Riksha Returns: Reviving Asian American Stories at the Rizal Center
By Ginger Leopoldo
The Rizal Center was filled to the brim for Riksha Returns, an evening that brought together multi-generational Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander artists, writers, and community members for live performance and shared reflection. Emceed by Ginger Leopoldo of CIRCA Pintig, the event honored Riksha’s origins as a 1990s literary and cultural platform—co-founded by Patty Cooper, Larry Leopoldo, Nicole Sumida, and Alex Yu—while reimagining it as a living, evolving archive rooted in Chicago’s communities.
The program featured a powerful collective poem by Banyan Asian American Writers Collective, archival videos and music by Chika Sekiguchi and Ed Eusebio, immigrant stories from PJ Temple, and poetry by Lani T. Montréal. CIRCA Pintig shared a performance of The Ballerina, while author Dwight Okita read from his forthcoming memoir. The long-running Asian American comedy troupe Stir Friday Night brought humor and joy, and newer voices such as Vinh Hoang, James Mamuad, and Amanda Payne shared fresh works that bridged identity, memory, and belonging. A short film, “Queer Up the Details,” written by Hannah Ii-Epstein and produced with Nothing Without a Company, highlighted queer and Native Hawaiian experiences and invited audiences to “queer” the details of how we see one another.
The evening also showcased a special art exhibit at the Rizal Center featuring 20 Asian American artists, whose visual works lined the walls and transformed the space into a gallery of community memory. This curated exhibit highlighted the breadth and depth of Asian American artistic practice in Chicago today, from emerging creators to long-time cultural workers, and stood as a testament to ongoing bayanihan—shared labor, mutual care, and collective imagination.
A shared community meal—including Filipino dishes prepared with support from Leopoldo Catering and CIRCA Pintig—helped set the tone of hospitality and connection, inviting audiences to break bread together as they took in the performances and artwork.
Looking ahead, Riksha and CIRCA Pintig are planning summer writing and storytelling workshops, as well as additional readings, performances, and artist talks that will continue to uplift Asian American and allied communities. Attendees are invited to stay connected for announcements about upcoming events, including Rizal Center’s community engagements, Nothing Without a Company’s film programming, and new collaborations growing out of Riksha’s revival.
The organizers are deeply grateful for the support of the Rizal Center in hosting this celebration and in continuing to nurture community-rooted arts.
To explore artist bios, partner information, and program details, click here for the full digital playbill: Digital Playbill.
Banyan Asian American Writers Collective
Chika Sekiguchi
Lani T. Montreal
Dwight Okita
Stir Friday Night
Hannah II-Epstein
Amanda Payne
Patty Cooper
King Lear at the Rizal Center: A Community Workshop Reading
A co-production of CIRCA Pintig and Essential Invisible
As part of AAPI Heritage Month, the Rizal Center hosted a workshop reading of King Lear, adapted and directed by Noella Bonsol, a bold new co-production by CIRCA Pintig and Essential Invisible that reimagines Shakespeare’s classic through a community-centered lens. The reading brought together local artists, cultural workers, and neighbors to explore questions of power, aging, family, and care in ways that resonate deeply with immigrant, diasporic, and working-class communities in Chicago.
Rather than a fully staged production, this event was intentionally presented as a workshop reading—scripts in hand, minimal staging, maximum imagination. Actors and creative collaborators leaned into the language, character relationships, and emotional stakes of the play, inviting the audience to focus on voice, story, and interpretation. This format allowed the ensemble to experiment with casting, cultural references, and contemporary resonances, testing how Lear’s fractured kingdom speaks to present-day experiences of displacement, intergenerational conflict, and community responsibility.
The collaboration between CIRCA Pintig and Essential Invisible emphasized process over polish. Both companies share a commitment to socially engaged theater, elevating stories that are often overlooked and creating spaces where audiences are not just passive observers but active participants in conversation. Following the reading, artists and attendees engaged in an informal dialogue about what landed, what surprised them, and how this adaptation might continue to evolve.
For the Rizal Center, hosting King Lear during AAPI Heritage Month underscored its role as a home for community-rooted arts—a place where classic texts can be revisited and remixed alongside new work by Asian American, Filipino/a/x, and allied artists.
Further development of this King Lear adaptation is planned, with future workshops, talkbacks, and performance opportunities on the horizon. Community members are encouraged to stay tuned for announcements from CIRCA Pintig, Essential Invisible, and the Rizal Center about how to attend, support, and possibly participate in the next stages of this project.
Unheard Voices of Care: Filipino Nurses at the International Museum of Surgical Science
This spring, community members gathered at the International Museum of Surgical Science for Unheard Voices of Care, a powerful exhibit and program series honoring the stories of Filipino nurses and other healthcare workers whose labor has long been essential yet under-recognized. The exhibit is currently on view and runs through August 2.
The exhibit centers the experiences of Filipino and Filipino American nurses across decades of migration, war, and shifting U.S. healthcare systems. Through portraits, archival materials, narratives, and creative responses, Unheard Voices of Care invites visitors to look beyond the stereotype of the “model nurse” and listen closely to the lived realities of workers who navigated racism, colonial histories, separation from family, and the emotional toll of care—while still showing up, shift after shift, for their patients and communities.
Program highlights have included a lecture series and live readings that weave together history, theater, and personal testimony. Collaborating artists and organizers shared monologues and performance pieces reflecting on moments such as the 1966 Richard Speck murders in Chicago, the recruitment of Filipino nurses to the U.S., and the complex ties between the Philippines and American hospitals. These stories emphasized that Filipino nurses are not just “frontline workers”; they are culture bearers, breadwinners, community organizers, and witnesses to some of the most intimate moments of human vulnerability.
Unheard Voices of Care is part exhibit, part call to action. It asks visitors to consider: Who gets remembered in the history of medicine? Whose stories are archived, and whose are left out? By foregrounding Filipino nurses and other often-overlooked caregivers, the project pushes us to reimagine healthcare history as a shared narrative of migration, resilience, and collective responsibility.
The exhibit continues with ongoing engagements, including readings by writers connected to CIRCA Pintig and partner organizations, as well as facilitated conversations with nurses, artists, and community members. Together, these programs create a space for healing, reflection, and recognition—affirming that the voices of caregivers, especially women and workers of color, are central to the story of Chicago and to global health.
Community members are encouraged to visit the International Museum of Surgical Science to experience Unheard Voices of Care, support the featured artists and nurses, and join the growing effort to lift up the stories behind the scrubs.
More information about the temporary exhibit and lecture series visit: https://imss.org/unheard-voices-of-care-filipino-nurses-in-america/
Seeing Our Stories: Photovoice and Community Healing at the Rizal Center
This June, community members are invited to explore healing, storytelling, and collective care through photovoice at the Rizal Center. In partnership with the Asian Health Coalition, we will host an in-person Community Healing Circle on Sunday, June 23, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Rizal Center, with a community meal to follow.
Photovoice is a community-based method that uses photographs and short reflections to help people:
- Express experiences that may be hard to put into words
- Document the strengths and challenges in their communities
- Spark dialogue and collective problem-solving
Participants are invited to bring a photo (printed or on a phone/device) that represents:
- Healing or resilience
- A challenge you or your community has faced
- A place, person, or object that helps you feel grounded or hopeful
During the healing circle, we will:
- Share our images and stories in a facilitated, trauma-informed space
- Reflect on themes of racism, belonging, caregiving, and collective healing
- Identify community needs and dreams that can inform future programs and advocacy
This gathering is open to all, with a special welcome to Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and allied community members, including caregivers, artists, youth, and elders. No prior art or photography experience is needed—just a willingness to share, listen, and be in community.
To help us plan an inclusive and welcoming experience, please RSVP by completing the brief registration survey:
Our Journey, Our Voice – Event Registration
https://redcap.asianhealth.org/surveys/?s=RMCX4T9AJAKDPJHP
We look forward to seeing you on June 23, 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. at the Rizal Center, and sharing a community meal together afterward as we use photovoice to “see” our stories and continue building pathways toward healing in partnership with the Asian Health Coalition.
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