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El teatro no tenía una buena escenografía; no obstante, el reparto dio una interpretación increíble.

El teatro no tenía una buena escenografía; no obstante, el reparto dio una interpretación increíble.
The theater did not have a good set design; nevertheless, the cast gave an incredible performance.
From Lesson 325:However and nevertheless (ahora bien, no obstante)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El teatro no tenía una buena escenografía; no obstante, el reparto dio una interpretación increíble.

How does no obstante differ from sin embargo in this sentence?
Both mean 'however' or 'nevertheless' and are used to contrast two ideas. no obstante is slightly more formal and emphatic than sin embargo. In this sentence, it strongly highlights the contrast between the poor set design and the excellent performance. They are grammatically interchangeable here, so you could absolutely say sin embargo, el reparto dio... instead.
Why is the first verb tenía in the imperfect tense, while the second verb dio is in the preterite?
This is a classic example of setting the scene versus reporting an event. tenía (imperfect) is used because the poor set design was a continuous state or background description of the theater. dio (preterite) is used because the cast giving an incredible performance is viewed as a single, completed event that happened on that specific night.
Could I use actuación instead of interpretación for 'performance'?
Yes, actuación and interpretación are very similar and often interchangeable in the context of acting. interpretación emphasizes how the actors interpreted or brought their specific roles to life, while actuación refers to the act of performing in general. Note that you should never use rendimiento here, as that refers to mechanical or academic performance, not the arts.
What is the literal meaning of reparto, and is there another word for 'cast'?
reparto literally comes from the verb repartir (to distribute or hand out), referring to how the roles are distributed among the actors. Another very common word for the cast of a play or movie is elenco. Both el reparto and el elenco work perfectly in this sentence.

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