Sotto Voce

The GableStage’s latest production is a masterful look at love, life, and the power of memory

By Tina Wyngate

At first blush, the idea of seeing a play that explores the historic tragedy of the “damned” voyage of the MS St. Louis in 1939 would seem like a less than pleasant way to spend an evening. After all, the St. Louis is a painful memory, the shameful story of how 937 Jews fleeing Nazi Germany were denied entrance first into Havana, then into the U.S. and Canada.

But Sotto Voce is instead a compelling, riveting narrative about the efforts of a young Cuban journalist to reach the former girlfriend – now an aged, famous novelist living in New York – of one of the doomed passengers on that voyage. It is a complex, entertaining story of the relationship between the young Saquiel Rafaeli (played by Gabriell Salgado), the aging writer Bemadette Kahn (played by Sara Morsey), and her ebullient helper Lucilia (played by Claudia Tomás), the latter of whom adds a charming, comedic element to the play.

The plot of Sotto Voce is simple enough. Saquiel is in New York on a student visa, doing research about what happened to the passengers who embarked for Havana and their new life in Cuba with so much hope and optimism, only to be returned to the hell of Nazi-occupied Europe. He considers it his mission not to let the memory of them die, and his research has taken him literally to the doorstep of a renowned author with knowledge of at least one of those passengers – her lover from half a century earlier. The writer Bernadette refuses to see Saquiel, unwilling to dredge up old recollections; what ensues are his persistent efforts to break down that wall and force her to remember.

The play was penned by prolific playwright (and Pulitzer Prize winner) Nilo Cruz, who also directed the play for GableStage. It is deftly crafted, and filled with memorable sound bites about love, life, death, war – all the important things – along with a plethora of wit that carries the audience along in what is, in the end, a moving look at the sorrows of loss and time. Thankfully, it also leaves the audience with a sense of hope and redemption that is the human spirit.

As usual, GableStage makes excellent use of its space, with a well-designed set and an overlay of lighting and sound that brings to life the imagination of its characters and their projection of magical reality as they interact across the internet and phone lines.

Kudos to GableStage for bringing to life this play for the first time in English in Miami, and kudos to the trio of actors who are nothing less than brilliant in their portrayal of three very different personalities. Sara Morsey is mesmerizing as the famous writer in retreat, a tour de force; you can’t keep your eyes off her. Sotto Voce is a layered look at what it means to be alive, and another notch in the belt for Producing Artistic Director Bari Newport.

Now through February 15 at the Wolfson Family Theatre, Biltmore Hotel. Wednesday to Sunday at 7:30 pm, matinees Wednesday and Sunday at 2 pm. Tickets $60 to $80. GableStage.org. 1200 Anastasia Ave.