A QUARTET OF SHORT ACTS BY CONRAD A. PANGANIBAN
The Quest for Identity within the Immigrant-American Experience through the challenges of Childhood, Assimilation and Mental Illness...
OCTOBER 4–5, 11–12, 19 AND 25–26 SATURDAYS 7PM / SUNDAYS 4PM Performances at Moooh Dulce 2602 W Fullerton Ave, Chicago, IL
Directed by DAISY CASTRO JONALD REYES CARY SHODA
To reserve visit circapintig.com
Center for Immigrant Resources & Community Arts or CIRCA and PINTIG were founded in the years 2001 and 1991 as two separate organizations dedicated to creating a creative and safe space for theater creation and cultural organizing. PINTIG, a Tagalog word for pulse, had the adults. CIRCA had the youth. In 2006, CIRCA PINTIG merged as one and a more unified vision of social engagement through the arts re-emerged, still pulsating with the changing times. CIRCA PINTIG is a 501 (c) 3, not-for-profit organization.
2014 THEATER SEASON FINALE Our stories both bitter and sweet, our folk mythologies that excite our daily existence, our heroes from whose poetic voice we gather our strength, are performative acts of memory that form the fabric of our creative identities and living histories as people. CIRCA Pintig is proud to close its 2014 Season with “Apat”, a quartet of short stories by Filipino American playwright, Conrad A. Panganiban, reflecting the diverse immigrant perspectives and contemporary lives. “Apat” completes CIRCA Pintig’s season of performances about immigrant life throughout history starting with stories of the “manongs” such Carlos Bulosan in the early 1920’s & 30’s and “lolas” who suffered the trauma of WWII. These are followed by stories of immigrants in the ‘50s and ‘60s as seen through the poetic lens of Bienvenido Santos, whose short stories reflect the depth and complexity of the Filipino diaspora during this period. Panganiban’s present-day stories continue the rich storytelling unraveling the complex nuances of our community’s experience and challenges.
To all cast and production staff and volunteers, our deepest appreciation for the hard work and dedication! ANGELA MASCARENAS, Executive Director Executive Board DAISY CASTRO, Artistic Director LEVI ALIPOSA, Volunteer Director GINGER LEOPOLDO, Community Outreach DIVINA CALO, Marketing Director CHRISTY ALIPOSA, Finance Director Visit us at www.circapintig.com
A QUARTET OF SHORT ACTS BY CONRAD A. PANGANIBAN
I
BANG, BANG, CLAP! DIRECTED BY DAISY CASTRO Writer Therapist
II
BEN ALBOVIAS ANNAMARIE TABO
THE FAMILY FRUCTUOSO DIRECTED BY CARY SHODA Penny Ernie Stevie Ricky Julie Florante Escobar
III
GIGI MASCARENAS ROBERT MANZANO CHRISTY ALIPOSA LEVI ALIPOSA DIVINA CALO BEN ALBOVIAS
THE INFINITE LINE BETWEEN ME, LOLO AND LOCO DIRECTED BY JONALD REYES Rizell Lolo Lola Lola (understudy)
IV
ANNAMARIE TABO LEVI ALIPOSA MYRLA BALDONADO GINGER LEOPOLDO
TAG! YOU’RE IT! DIRECTED BY DAISY CASTRO Conrad Ola Gab Mom
CAEDAN JINKS OLIVE LEOPOLDO GABRIELA WEAVER ANNAMARIE TABO
THE PLAYWRIGHT
CONRAD A. PANGANIBAN Conrad A. Panganiban is a playwright living, writing, and dreaming in Alameda, CA. His plays have been performed by CIRCA Pintig, A-Squared Theatre Workshop Bindlestiff Studio, San Francisco State University (SFSU), Kearny Street Workshop, Sinag-tala Filipino Theater and Performing Arts Association, Taste Better Wit, UnityCLAP Theatre Group, 06 Ensemble and at The Village Pub Theatre, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland. His play, THE BARBARY CAPER, was awarded First Place in the Playwrights CageMatch International Script Competition produced by the Douglas Morrison Theatre. He’s also very proud of his collaboration with co-writers, Drew Stephens and Emmanuel Romero, on the award-winning short film (Best Sreenplay, Scary Cow Film Festival), PRINSESA. INAY’S WEDDING DRESS was also selected as the Winner of the James Milton Highsmith Drama Award at SFSU where he is pursuing his MFA in Playwriting.
CONRAD’S STORY In 1995, my journey of writing stories for the stage began with ANG PALENGKE, meaning “The Marketplace” in Filipino. ANG PALENGKE is a play about the dreams of people living in a provincial town in the Philippines. This was ironic because the script was born out of a literal dream. I awoke needing to spill that story onto 65-pages of college-ruled paper. The end result of that movie-in-my-mind was a full production of a cast of 15 actors, 40 dancers, and one magical night. Even though I also directed that play, it felt as if that story has directed my life from then on. The summer after having ANG PALENGKE produced, I joined a theatre company called Sinag-tala Filipino Theatrical and Performing Arts Association in Sacramento, CA. They gave me the opportunity to act, sing, dance, and write for a stage I’d later call “home.” The river of life led me to perform and write with Bindlestiff Studio, the epicenter of Filipino American Performing Arts in San Francisco. Since 2005, I’ve had the fortune of having three of my short plays produced by them – the last being an adaptation of a short story from Tess Uriza Holthe’s novel, WHEN THE ELEPHANTS DANCE. The play, THICKER THAN WINE was selected to be the first play performed at the re-opened Bindlestiff Studio Theater. In 2014, INAY’S WEDDING DRESS was written as an intimate portrait of the often fragile dynamics of the Filipino American family, sisters Rianne and Gerilyn – faced with the death of their mother – reunite for a painful confrontation that simmers with the difficulties of identity, diaspora and internalized racism. The play went on to win the James Milton Highsmith Drama Award at San Francisco State University. These last couple of years has made me find my voice as a Filipino American writer. I write about the importance of family, culture, history, and where we stand as a community in America. My first play started with a dream and I hope to continue in sharing this dream with you and many audiences to come.
THE CAST BEN ALBOVIAS Writer (Bang, Bang, Clap) & Florante Escobar (The Family Fructuoso) Executive Recruiter by day, Actor/Improviser by night, occasional piano player on the weekends, Ben likes to combine business with creativity. Using Chicago as his stage, he hopes to one day add superhero crime fighter to the list. Until then, he will keep acting. As always, he wants to thank his family and friends for supporting him. Mabuhay! CHRISTY ALIPOSA Stevie (The Family Fructuoso) Christy is excited to be returning to the stage after a six year hiatus in her role as Stevie. APAT is her second experience of acting with CIRCA-Pintig, the first being Short Acts (2008). She has been involved with CIRCA-Pintig for the last nine years, mostly behind the scenes and once by playing her violin in the musical, The Bells of Balangiga. She has appreciated learning about her Filipino-American background from involvement in CIRCA-Pintig. She would like to thank all of her friends, family and co-workers from Rush for supporting her and attending this production. She would also like to thank her husband, Levi for being a source of inspiration and dedication. LEVI ALIPOSA Ricky (The Family Fructuoso) & Lolo (The Infinite Line …) Levi is one of the original founders of Pintig Cultural Group. He has performed in numerous productions of CIRCA Pintig. He was last seen doing multiple roles in Migrant Diaries and last Fall’s Short Acts. Levi is also CIRCA Pintig’s volunteer and membership director and has been engaged in cultural activism in the Filipino American community for the last 20 years. He would like to dedicate this performance to his loving wife Christy and her unconditional support and appreciation of his love for community engagement through theater arts. MYRLA BALDONADO Lola (The Infinite Line…) Myrla was an actress in Manila street plays by Kamanyang Players during the 70’s. Then she joined PETA-Sulo a community theater in Nueva Ecija, Philippines as an actress and writer. She left theater to focus on community organizing. Recently, she joined Circa Pintig’s Immigrant Diaries in DARNA as a grandmother and plays same role in Apat. She is a multi-racial domestic worker organizer of Latino Union of Chicago.
DIVINA CALO Julie (The Family Fructuoso) Divine is a long-time member of Pintig and currently sits as an Executive Board member in charge of Marketing. In one of her lines, she asks “What is this? Is this my destiny?” Divine ponders and thinks that it is her destiny to be with CIRCA Pintig and continue the work that she started 23 years ago. She considers CIRCA Pintig a true family.
CAEDAN F. JINKS Conrad (Tag! You’re It!) Caedan likes being in this show with his friends Olive and Ella. He started in CIRCA at 4 years old. He played a grumpy lion, who didn’t have any lines. The play was, “Tu Thu and the Magic Rose.” The lion didn’t have anything important to say, he guesses. He doesn’t remember a lot about it, though he thinks he had fun. This is his third CIRCA-Pintig play. He played the son of Fabia, a Filipino Immigrant farmer in, “The Scent of Apples.” As a ten year old who attends Budlong Elementary School, he enjoys playing tennis, tap dancing, playing piano, ham-bone competitions and laughing. He has made some great friends being part of CIRCA-Pintig, even if some of them are girls! Thanks Mom, Dad and everybody for the support. Peace out.
GINGER LEOPOLDO Lola (Understudy in The Infinite Line…) Ginger is an educator, actor, director, and community organizer. Proud to be a founding member and former Executive and Artist Director CIRCA-Pintig, she believes in the mission of the power of the arts to reflect the immigrants’ experience through engaging participants in a collective vision, and is happy to celebrate its 23rd Anniversary Season. She received her MA in theater from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is Co-President for UIC’s School of Theatre and Music Alumni Association. She is an Artistic Associate for A-Squared Theatre Workshop and performed in “My Asian Mom: 2014” which presented new sketches for its third premiere. She also played the role of Monica in Immigration Blues. She wishes to thank Daisy and CIRCA Pintig’s board for working diligently to drive our mission and see that our great work continues for many generations to come!
OLIVE LEOPOLDO Ola (Tag! You’re It!) Olive is a fourth grader at Namaste Charter School. Ms. Leopoldo premiered as a CIRCA youth member at the age of 3 months old as the baby Princess Tula in the main stage production The Gift of Tongue. In addition, she recently was part of the ensemble for Mental Notion’s Six Characters in Search of an Author performed at Stage 773 last fall and CIRCA Pintig’s most recent show of Scent of Home. Ms. Leopoldo is happy to be part of APAT and loves sharing the stage with her friends and family. She wishes to extend her love and appreciation to the cast, crew, and production team! Yakaps to her Kuya’s Ube and Basilio and her parents Ginger and Larry.
ROBERT MANZANO Ernie (The Family Fructuoso) Robert is glad to be back with CIRCA-Pintig. He was last seen in their performance of Sky Legends as Pat. His other performances include the Columbia College student film on YouTube called, The Efficient Production Act playing the role of a crooked cop, in MK II as a homeless man and in a zombie web series called, Nerfing Zombies playing the role of a cop attacked by a zombie. Robert would like to thank the Lord, his mom, dad, the cast, and all those who have supported his acting endeavors. ANGELINE “Gigi” MASCARENAS Penny (The Family Fructuoso) Gigi is thrilled to be performing in CIRCA-Pintig’s production of APAT. Recent acting credits include Short Acts and Migrant Diaries. She also helped stage manage CIRCA’s last production of Scent of Home. When not on stage or behind the scenes, she’s recently been exploring screen printing on paper, Lindy Hop swing dance, and the joys of being a bridesmaid. She would like to thank this amazing cast and crew for such an enjoyable experience. Special thank you to George for moving the cars so this program can get done!! Enjoy the show! “You cannot find her on Facebook or Twitter.” (written by Chris Jinks—catch him at his improv show on Nov. 1!) ANNAMARIE TABO Therapist (Bang, Bang, Clap!), Rizell (The Infinite Line…) & Mom (Tag! You’re It!) Annamarie was born and raised in the city of Chicago. She has trained in numerous dance styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop and mainly Latin ballroom. She attended the University of Illinois of at Urbana-Champaign where she artistically directed Dance 2xs Caliente, a performance Latin dance troupe. She currently does work with print modeling and enjoys being on stage with different Circa Pintig productions such as Short Acts. She is very thankful and excited to be part of APAT as she continues to explore different forms of performance art. GABRIELA WEAVER Gab (Tag! You’re It!) Gabriela is a 4th grader at Edison. She loves dancing, singing and playing with her dog Marlon. This is her second show with Pintig Circa. She would love to thank her dad, mom and big brother John for all their love and support!
PRODUCTION STAFF DAISY CASTRO, Director & Back stage “Girl Friday”. Daisy is a long-time resident artistteacher for CIRCA Pintig. Directing credits include co-production of Vagina Monologues with Narra Movement and CIRCA’s Sky Legends remounting. She has also directed pieces for past productions of Short Acts since 2006. She also was a former ensemble member of the comedy sketch troupe Stir Friday Night. JONALD JUDE REYES, Director. As a graduate of Rutgers University (NJ), Jonald went on to learn from Second City Training, iO Theater, the Annoyance, and the Chicago Dramatists. He has performed with various comedy troupes, including Stir Friday Night, Mind Spinach, and Old Smuggler. Jonald has performed as part of the Chicago Improv Festival, Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, and the TBS Just for Laughs Festival. As a Director, Reyes has been honored to be named as Chicago Reader’s Best of Stage Director (2012, 2013, & 2014). He is also an Associate Producer for the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival, Chicago Women’s Funny Festival, and Producer for the Chicago Improv Festival 2015. Jonald is the Artistic Director of his own production company, the Mental Notion Society (est. 2010). You may web him at http://www.jonaldjude.com . CARY SHODA, Director. Cary is the current artistic director and a founding member of A-Squared Theatre Workshop for which he produced Ching Chong Chinaman, The Wind Cries Mary, and The Other Shore (a CIRCA Pintig co-production), directed My Asian Mom 2014 and Conrad Panganiban’s Agent Kilikili’s Mom and His Male Order Bride for My Asian Mom 2.0.1.3. His favorite acting credits include Trial By Water for A-Squared, The Laramie Project and A Majority of One for James Downing Theatre Company, The Emperor of the Moon and Two Dead Guys and a Banjo: A Story of Mourning for Halcyon Theatre Company, and Alternate Set of Procedures for the side project theatre company. His graphic design work includes projects for McKinsey & Company, Spencer Stuart, Valspar, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. JOSE AGARRI, Featured Visual Artist (Chicago Artist Month) & Technical Director for Set. Jose is part of the excitement of the Chicago art scene because he paints the way nobody does. From his method to his subject matter, Aggari is one of a kind. It did not happen in a day. He developed an original style by trial and error. Aggari uses luan, a finely grained plywood as a canvas. After smoothing the luan with sandpaper, he applies Varnish. For composition, he uses colored pencil. He then applies oil paint. When the paint dries, he uses a palette knife for scraping and etching. Because he trims away what he has initially painted, he calls his method “reduction style.” He is proud to be part of the CIRCA Pintig family! LARRY LEOPOLDO, Technical Director for Set. Larry is a playwright and performed as Fabia in ‘Scent of Apples’ & Alipio in ‘Immigration Blues’. Larry wrote Bulad a one act, selected by A Squared Theater for their My Asian Mom 2013 production. He was also last seen in Silencing Stigma, a co-production with UIC’s Asian American Studies Program. A long time CIRCA Pintig member, Larry played the lead role in Pintig’s first production of Carlos Bulosan’s America is in the Heart. “Maraming salamat to everyone who put in the sacrifice to tell these stories and give it life!” GABRIELLE LINGAT, Set Design & Photography. Gabby is an experienced stage actor and musical performer. She has been a long time CIRCA Pintig artist and supporter. DEAN DIAZ, Lights & Sound Operator. Dean is an original CIRCA member and has participated, trained, and performed in many CIRCA productions. He is pleased to have the opportunity and loves supporting CIRCA Pintig through providing lights and sounds.
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The Chicago Nightingales is a 501 (C)(3)status are exempt from Federal income Tax of the Internal Revenue Code. A voluntary, impartial, neutral and independent humanitarian organization whose mission is to promote health and wellness in the community and provide assistance to communities stricken by humaninduced disaster or calamities locally and in the third world countries principally in the Philippines.
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FOOD DONORS Special thanks to our Art Benefactors, Patrons & Donors
MICHAEL AGUHAR CAROLINE CASTRO ARVIS MYRLA BALDONADO KAREN ANN BURKE DR. CLEOFE CASAMBRE FLOR CLARITO JERRY CLARITO ELSDON MEDICAL PHARMACY LAUREEN ESCOBAR ABBEY EUSEBIO HEMAN & RUTH EZRA JOY GRIFFITH ANNA GUEVARRA, PhD CHRISTOPHER JINKS THEODORE KIRPACH RESSIE KRABACHER RAMONA KYWE EVELYN MASBAUM ANTONIO MICHELENA EDNA MONTEMAYOR TOMOKO OBARA SALLY RICHMOND RUBEN SALAZAR ALLAN SARGAN AUDREY SARGAN SHARON SIDELL KRISTINA TENDILLA CONNIE TRIGGIANO GRACE & WIN VILLAMORA JOHN S. WHITE
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BOX OFFICE Jenny Arguelles Angela Mascarenas
MAKE-UP Ariel Arvis
COSTUMES & EFFECTS Ginger Leopoldo
SPECIAL THANKS TO Francesca Aleonar Matthew Aleonar Jenny Arguelles Lauren Bahonsua Nick Boozinski Juanita Burris Robert Garcia & Joe Carreon Hoshi Colina Cesar Conde Ed Dizon Gemma Esmalla Erick Garfias Joy Griffith Rooshey & Nayyer Hasnain Yvonne Hortillo George Infantado Isla Pilipina Restaurant A Just Harvest John Kindo Angela Mascarenas Moooh Dulce Reiyukai America Marilou Tabo Ivan Tellez Marilyn Vesely