When the Sun Shone Brighter deals with an aspect of the Miami Cuban exile experience that has interested him for years--the fact that, historically, many of the Castro regime's most vehement critics are often willing to employ the very repressive tactics they decry. The immediate inspiration for this play was an article that appeared in the Miami Herald about a year ago. It was the story of a woman whose father--a hard line anti-Castro Cuban-American--was assassinated in the 1970s by other anti-Castro hard-liners because he advocated dialogue with the Castro regime, a view that was deemed "too moderate." This central conflict is a point of departure for exploring two themes: First, the conflict between ambition and truth and the cost of telling the little lies that help us achieve our goals; and second, the peculiar dangers that can accompany nostalgia. The title of the play--a reference to this second theme--is an often heard mantra common among Cuban-American exiles in Miami, the lament that everything from the softness of the sand at the beach to sun's brightness was better in Cuba.