festival for New American Plays, as well as grants from the National Endowment of the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation, among others. His plays include Dancing on Her Knees; A Park in Our House; Two Sisters and a Piano; A Bicycle Country; Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams; Lorca in a Green Dress; Beauty of the Father; Hurricane and A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, as well as translations of Doña Rosita the Spinster; The House of Bernarda Alba; Life Is a Dream and ¡Ay, Carmela! His work has been seen at numerous theaters around the country, including, among others, South Coast Rep, the Mark Taper Forum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Washington D.C.’s Studio Theatre and New York’s Public Theater; and around the world in Canada, England, France, Australia, Germany, Belarus, Costa Rica, Colombia, Japan and Spain. Cruz, who received an M.F.A. from Brown University and an honorary doctorate degree from Whittier College, has twice previously served as a playwright-in-residence: in 2000 for the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., and in 2001 for the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, which commissioned Anna in the Tropics. Cruz has also taught drama at Yale, Brown and the University of Iowa. During the 2019/20 academic year, he was the Hearst Theater Lab Initiative Distinguished Visiting Playwright-in-Residence at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. He is a member of the New Dramatists.
Lisa Portes (Director) is an award-winning director, leader, educator and advocate. She is a co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons and serves on the board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and on the Directors Council of the Drama League. Her work has been seen regionally at Cal Shakes, Cincinnati Playhouse, Denver Cetner, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Olney Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Rep, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Victory Gardens Theater. In New York she has developed and/or directed new work for Soho Rep, Playwrights Horizons, The Public, and New York Theatre Workshop. In 2016 she was honored with the SDC Zelda Fichandler Award for Directors and was the first freelance director to be so honored. Recent projects include the world premieres of Laughs in Spanish by Alexis Scheer (Denver Center) and Clean/Espejos by Christine Quintana (South Coast Rep), as well as numerous productions of Quixote Nuevo by Octavio Solis (Denver Center, South Coast Rep, Seattle Rep, Portland Center Stage, and Round House Theatre). She serves as Chair of the UCSD Department of Theatre & Dance.
Arash Fakhrabadi (Victor Manuel/Understudy Lieutenant Portuondo) is thrilled to be performing in his first show with Writers Theatre. Chicago credits include: A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre ); RUST (Goodman Theatre New Stages),The Thanksgiving Play u/s (Steppenwolf Theatre Company:); Layalina (Goodman Theatre New Stages); Anna in the Tropics (Remy Bumppo Theatre); A Lie of the Mind (Raven Theatre); The Leopard Play or sad songs for lost boys (Steep Theatre). Regional: Laughs in Spanish (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre). Television: Chicago Fire (NBC).
Neysha Mendoza Castro (Sofia) is a Puerto Rican SAG-E actress and theatre artist born and raised in Puerto Rico. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from University of Puerto Rico and an MFA in Acting from DePaul University in Chicago, where she received extensive training in classical and contemporary theatre. Trilingual in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, Neysha brings emotional depth and cultural range to her performances. Recent theatre credits include Fefu and Her Friends, portraying Fefu. On screen, she has appeared as a Guest Star on Chicago P.D. and recently led a Spanish feature film.
Adam Poss (Lieutenant Portuondo) returns to Writers Theatre after previously appearing in A Doll’s House. Broadway credits include Peter Morgan’s Patriots (Ethel Barrymore Theatre). Select regional credits include The History Boys (Studio Theatre), Lady Macbeth in Robert O’Hara’s all-male Macbeth (Denver Center), Oedipus in Oedipus el Rey and the world premiere of Maduri Shekar’s Queen (Victory Gardens), Angelo in Measure for Measure (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), the world premieres of Christopher Shinn’s Teddy Ferrara and 2666 (Goodman Theatre), Birthday Candles and Dracula in the world premiere of Dracula (Cincinnati Playhouse), the world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s The North Pool (Theatreworks Silicon Valley) and his The Lake Effect (Silk Road Rising). Select credits include Chicago Med/Fire/PD, Empire, Shameless, Paper Girls and The Big Leap.
Andrea San Miguel (Maria Celia) previously appeared at Writers Theatre in As You Like It and Twelfth Night. Other Chicago area credits include: Circus Quixote (Lookingglass), The Penelopiad, The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (Goodman), The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf), Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Comedy of Errors (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), How to Defend Yourself (Victory Gardens Theater), Georgiana & Kitty (Northlight). Select Regional Work: Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Old Globe, Guthrie Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Syracuse Stage, Indiana Repertory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse.
Veronica Garrubbo (Understudy Sofia) is honored to make her Writers Theatre debut. She recently earned her BA in Theatre from Northwestern University and has additionally trained at the British American Drama Academy in London.
Richard Gomez (Understudy Militia Guard/Victor Manuel)
Carisa Gonzalez (Understudy Maria Celia) is Chicago-based multidisciplinary performer of Puerto Rican decent, and is honored to be back at Writers after taking over the role of Princess Mary in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Last seen in TUTS Houston’s production of In The Heights as Daniela, other favorite regional productions include: Little Women at Geva Theater in NY (Beth/Laurie), The Sound of Music at Paramount Theatre (Maria), and Where Did We Sit on the Bus by Brian Quijada at the Kravis Center and the Arsht Center in Florida (Bee Quijada).
UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS AT WRITERS THEATRE
Two Sisters and a Piano is followed by the off-Broadway/Broadway hit Job by Max Wolf Friedlich, directed by David Esbjornson. The subscription season caps off with the Midwest and Chicago Premiere of Tom Stoppard’s epic, Tony Award-winning play Leopoldstadt, directed by Carey Perloff.
Writers Theatre is offering a variety of subscriptions with an option for every theatregoer, Flex subscriptions, with options for either four tickets ($280) or five tickets ($350), are still available.
Season package subscribers receive the new Writers Theatre concierge service for ticket exchanges and questions. Exclusive subscriber benefits include: complimentary ticket exchanges (upgrade fees may apply), special “subscriber-rate” prices on additional tickets, advance access to special events and programs, easy, free parking, exclusive discounts in bar items and merchandise, discounts on rental of Writers Theatre event spaces on Writers Theatre merchandise, event rentals, and more. For a complete list of benefits visit writerstheatre.org.
Single tickets will go on sale for each show approximately two months prior to first preview. Flex subscriptions and tickets are available online at www.writerstheatre.org, and at the Box Office by calling 847-242-6000.
AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Writers Theatre offers Open Captioning and ASL-interpretation on select dates for each production. Please visit writerstheatre.org/accessibility for more information.
Throughout the season, Writers Theatre offers a variety of audience enrichment and special programming. This includes regularly occurring offerings like the Family Matinee Series, The Green Room artist interview series and podcast and The Final Word Audience Discussion Series. Please visit writerstheatre.org for a full listing of upcoming offerings.
ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE
Writers Theatre is proud to continue its 34th season. Having captivated audiences for years with its dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible, the theatre is a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called “America’s finest regional theater company” by The Wall Street Journal. Under the leadership of Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Artistic Director Braden Abraham and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, the company is charting a path forward for the next 30 years.
Since its founding in 1992, Writers Theatre has stayed true to its core values: Creating intimate connections through astonishing performances and innovative programs; by activating relationships between artists and community; and by inviting people to gather in our spaces for transformative experiences. The company has produced over 140 productions—everything from inventive interpretations of classics to groundbreaking new work. In 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility designed by the internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects.
Writers Theatre now welcomes more than 60,000 patrons each season and has helped establish the North Shore of Chicago as a premier cultural destination. Through its Literary Development Initiative, which has been responsible for the nurturing and premiering of over 30 world premieres, the theatre has established itself as a major originator of new theatrical works. Serving as an extension of the Writers Theatre mission, WT Education programs engage an average of 10,000 students each year with active learning opportunities centered around the written word.