Theatre

I have only just begun my journey as a director of stage productions, so this whole section will be dedicated to:

#DON’T

#DON’T is a 90-minute stage production that ran five sold-out shows from June 4th through 25th 2023, at the McCadden Theater as part of the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival. It was my very first experience as a stage director, and was an honor to bring a show so connected to Filipino culture to life. It is based on Noli Me Tangere, the quintessential Filipino novel, and the cast consists of fifteen (!!!) incredibly talented FilAm artists. Along with all that it is a full length epic drama that stretched the confines of what we could do within the context of a traditionally down-to-basics Fringe show. Our audience proved eager to join us and sold out every performance before even our first preview.

It is the intention of the entire production team and cast to bring #DON’T back in the future, bigger and even better.

From the press release:

“#DON’T,” is a Filipino American stage play production based on the classic Jose Rizal novel, Noli Me Tangere.

Noli Me Tangere is an 1887 novel by Rizal published during the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. After its release, the novel became instrumental in initiating Filipino nationalism that ultimately led to the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Not only did it awaken sleeping Filipino awareness, but it also established the grounds for aspiring to independence.

Show Creator Mike Talplacido develops this new and modern take on a classic story with the intention of reigniting political and social awareness among both Filipinos in the Philippines and in the US. “There’s just so much interest from the FilAm community to learn more about our history and connect with our culture but not a lot of interesting and exciting new ways to do so,” remarks Talplacido.

When asked about what the audience can expect from “#DON’T,” Mike shares some of the themes and twists in the new story including reversing the male gender of Crisostomo Ibarra and turning him into a female character named Cris Ibarra, who, after seven years pursuing higher education in the US, returns home to the Philippines to avenge the death of her father.

“There’s a lot of focus on female empowerment and overall diversity and inclusion in this new adaptation and I cannot wait for the audience members to see our play,” adds Mike.

#DON’T is set to premiere on June 4^th at the McCadden Theater in Hollywood with additional performances on June 10, 11, 18, and 25.