Below is a full synopsis of the plot of Nilo Cruz's Two Sisters and a Piano. We recommend you don't read this until after seeing the play, as it will spoil what happens for you.
Act 1, Prologue: The Search
The sound of music and the loud closing of a metal prison door is heard in the darkness before the lights rise on the Obispo family home in Cuba in August 1991. Two military officers are conducting a search of the home, looking for subversive writings. The Obispo sisters, Maria Celia and Sofia, look on. They have recently returned home under house arrest after having previously been in prison because of Maria Celia's writings being seen as critical of Cuba's communist government. Drifting away from the scene, Maria Celia composes a letter to her husband, Antonio, who has escaped the country.
Act 1, Scene 1: The Man Behind the Wall and the Lost Letters
The sisters are visited by one of the military officers from the Prologue, Lieutenant Portuondo. Maria Celia has complained to the authorities about their delaying delivery of all her mail, as she has not heard from her husband in three months. The Lieutenant says they're not delivering her mail because her husband is abroad criticizing Cuba. The Lieutenant also reveals he has read much of Maria Celia's work and considers himself a fan of hers. In some of the letters from her husband that have been confiscated, Antonio mentions a new story of Maria Celia's. The Lieutenant wants her to tell him the story and offers to read her letters from her husband in exchange. Maria Celia agrees to think about it, and is happy to know her husband hasn't forgotten her.
Act 1, Scene 2: The Bedspreads of Desire
Maria Celia and Sofia are knitting bedspreads, which they sell. Sofia is afraid all the knitting is damaging her hands which she needs to play the piano. They have gotten permission for a piano tuner to come to the house and fix their old piano. Sofia is nervous about the arrangement her sister has with Lieutenant Portuondo, terrified of having to go back to prison. The piano tuner, Victor Manuel, arrives and Sofia is immediately infatuated with him. Maria Celia is more skeptical and concerned he may be here to spy on them. The piano needs extensive work and the sisters have limited funds to pay for it. Sofia ends up offering Victor Manuel a pair of their father's shoes to make up the difference. The Lieutenant arrives and verifies the piano tuner's identification. Alone, he presents Maria Celia with some books as a gift. Meanwhile, Sofia invites Victor Manuel to come back and visit her, which he promises to do after the Pan-American Games are over. He leaves. Lieutenant Portuondo reads parts of Maria Celia's husband's letters to her and in exchange she tells him a new story she's composing. After he leaves, Maria Celia reveals to Sofia that their was a code hidden in Antonio's letters. He is in Sweden trying to find the sisters political asylum to escape Cuba.
Act 2, Scene 1: Waiting for Him on Top of My Roof
A few nights later, the sisters are waiting for Victor Manuel to arrive for dinner. However, it's getting late and he still hasn't arrived. The sisters play music and dance while waiting. Lieutenant Portuondo arrives dressed in a summer suit instead of his military uniform. He has brought rum and offers the women a drink. They talk about their fathers, both of whom have left Cuba because of disappointment with the revolution. The Lieutenant expresses enormous fondness for the sisters and hopes they will learn to trust him. Sofia leaves to go to the roof and watch the people celebrating the end of the Pan-American Games. The Lieutenant shares a new letter with Maria Celia, where her husband talks about Sweden being sad and grey. He reveals he knows about the code and guesses this means the asylum pleas were unsuccessful. Maria Celia is overcome with hopelessness, but the Lieutenant says it's important for her to remain in Cuba, that the country needs people like her, and that he believes the island will open up soon like the rest of the world. This is a risky statement for him to make and he does it to show how devoted he is to Maria Celia. He takes the sisters' radio with him when he leaves to get it fixed. Sofia comes back inside in a state, saying she needs to get out of this house.
Act 2, Scene 2A
Victor Manuel is on the street outside the Obispo home. He has come to see Sofia but is intimidated by all the people on the street who may be watching him. He comes up with reasons for why he has stopped here, but then ultimately decides to leave without seeing her as the risk is too great for both of them.
Act 2, Scene 2: Her Husband’s Letter for a Story
Maria Celia and Sofia are decorating the inside of their home with plants from the backyard. The Lieutenant arrives, having left work early. Sofia is still fixated on getting out of the home, asking the Lieutenant privately if he might get her a permit. The Lieutenant reads a particularly sensual and romantic letter from Antonio to Maria Celia. Sofia plays the piano for a bit before leaving the other two alone in the room, where they become physically intimate as the lights go out. When the lights come up again, Maria Celia is telling the Lieutenant more of her story. They soon retire to her bedroom. Later in the night, Sofia comes onstage with old clothing of their father’s and begins to dress up like him so as to go outside in disguise. Her sister catches her and tries to talk her out of it, as the Lieutenant looks on. Sofia leaves and Maria Celia begs him to not to report on her sister.
Act 2, Scene 3: Counting the Lost Stitches
Sofia comes home the next morning and tells her sister and the Lieutenant about her night walking around the city. He is angry about how much risk she has put them all in, and he storms off. Sofia and Maria Celia argue loudly, with Sofia blaming her older sister and her politics for robbing Sofia of her young adulthood. And now Sofia fears that this relationship with Lieutenant Portuondo is a new form of imprisonment with him as the jailer. Sofia also reveals that she overheard people talking about the Soviet Union coming apart and maybe change is coming to Cuba too.
Act 2, Scene 4: After to Soviet Coup
The Lieutenant comes to visit Maria Celia who he hasn't seen in several days. He is concerned she has been avoiding him. The two talk about the news from Russia. The Lieutenant shares that he had to arrest a boy out protesting for reform. Maria Celia decides there is no future in their relationship, with her a captive and him working for the government. She is desperate for Cuba to change and begins to contemplate a hunger strike. He warns both the sisters that if they act out like this, there will be consequences. The regime is cracking down. He leaves.
Act 2, Epilogue: Twining our Lives
The piano is gone from the house. Sofia sits staring at nothing while Maria Celia composes a letter to her husband. Food and clothing have become more intensely rationed. The sisters are on a hunger strike. They listen to the wall, hoping to hear music from their neighbor next door. Lieutenant Portuondo arrives and knocks at the door. The music swells and drowns him out as the lights fade.
