Arts & Entertainment
Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival Debuts This October With More Than 30 Plays
Playwright Lani Montreal performing “Leaving Mother: Anak ni Tapia” on June 22-23, 2024, at Links Hall Festival of New Works. (Courtesy of Michelle Reid)
The inspiration for playwright Foline Roos’ upcoming musical came from a longtime desire to write about nursing after seeing what she describes as the “horrors of the health care system” as a full-time nurse.
“It was born out of frustration,” Roos said. “Out of desperation and out of depression, this concept came back in my head.”
“Krossroad the Musical” is one of the stories being showcased at the inaugural Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival being held this month by Filipino American nonprofit theater organization CIRCA Pintig.
The musical — being presented as a reading and concert performance at the festival — is a story of immigration and nursing. The musical is partly inspired by Roos’ own experience growing up undocumented and seeing opportunities become fewer as she got older, she said.
Roos hopes the musical puts a spotlight on improving working conditions for health care professionals and serves as a voice for nurses who feel like they might not have one. She also hopes it helps people see the “human side” of immigration.
“So many Filipino nurses have lived here for so long and made all these contributions for the American society, and it’s because we are so proud of our culture that we brought a lot of the good elements that we left behind to this new country that we now love,” Roos said.
The Chicago Filipino American Theatre Festival features more than 30 plays by established and emerging playwrights. Performances and readings will be held Fridays and Saturdays from Oct. 11-26 at PrideArts and Rizal Center.
The festival coincides with Filipino American History Month in October.
The three-week festival will focus on queer stories from the diaspora, stories of homecoming and the voices of the next generation of Filipino Americans. The theme for the organization’s current 33rd season is “Kapwa,” a Tagalog word describing togetherness and community.
The filming of a music video promoting Foline Roos’ “Krossroad the Musical” at the Chicago Recording Company on November 14, 2021. (Courtesy of Foline Roos)
Another playwright whose work is being featured is Lani Montreal, who is presenting a portion of her play “Leaving Mother: Anak ni Tapia.”
The play is a solo performance by Montreal, who tells her personal story of growing up with her mother Mely Tagasa, who was famous for her role as Miss Tapia in the popular Filipino sitcom “Iskul Bukol” during the 1970s and 1980s.
The process of writing and performing the play about her mother, who passed away in 2018, forced Montreal to come to terms with generational trauma, she said. It also provided catharsis.
“It allowed me to give grace to my mother because our relationship wasn’t really that great,” Montreal said. “It’s apt because my mother was a performer, and so this is how I honor her memory.”
Another of Montreal’s plays, “Unmasking,” will also be featured at this month’s festival as a reading. The play explores microaggressions in mixed-race relationships.
The play readings sprinkled throughout the upcoming festival give playwrights the opportunity to hear their plays read out loud and get inspiration and feedback, according to festival co-director and playwright RJ Silva.
One of those readings will be Silva’s play “Hail Mary/Maria,” which tells the story of a boy who has his first crush and manages what it means to be in love for the first time through three Marys in his life: his mom Marie, his favorite professional wrestler, Maria, and the Virgin Mary.
“It was really inspired by my time growing up when I first moved to America,” Silva said. “I had to go to an all-boys high school and just navigate all those feelings for the first time.”
The festival will also feature “Daryo’s All American Diner” by Conrad Panganiban, which premiered last year and won best new play in Chicago Reader’s annual Best of Chicago poll, and a special night of readings featuring plays in different Filipino languages.
From left, Nina Mae Vidal Howard, Val Gerard Garcia Jr. and Will Pullen on August 27, 2024, during a workshop performance of RJ Silva's “Hail Mary/Maria” at Bramble Arts Theatre. (Courtesy of RJ Silva)
Silva said the festival aims to showcase the different stories of the Filipino diaspora.
“A lot of the focus is on the West Coast and the East Coast, like in New York and LA, but showing the stories and the culture of the Midwest where Filipino Americans have always been here, … it’s time for some of those stories to be told, too,” Silva said.
CIRCA Pintig’s current theater season is supported through a grant from the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), individual donations and community partners.
The DCASE funding was a driving force behind launching the festival, according to organizers, who sought submissions for original plays this summer. CIRCA Pintig received nearly 70 submissions from the U.S. and the Philippines.
Silva said he hopes the festival can provide a space for Filipino American playwrights to tell their stories and alleviate some concerns they might feel when presenting plays to non-Filipino audiences.
“Filipino stories are so complex, especially Filipino American stories,” Silva said. “There’s just so much nuance in it that I think sometimes we are hesitant in telling them because we’re afraid that it’s going to take a lot of explaining.”
“Our hope was that this festival can alleviate some of that,” Silva continued. “Make people feel like, ‘I don’t have to explain too much, I could just tell the story.’”
The origins of CIRCA Pintig go back to the founding of Pintig Cultural Group in 1991. The mission of Pintig, which means pulse in Tagalog, was to use art to celebrate the history and culture of the Filipino American community. Ten years later, the founding members of Pintig Cultural Group created the Center for Immigrant Resources and Community Arts, or CIRCA.
Both organizations merged to form CIRCA Pintig in 2016.
Playwright Lani Montreal performing “Leaving Mother: Anak ni Tapia” on June 22-23, 2024, at Links Hall Festival of New Works. (Courtesy of Michelle Reid)
Many of CIRCA Pintig’s founding members immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines in the 1970s due to political repression and economic instability under former Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, according to CIRCA Pintig Executive Director Ginger Leopoldo.
The grassroots organization’s approach of theater through a lens of education, community organizing and social justice work is still present today, Leopoldo said.
One of CIRCA Pintig’s programs helps schools implement the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History Act. The TEAACH Act, signed into state law in 2021, requires public schools in Illinois to teach Asian American history.
“There had been a concern, having been around for so long, ‘Why aren’t we getting the same kind of press as Steppenwolf, as Goodman gets?’” Leopoldo said. “We’re sort of a playing ground for artists to develop their voice — for artists and actors to flourish. I think that’s an important space to have.”
There still is not enough Filipino American representation in mainstream theater, according to Montreal, adding that while community theaters throughout the U.S. are doing great work for broader representation, they have limited audience compared to Broadway, for instance.
And while there has been more recognition of Filipino performers, there isn’t as much for Filipino playwrights and directors, Montreal added.
“We just want to tell the story,” Montreal said. “If it gets told in a bigger venue, then that’s great, but it doesn’t mean that we’re going to wait. … We’re going to keep writing these stories and we’re going to keep producing them. We’re not waiting for some big acknowledgment from mainstream theater.”
The three-week festival begins Friday and runs through Oct. 26. Click here for the festival schedule and ticket information. No one is turned away for lack of funds, email [email protected].
Contact Eunice Alpasan: @eunicealpasan | 773-509-5362 | [email protected]
