ISLA.

ISLA brings together an impressive mix of storytelling styles. Shadow puppetry, broomstick puppets, acting, singing, live music, recorded voices and family history all combine to tell the story of three Cuban sisters, their lives in Cuba and their eventual journey to the United States.

We saw ISLA at WP Theater, a venue that was completely new to us, tucked away on Broadway in the Upper West Side. When we entered, Samantha Blain and musician Claron Hayden were already sitting on stage. Hayden was almost statue-like with his hat pulled down over his eyes, while a slideshow of family photographs immediately gave the feeling that we were being invited into something very personal.

As Blain began speaking directly to the audience, we did briefly wonder whether the production might feel a little too much like a talk rather than a theatrical show. That worry disappeared pretty much as soon as the shadow puppetry started.

The show is built around recordings of three sisters sharing memories of their lives in Cuba. Hearing their actual voices was a really important part of the experience. Each has her own personality and way of telling a story, including plenty of humor, and it feels a little like listening to older family members sharing stories about a life that happened long before you were around.

Those memories are brought to life by Samantha Blain, Daniela Delahuerta and Tiffany Iris, alongside some brilliant shadow puppetry performed mainly by the hidden puppetry team. We loved how dynamic and detailed this could become. A plant grows and produces fruit before the fruit begins to rot, while elsewhere bombs fall and multiple puppets move together to create entire scenes in silhouette. Some of it looked incredibly complicated to perform, but it always remained playful and easy to follow.

There were also plenty of surprises beyond the shadow puppetry. We particularly loved the chickens and rats, which were hilarious furry puppets pushed around the stage on broomsticks, along with a shadow crocodile representing the island of Cuba itself. At one point we became surprisingly attached to one of the little animals, only for the crocodile to eat it. We were convinced we were heading towards a cartoon ending where the crocodile would burp and the puppet would pop back out. It didn't, although thankfully the diary and pencil it had been carrying eventually made their way back.

That cartoon-like quality runs through much of ISLA. Even while dealing with war, political upheaval, immigration and the reality of leaving your country, the production finds humor, hope and playfulness. There is a feeling that even when life becomes incredibly difficult, there can still be music, dancing, food, family and things to smile about.

The show incorporates traditions and beliefs passed down through generations, including mal de ojo and using an egg to remove it before throwing the egg far away. Details like these make the family history feel particularly alive, like the stories and beliefs you might hear from a parent or grandparent and continue carrying with you.

That was also where the immigration story connected with us. ISLA is specifically a Cuban story, and there will undoubtedly be an added level of recognition for some audience members, but the experience of leaving one country, starting again somewhere else and maintaining a connection to both places is much broader.

By the time the sisters made these recordings, they had lived in the United States for many years and were very much New Yorkers, while still carrying this huge collection of memories from Cuba. We loved the simple connection in the show's journey too. They left one island and eventually made their home on another.

Music is another big part of the production. Claron Hayden plays live throughout, while Blain, Delahuerta and Iris all bring beautiful singing voices to the show. At times, music, movement and puppetry come together in sequences that feel almost like dance.

We talked afterwards about the deliberately heightened acting style. In another production, there might have been moments we would call slightly overacted, but here it fits the cartoon and fable-like world perfectly. It also works for a show aimed at a family audience. The performers can move from something very funny and playful into much more emotional moments while staying within that same world.

One of the things we appreciated most was the way ISLA chose to tell difficult history. We are constantly surrounded by news, politics and social media, but here subjects like war and migration are approached through puppetry, music, memories and imagination. The production doesn't ignore the painful parts, but it finds warmth and hope in the middle of them. For us, that made the storytelling feel poetic, theatrical and powerful. We would happily see more theater taking this kind of approach.

We also really enjoyed discovering WP Theater itself. The box office is downstairs before you head upstairs to a lovely cafe area and the theater. Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming. We have been discovering so many new performance spaces around New York, and WP Theater was another great addition to our ever-growing map.

There was a lot to enjoy about ISLA. The shadow puppetry was brilliant, the broomstick puppets regularly made us laugh, and the music and singing added another layer to the storytelling. At the center of it all are the voices and memories of three women sharing their history. It is a personal Cuban story that also has something wider to say about immigration, family, memory and making a new home without losing your connection to where you came from.

There was definitely some theatrical magic here, and we came out having really enjoyed the experience. ISLA is running at WP Theater through August 29th, so there is still time to catch it.

Tickets and more info available here: https://wptheater.org/wp-space-program/hit-the-lights-co/