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CIRCA PINTIG presents
Scent of Home A TRILOGY From the short stories of Bienvenido Santos Adapted for the stage by Larry Leopoldo
Directed by Daisy Castro Mary Ann de la Cruz Giau Truong
JUNE 13-15 20-21, 27-29 Fri-Sat 7:30pm Sun 4pm @Moooh Dulce 2602 W. Fullerton Ave TO RESERVE: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/684323
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.
Welcome to Our 2014 Theater Season! 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 bring the stories of Bienvenido Santos, a prolific Filipino writer of fiction whose narratives captured the emotional depth and complexity of Filipino diaspora in the 50s and 60s articulating the poignant, funny and pensive moods of immigrant life. His poetic language and lyrical prose articulate the Filipinos’ migration experience into meditative recollections of a past, which through Larry Leopoldo’s faithful and haunting adaptation, continue to enrich the cultural 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! LOUIE PASCASIO, Executive Director Executive Board DAISY CASTRO, Production Manager LEVI ALIPOSA, Volunteer Director GINGER LEOPOLDO, Community Outreach DIVINE CALO, Marketing Director CHRISTY ALIPOSA, Finance RJ SILVA, Website Manager
“How many times did the lonely mind take unpleasant detours away from the familiar winding lanes towards home for fear of this, the remembered hurt, the long lost youth, the grim shadows of the years; how many times indeed, only the exile knows”
Visit us at www.circapintig.com
Ben, from Scent of Apples
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PRODUCTION STAFF: LOUIE PASCASIO, Producer. Louie is currently CIRCA Pintig’s Executive Director. He has directed several productions for CIRCA and Pintig since 1998 the last of which was Migrant Diaries in the Spring. He received his theater training at the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). He is also currently a graduate student at the Media and Cinema Studies program at DePaul University.
THE TRILOGY
Scent of Apples
DAISY CASTRO, Director. Daisy is a long time resident artist-teacher 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.
Ben, a visiting Filipino Professor meets Fabia, a self-effacing apple farm worker and together they go to a spontaneous journey into warm memories of their youthful past. Against the wintry landscape of Kalamazoo, Michigan, the two men strike an instant friendship as they revisit their concept of home. Directed by Daisy Castro.
MARY ANN DE LA CRUZ, Director. Mary Ann is quivering with delight to be reunited with CIRCA Pintig to take on her directorial debut in 'The Day the Dancers Came'. She has been seen in Pintig's past productions of 'Nanay Isog', 'The Bells of Balangiga' and 'Scenes from an Unfinished Country'. Other acting highlights include credits at Steppenwolf Theatre, The Goodman, Silk Road Rising and Next Act Theater. Despite an extended hiatus from the theater realm, she's not one to stray too far from the action. As dramatist Sean O'Casey once said, 'All the world's a stage and most of us are desperately unrehearsed'.
Ben Fabia Ruth Roger
GIAU MINH TRUONG, Director. Giau is currently a board member of Dream Theatre Company, member of A-Squared Theatre Workshop, and is a program manager/teaching artist for Story Catchers Theatre. He is happy and excited to be involved with Immigration Blue. He will be directing Lauren Yee's Ching Chong Chinaman this fall at the Raven Theatre produced by A-Squared Theatre. ANGELINE MASCARENAS, Stage Manager. Gigi would like to thank her family and friends for their constant love & support - and adjustment of schedules. And as much as she enjoys being on stage, Gigi's excited to try out some behind-the-scenes work as stage manager for Scent of Home and for future shows. Enjoy the show! DEMETRIO MAGUIGAD, Music/Sound Designer. Demetrio has been a long time supporter of CIRCA Pintig. He also did the music and sound design for Mr. & Mrs. LaQuesta Go Dancing in 2009 and Looking For Darna last Spring. He is the Director of Strategic Design at LimeRed Studio. He is also a talented musician and percussionist. LAUREN BOHONSUA, Asst. Stage Manager. Lauren is grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the CIRCAPINTIG crew! She has always had an incredible appreciation for the arts. For her high school, she has also done ballroom dancing and Tari Saman (an Indonesian hand dance). Lauren also performs Filipino traditional dances for her church’s Simbang Gabi every year. She loves being able to experience the performing arts’ stage in a whole different light. Lauren was Sound Operator for Migrant Diaries. GABBY LINGAT, Set Design. Gabby is an experienced stage actor and musical performer. She has been a long time CIRCA Pintig artist and supporter. HOSHI COLINA, Props. Hosh is so grateful to be working with Circa Pintig. She is a junior at Northside College Prep High School. She loves to read, and she enjoys volunteering. She is very happy to be a part of this wonderful community with people who are so passionate about what they do. . DEAN DIAZ, Lights Operator. Dean is a graduate of the CIRCA Youth Program. He is now an Arts Management student at Columbia College.
GEORGE INFANTADO LARRY LEOPOLDO SARAH FINKEL CAEDEN JINKS
Immigration Blues Set in San Francisco, two sisters, Antonietta and Monica make a surprise visit to Alipio, a Manong in his 60s, for an afternoon of nostalgia and camaraderie, or so it seems. The three find instant connection only to be interrupted by a hidden agenda lurking in the minds of the two women. Directed by Giau Truong. Antoniettta Monica Alipio
RIZA BELEN GINGER LEOPOLDO LARRY LEOPOLDO
The Day the Dancers Came Two Pinoy old timers in Chicago, Filemon, a consistent dreamer of bliss and Tony, a realist inflicted by a strange skin disease, attempt to reclaim their lost identities after years of alienation from a culture they hope to reconnect. Directed by Mary Ann de la Cruz. Fil Tony
LEVI ALIPOSA MICHAELLE PUREZA
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THE CAST
GINGER LEOPOLDO, Monica, Immigration Blues. Ginger is an
educator, actor, director, and community organizer. Proud to be a founding member and former Executive and Artist Director CIRCAPintig, 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. A company member with Old World Theatre Company, she recently performed a whole season, which included works from Chekov, Miller, and Shaw. She is the Program Director for America's Children's Museum on Wheels. 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. Ginger thanks her fellow castmates, director, and production team for this show and is proud of her husband Larry for his adaptation of Santos' short stories which brings us a scent of home!
LEVI ALIPOSA, Fil, The Day the Dancers Came. Levi is one of the original founders of Pintig Cultural Group. He has performed in numerous productions of CIRCAPINTIG. 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 dedicates his performance to victims of typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines. RIZA BELEN, Antonietta, Immigration Blues. Riza is a long time member of Pintig/Circa. She works as the Student Support Specialist at the Illinois Humanities Council - Odyssey Project, a free college course in the Humanities. She thanks her family, Steve, John and Ella for all the love and support so she could do the show. She loves to eat, a good laugh, having thoughtful conversations with friends and karaoke!
SARAH FINKEL, Ruth, Scent of Apples. Sarah is a trained artist who for
the last six years has been working in the social service field. Her social work has developed in phases beginning with mental health counseling, income supports and currently focused on food justice on the Northwest side of Chicago. She has also been developing artwork in ceramics for the last six years and currently work out of Penguin Foot Pottery in Logan Square. Her professional experience also includes graphic design, theatre and organic gardening. She is happy to be part of CIRCA Pintig’s Scent of Home!
LARRY LEOPOLDO, Playwright, Fabia, Scent of Apples & Alipio, Immigration Blues. Larry recently wrote Bulad a one act
MICHAELLE PUREZA, Tony, The Day the Dancers Came. Kindred
GEORGE INFANTADO, Ben, Scent of Apples. George Infantado is proud
to be in his 3rd production with Circapintig and feels honored to be telling these stories. Thank you to Daisy for providing tools of inspiration and Gigi for help with lines and glueing everything together. Please watch out for George at his next performances in Much Ado About Nothing at Theatre Y and Ching Chong Chinamen with ASquared Theatre Workshop at the Raven Theatre.
Caedan attends Budlong Elementary School and thanks his mom for letting him make his theater debut in a speaking role for Scent of Apples. “I’m happy and excited about the show and I think it’s good. That’s all I have to say. Thank you.’
CAEDAN
FERMIN JINKS, Roger, Scent of Apples.
(performed by A Squared Theater, My Asian Mom 2013. He last seen in Silencing Stigma, a co-production with UIC 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 give these stories new life, and for coming to see it.’
spirit and long time friend of Circa-Pintig, Michaelle M. Pureza, who is visiting from Connecticut, reprises his role from nine years ago as Antonio "Tony" Battaler and dedicates his performance to the memory of his father, Ernesto L. Pureza, Jr. He expresses gratitude to his spouse, Zack, and his Mom, Leonida, who made this all the more possible.