Spinning tales… from the FLIPSIDE!

Wow… has it been this long already since I last posted in this blog? Well, live has been pretty crazy recently, AND the fruition of one of my life’s recent craziness is about to happen in less than two weeks!

Check out the flyer for Tales from the Flipside 2009! It’s sort of our “graduation” from the CBT Play Creation Program I joined late last year. It was a totally awesome experience and I really learned a lot! I also realized that I really enjoyed writing more than acting onstage! It feels awesome to act like God, creating this world with your imagination and making actors do your every bidding from the script like its the Bible or something.  Ha! Ha! Does it seem like Regina is starting to develop a serious God Complex?

Anywayz… a few weeks after our last meeting, I started feeling depressed. I originally thought that it was one of my seasonal ”blues”, but I realize now that its really some kind of post-partum depression. After several months of working on this baby, she’s about to make her debut to the world. It’s exciting and terrifying at the same time.

I had the priviledge of watching Romeo Candido work  with the cast doing the reading for my piece. Did  I mention that I have a serious fangirl complex towards all of RJ’s work? I was overcome with joy when I learned he’s directing my piece. I became a big Romeo Candido fan when I saw his one man show (that later evolved into “Lolo’s Child”) when I saw him perfom when I was a freshman in Ryerson. I don’t know if he remembers, but the first time he talked to me was back in 2001 (I think) in the workshop production of “Miss Orient(ed)” and he went to me and commented how much he enjoyed my acting. And that was actually the first time that I thought… “HEEEEEEY, maybe I could do this seriously!”

Well, I’m still leagues away from what I want to be in this field, but I was thrilled to see his process… my brain was like working overtime, trying to absorb everything. I didn’t know the ideas came to him… but it was fascinating! So I’m really excited to see the final product!

My play, BTW, is loosely based on a monologue that I wrote three years ago from Vinnie Sestito’s Summer workshop about some stories my grandmother told me about her life as a young woman in WW2 Philippines. Of course, it barely looks like what it was… and very far from the truth of how things really happened in my Grandmother’s stories… but its a really interesting world to visit. And CBT has an amazing collection of top-notch actors to tell the tale I weaved! Nicco… Rose… Christine… Byron! I feel so fortunate getting them as the main cast of my first piece.

But yeah! Scared shitless but excited! That’s me! ^_^.

Of course aside from my play, five other playwrights are showcasing their stories as well in a staged reading between Feb 26 - March 1.

My piece will be showing on Feb. 27 @ 8 PM and March 1 @ 2:30 PM in Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace with:

Len Cervantes’s hilarious “Pop” musical, “Shotgun Wedding”. It revolves around the lengths young Filipino men would go in the name of chivalry! Len is an awesome spoken word poet (and I’ve known him since my years in Ryerson). His piece is very tongue-in-cheek and a lot of young Filipino-Canadians I know who spent their teen years in Mississauga would probably relate.

It’s then followed by Myk Miranda’s very powerful “His Story”. An amazing piece about a Filipino mail-order bride in modern day Toronto, torn between a  Spanish and an American lover. Myk is also a great spoken word poet, and the words just flow beautifully in this piece of his story.

On Feb 26 and Feb 28 @ 8PM in the Theatre Passe Muraille, there are three other pieces that are definitely worth checking out too!

Bea Palanca’s heartbreaking “Sana” (I’m reading a character in this play BTW), is about a mother who is reuinited from her daughter after years of separation because of her job as care-giver in Canada. There is still something poignant and very relatable about Bea’s mother-daughter character regardless of social situation.  The amazing and lovely Rose Cortez is the other half of this acting ensemble!

Also playing is Rena Reddie’s “Baby Yellow”, a funny but bitter-sweet story about a young half-Filipina, visiting the Philippines for the first time and encounters her head-strong grandmother. Andrea Mapili and Aura Carcueva who are both exceptional actors will be sure to pull your heartstrings and hit your funny bone.

Finally, Alex Felipe’s “The Balikbayan”, the eyeopening experience of a young Filipino Canadian embarking on an adventure in the homeland for the first time where western ideals clash with Filipino realities. 

So please check these plays out! We’ll be saving a seat just for you! ^_^.