MA-YI THEATER is presenting a staged reading of excerpts from 4 of its plays at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, on July 3, at 6:30PM, in the Little Theater. One night only. This event is part of the launch of the anthology "Savage Stage," a collection of plays developed and produced by Ma-Yi Theater Company. (Below) A scene from Ma-yi's past production of "The Romance of Magno Rubio."
The event is pay-what-you-can, or FREE to those who can't afford anything. All proceeds will be donated to Philippine theaters and playwrights.
Here's more information. For more details, please contact Tanghalang Pilipino at 832-3661, or the CCP Box Office at 832-3704. Please make sure to call for reservations.
WHEN: JULY 3, 2008, 6:30PM
WHERE: CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES,
LITTLE THEATER
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Please come and spread the word.
The reception that follows is by invitation only.
These are readings of selected excerpts from four plays, three of which are included in Ma-Yi Theater Company's anthology "Savage Stage," edited by Joi Barrios-Leblanc. The three plays from the book include "Project: Balangiga" by Sung Rno and Ralph Peña, "peregriNasyon" by Chris Millado, "and Middle Finger" by Han Ong. The fourth play takes selected scenes from Ma-Yi's upcoming production of Ralph Peña's new work "Nebraska," which will premiere in New York City in 2009.
READING CAST:
NONIE BUENCAMINO, SHAMAINE CENTENERA-BUENCAMINO,
NAR CABICO, RED CONCEPCION, JM DE GUZMAN, JJ IGNACIO,
IRMA ADLAWAN-MARASIGAN, JOEL TORRE.
ABOUT THE PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS:
Project: Balangiga by Sung Rno and Ralph Peña is a documentary-style inquiry into the ongoing debate surrounding the proposed repatriation of the church bells taken by American soldiers from the town of Balangiga during the Philippine American War. The excerpted scene imagines a virtual town meeting between the residents of Balangiga and Cheyenne,Wyoming, where the bells are presently installed. Sung Rno is an award winning playwright and member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. He is a graduate of Harvard and Brown University.
peregriNasyon is Chris Millado's trenchant play about the itinerant lives of the Manongs, the Filipino migrant workers who plied the labor routes of California's Central Valley and the Alaskan canneries during the Great Depression. Millado's play bends time and space in drawing
parallel journeys between two brothers separated by distance, but bound by a common struggle to locate "home." Chris Millado is the author of several award-winning plays, and was instrumental in the founding of Ma-Yi Theater Company. He is the current Associate Artistic Director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Han Ong's Middle Finger is a coming-of-age story set in an all-boys Catholic school. Riffing on Frank Wedekind's "Spring's Awakening," Middle Finger gives the familiar turfs of teenage angst, sex, and religion a new dose of contemporary sizzle. Han Ong is one of the youngest recipients of the MacArthur Foundation "Genius" grant. Apart from "Middle Finger," Ma-Yi Theater also produced the world premiere of Han Ong's "Watcher." He is a guest lecturer at Columbia University.
Nebraska is Ralph Peña's new play about Immigration and extreme American Right-Wing Politics. The play imagines what might happen when an ancient Hindu goddess decides to take up residency in Nebraska, and finds herself pulled into the inner sanctum of a radical Christian organization. Ralph is the current artistic director of Ma-Yi Theater Company and one of the lead organizers of the first U.S. Artists contingent to the 2007 World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ma-Yi Theater Company is today the leading professional Asian American theater company and incubator of new Asian American plays in the United States. Since its founding in 1989, Ma-Yi Theater has won multiple Obie Awards, Drama Desk, Hewitt Design Awards, and was named a Theater of Excellence by the Drama League. The Ma-YI Writers Lab is the largest assembly of professional Asian American playwrights in the country, with 21 full-time writers. Ma-Yi Theater is headed by Executive Director Jorge Ortoll.
Joi Barrios-Leblanc has published: two volumes of poetry, "Ang Pagiging Babae ay Pamumuhay sa Panahon ng Digma," and "Minatamis at Iba Pang Tula ng Pag-ibig." She has won more than a dozen literary awards.. In 1999, Joi was among the 100 women of the 20th century honored as "Weaver of History" by the National Centennial Commission Women's Sector. In 2004, she was honored as one of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service (TOWNS). Joi is the literary manager of Ma-Yi Theater Company.
Lighting Design: Barbie Tan-Tiongco
Stage Manager: Ave Uy
DIRECTED BY: RALPH PENA
Go to Mogwai this weekend. My friend Caliph8 is playing. The dude rocks. He did the soundtrack to my Soul Train event to Cubao X. This Saturday promises to have lots of good art and good music and good people hanging around Cubao X. 
I used to intern with these guys when I lived in New York back in the mid-90's. I was a lighting controller for their production of "Flipzoids" at the Theater for the New City. I still think "Flipzoids" by Ralph Pena is one of the best plays about the Philippine experience that I have ever seen. Can't wait to see their new stuff next week...
The event is pay-what-you-can, or FREE to those who can't afford anything. All proceeds will be donated to Philippine theaters and playwrights.
I HEART DR. CULIAT