Theatre Festival, performing at the historic Rizal Center.
This year’s festival theme is PASABOG–a common Filipino slang term to express how showstopping, brilliant, or extra someone or something is. Our selected plays are spectacular, explosive, and revelatory about the Filipino diaspora and the cultural themes that center the Filipino and Filipino American experience.
This year’s plays will be spectacular, excitable, and bold. This year will feature firsts for the theatre and community arts organization after two successful years of the festival: a new festival director, the first festival since launching their acting ensemble, and the binders are down as the plays will be fully staged and produced.
Leading this year’s festival will be Mikael Silan as the festival director. Silan, who is a member of the inaugural year of the CIRCA Pintig acting ensemble, has performed and designed for CIRCA Pintig’s plays and productions. “The stories in our current lineup are carefully picked to showcase that there are more Filipino stories than what we have now,” shares Silan, who is excited to lead after coming up from a playwright to performer under the festival. Under his leadership will be two directors, each responsible for three plays. Noella Bonsol, director of the first weekend of plays, returns after directing KING LEAR with Essential Invisible and CIRCA Pintig. For Bonsol, working with CIRCA Pintig’s Filipino-focused theatre “is like stepping into my Tito Poboy’s house for Christmas–the joy is abundant, and the room is crackling with laughter, creativity, and stories.” Rusty Allen provides direction for the second weekend, having appeared in KING LEAR as well and having recently performed their solo show MACBETH, SOUND & FURY. Allen shares, “I’m most excited to share these pieces with audiences so they can share a glimpse of the multifaceted, messy, hilarious, and heartfelt whirlwind that’s being a part of the Asian diaspora.”
The festival features six plays from six Filipino and Filipino American playwrights. Most impressively, the festival will feature fifteen actors of color, thirteen of whom are Filipinos. Mari Joy, a member of the acting ensemble, describes the tremendous amount of growth the festival has led to Filipino stories being told, sharing that staging the plays “will hopefully provide an experience that helps both our actors and audience be more present with each other and to experience the joy and range of emotions together.” Rich Adrian Lazatin, acting ensemble member, also shares “the growth of our festival comes from the collective effort of everyone coming together to support emerging Filipino playwrights.”
Weekend one begins Thursday, September 10th until Sunday, September 13th, and weekend two on Thursday, September 24th to Sunday, September 27th, performing at CIRCA Pintig’s home inside the Little Theatre at the Rizal Center. This festival, Lazatin hopes, “helps us bring more Filipino stories to the forefront of Chicago storefront theatre.”
Tickets are available at circapintig.org, each evening’s runtime will be 75 minutes long, at the Rizal Center (1332 W Irving Park Rd, Chicago, IL 60613) ranging from $16 to $60.
Weekend #1 Thursday September 10th to Sunday September 13th, directed by Noella Bonsol
We Will Ride by Conrad A. Panganiban. On the eve of a pivotal race at Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show in 1899 Chicago, three Filipino performers must choose between beating the cavalry or enacting a plan to escape.
The Karaoke Stress Test by Tim Pintado. A night out at karaoke becomes a proving ground for
three Filipino Americans.
The Missing Sister by Annemarie Andaleon. After their estranged youngest sister briefly reappears, six sisters take stock of what to do next, and what it says about them.
Weekend #2 Thursday September 24th to Sunday September 27th, directed by Rusty Allen
Boy Bawang by Allison E. Crisostomo. A Filipino American man re-imagines himself as a snack- loving superhero.
Intermission Number by Angel Salvador Chiuteña. A diverse group of Filipino teachers in America prepares an intermission number for a school event, but rehearsals quickly reveal clashing personalities and frustrations.
Criers for Hire (sa Chicago) by Giovanni Ortega. A featured reading of a Chicago adaptation excerpt previously commissioned and produced at East West Players, Aurora, Remedios, and Eugenia are three of the most sought-after professional funeral criers who welcome Aurora’s 14-year-old daughter Ligaya into their world and teach her their somber trade.
Tickets range from $16 to $60 https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/chicago-filipino-american-theatre-festival
CIRCA Pintig is a Filipino American arts organization and theatre company that fosters community through the arts, celebrating Filipino and Filipino American heritage. We create spaces for storytelling, cultural expression, and connection, empowering individuals to explore their identities and shared histories. circapintig.org instagram.com/circapintigtheatre
For more information, contact info@circapintig.org
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