TGIF FEATURE: The Brothers, Monstress and Remember The I-Hotel

A scene from "Monstress"

AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER (ACT) will be presenting another story by Filipino/American writer Lysley Tenorio after producing the world premieres of two one-act plays by the same author last week in Monstress.

The Brothers is from Tenorio’s debut collection, "Monstress" (HarperCollins, 2012).

Tenorio had this to say about the origin of “The Brothers:”

"There’s a bar in San Francisco called Asia SF, which is famous for its “gender illusionists”: the transsexual and transgendered Asian-American waitresses who perform hourly atop the bar/runway, lip-syncing disco classics and power ballads. I wouldn’t call them drag queens; they don’t really possess that winking camp that lets everyone know they’re in on the act. Instead, the women of Asia SF have worked and sacrificed to turn themselves into the people they truly want to be. 

"On one visit, I met a Filipina-American waitress who told me about her family in the Philippines, and how they weren’t necessarily cool with how she was living her life. I was moved by her story, and immediately thought of ways to render that kind of experience in fiction, to imagine a life so defined by change. But as I worked on the story, I found myself more compelled by the opposite, by someone who utterly lacked the daring and guts to break free of the role he’s expected to play – that of the dutiful and obedient son, the one who sacrifices his own happiness to maintain the familial order."

And so The Brothers, became the story of Edmond, a man who couldn’t even begin to imagine the difficult but ultimately fulfilling life his recently deceased transsexual brother, Eric, had the bravery to live. In this way, Eric isn’t the lonely, isolated, and tragic brother; Edmond is.

The story is adapted by Colman Domingo, who stars in the TV spinoff Fear The Walking Dead. No, he is not Filipino but he says since he grew up in the Bay Area, he has Filipino friends and is familiar with the community.

His website is www.lysleytenorio.com.

The Brother(s) by Colman Domingo  

Adapted from a short story by Lysley Tenorio  

Friday, October 16, 10 p.m.
Sunday, October 18, 12 p.m. & 7 p.m.
A.C.T.'s Costume Shop, 1117 Market Stre
*Tickets are free but reservations are required. 

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THE TWO one-act plays presented in ACT's Monstress were Remember the I-Hotel and the title story Monstress - in that order.

The latter is an out-and-out farce that has some funny lines about Daly City and other Bay Area cities, which might play well outside of the Bay Area. Taking place in the 60s and 70s, it is a tale of immigration, of improbable, lofty dreams gone awry, as reality hits the characters.

RELATED: Two Filipino American stories debut

The storyline is a little forced (farced?) but the cast is excellent. I shouldn't be surprised but I'm continually amazed at all the talent that's in the Asian/American community that is going largely untapped and unnoticed.

The same corps of actors in Monstress play different roles in the opening play,  Remember the I-Hotel.

The I-Hotel has a totally different tone. It is more bitter-sweet, touching and full of irony. It touches on larger societal issues without hectoring the audience.

Vicente (Ogie Zulueta) is comforted
by Fortunado (Jomar Tagatac) in
“Remember The I-Hotel"

As regular readers may recall, the  International Hotel was the last remaining residential hotel in old Manilatown, west of Chinatown. The struggle to keep the low-cost housing for its elderly tenants, mostly Chinese and Filipino men sparked the tenant rights revolution even though the tenants were eventually evicted in the 1970s. This is the setting of Remember the I-Hotel.

At the end of the play, you can almost hear the audience let out their breath after trying to keep their emotions in check. Some couldn't ... and tears were rolling.

I don't know why the director doesn't reverse the order and let Monstress open the couplet of plays and let I-Hotel be the final act. It would be a more powerful thought-provoking evening.

As it is, I left the theater, located on the edge of the new Manilatown, South of Market, happier perhaps, because of the farcical Monstress but still wondering about the fate of the characters in the poignant Remember the I-Hotel.

Monstress, 
A.C.T.'s Strand Theater, 127 Market Street, San Francisco

Running time: 2 hours, plus one 15‑minute intermission

For tickets, click here. 

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TGIF FEATURE: Filipino/American's stories adapted into plays for top U.S. theater troupe

STARTING last week and running through Nov. 22, folks in Northern California have an opportunity to view a too-rare performance of two Filipino and Filipino/American stories that have been adapted into two one-act plays, under the banner "Monstress."

The plays are two tales of contemporary Filipino-American life in California, adapted from "Monsters," the acclaimed collection of short stories by San Francisco author Lysley Tenorio.

We know that there are Asian-American theater troupes throughout the country trying their best to perform the works of Asian-American writers, but what makes this unique is that it is being presented by the San Francisco-based American Conservatory Theater, one of the premiere performing groups in the country, which promises the possibility of a wider audience beyond the Filipino-American community. 

A vibrant array of characters strive for personal transformations that are seemingly impossible, wonderfully moving, and distinctly theatrical. The infamous headline-making eviction of Filipino residents from San Francisco’s International Hotel in the 1970s sets the background for Philip Kan Gotanda’s stirring Remember the I-Hotel, which illuminates the dangers of love that crosses forbidden territories. 

Lysley Tenorio

Sean San José’s retelling of the title story “Monstress” moves us from the streets of Manila to the Bay Area, where a B-movie director has been seduced by the opportunity to work with a shady American filmmaker. An evening of song and story about love and family, hope and indifference, triumph and failure, Monstress explores the resilience of a community struggling to find a home in the ever-shifting sands of the American dream.

Born in the Philippines, Tenorio currently lives in San Francisco, and is an associate professor at Saint Mary’s College of California, across the bay in Moraga, Calif.

In an interview after his book was released, Tenorio said:

"The Filipino/Filipino-American experience, as I know it, is full of fascinating historical facts and obscure news stories which, when looked at metaphorically, are full of emotional and psychological complexities and contradictions. And that kind of messiness is inherent in love, family, the American identity, so it often feels inevitable that my stories will evoke those themes in these weird, seemingly ludicrous, but ultimately (hopefully) believable and empathetic ways."

The cast of “Monstress” includes Rinabeth Apostol, Melody Butiu, Danielle Firmer (October 20-November 22), Nick Gabriel, Jomar Taqatac, Sean San Jose, Kelsey Venter (September 16-October 19) and Ogie Zulueta.

The plays are being presented in A.C.T.'s Strand Theater at 1127 Market Street. Tickets available here or contact: 

415.749.2228
tickets@act-sf.org

The American dream, says Tenorio, is “full of gains, losses, victories and defeats, joy and heartbreak. It’s life. If there’s any kind of truth, I hope these plays convey that."

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