The play Letters from Cuba shows individuals seeking connection with one another. The play’s structure—a series of letters exchanged between a brother in Cuba and his sister in New York—reveals the layered dimensions of distance, both geographical and emotional, and the characters’ efforts to bridge these divides through acts of creativity.

Letters act as a bridge, carrying not only the characters’ words but also their emotions, fears, and desires across the physical distance separating them. For example, through his letters, Luis conveys his longing for reunion and shares the beauty of his daily life, sprinkling his words with sensory and emotional depth. He writes, “In your last letter, you told me that you went to the Metropolitan Museum with a friend and imagined I was there looking at the paintings with you. What a lovely thought. I wish I had been there with you.”(11) This yearning for unity underscores the way the letters serve as both a practical and emotional lifeline, keeping the siblings tethered to one another despite the circumstances keeping them apart.

Art and creativity also play a role in bringing the characters closer. Fornés weaves themes of artistic expression into the characters’ lives, particularly through Fran’s passion for dance. Her art becomes a metaphor for freedom and connection—a means of expressing what cannot be contained by mere words. Through her dances, Fran channels her emotions, allowing the audience to feel a piece of her spirit, and in a way as a response to Luis’s letters. Fran says “Those moments in a dance can make it magic”(14). Dancing is an outlet for her individual expression and gives an intimacy to her character we otherwise would not get, since she speaks so little in the play. We see the connection specifically at the start of Scene 11, when she is dancing in New York while Luis reads a letter in Cuba. Instead of the letters feeling like a one-way street from Luis to Fran, her dancing gives an unspoken response that implies a continuing connection.

The themes of dreams and spirituality for our unit also tie to the characters’ longing for connection. Luis’s letters are filled with dreams—both literal and metaphorical—that reflect his hope for a better future. These dreams can be seen to take on a spiritual quality in a metaphorical way; for example, in Luis’s letter in Scene 11. He speaks about love, and how he sees it as a concrete thing. We can read into his description of love as more evidence of his longing to connect with his sister. He says that love “…floats, even if its weight is heavier than air. It takes shape at a distance from the beloved.”(22) This language is super poetic and metaphorical. The relationship between the siblings can be compared to the love he speaks of. It’s something that floats the distance between them but is heavy and full of tension due to the bridge. Yet its presence is clear, and its shape takes place despite the bridge felt between the two siblings.

Fornes, Maria Irene. Letters from Cuba. PAJ Publications, 2007.