The Chikahan Company presents their inaugural production, the world premiere of
THE ACT OF CARE
By Lauren Andrei Garcia and Conrad A. Panganiban Directed by Alan S. Quismorio
Venue: Potrero Stage in San Francisco, CA Run Dates: November 19 – 21, 2021
In-Person + Simulcast
Friday, November 19, 2021 at 8:00PM PST Saturday, November 20, 2021 at 8:00PM PST Sunday, November 21, 2021 at 3:00PM PST
San Francisco, CA (October 2021) – In celebration of Filipino-American History Month, The Chikahan Company announced complete casting for their inaugural production, the world premiere of The Act of Care by Bay Area Filipinx playwrights Lauren Andrei Garcia and Conrad A. Panganiban. This play was originally commissioned by The Chikahan Company under the fiscal sponsorship of PlayGround’s Innovator Incubator program. This production will be presented at the Potrero Stage live for one weekend (including a simulcast via Zoom) as part of PlayGround’s 3rd annual Innovators Showcase. Alan S. Quismorio will direct.
When an unexplainable virus begins to infect several patients and nurses at a local hospital, a reserved Filipina nurse, Olivia, is visited by creatures who lurk in the shadows of the illness. Are they the cause or the cure? The Act of Care is a horror drama that explores the humanity and inhumanity of the American Healthcare System.
“I couldn’t be more excited and honored to have Conrad and Lauren author the company’s maiden voyage,” said Alan S. Quismorio (Co-Founder & Co-Artistic Director of The Chikahan Company, and Director of The Act of Care). “Conrad’s love for his community’s legacy, character and traditions and Lauren’s nursing experience and, above all, ability to draw from her deep well of personal history informs this collaboration profoundly.”
The cast features Rae Yuen, Lynie Abadilla, and Louel Señores.
The creative and production team includes Brian Batugo, Movement Director; Noa Batle, Set Designer; Spenser Matubang, Lighting Designer; Josh Icban, Sound Designer; Mia Jue, Costume Designer; champoy, Mask Designer; Marissa L. Ampon, Props Master; Krystle Piamonte, Dramaturg; Felicia Chanco, Broadcast Director; and Emilio Racinez, Stage Manager.
The entire company for The Act of Care is a collaboration of artists who are all of Filipinx heritage and local to the Bay Area.
The Chikahan Company’s inaugural production is made possible by PlayGround’s Innovator Incubator program, Theatre Bay Area’s Ca$h Grant, and donations from the community.
BIOS
The Chikahan Company
Founded by its three Co-Artistic Directors Ely Sonny Orquiza, Krystle Piamonte, and Alan S. Quismorio, The Chikahan Company’s mission is to explore Filipinx history, politics, psychology, and diaspora through the craft of theater and the performing arts. The Chikahan Company strives to develop the unique voice of and uplift the robust Filipinx narratives and artistries, and advocate its influence to the American theater.
Reclaiming and revealing the multifaceted experiences of the Filipinx community is a fundamental vision of The Chikahan Company in order to amplify the complex and dynamic narratives that have long been pushed to the margins and to actively challenge the stereotypes about our kababayan (people), our kuwento (story), and our kasaysayan (history).
Alan S. Quismorio (he/him/siya) was Bindlestiff Studio’s Artistic Director from 2011-2015, overseeing the inaugural years of its new theatre space in the South of Market district of San Francisco. Previous to this tenure, he was Co-Artistic Director of the Asian American Theatre Company (2008-2010). He helped create AlchemySF, the emerging playwrights program at the Jon Sims Center (1999-2004) where he developed new works by Bay Area LGBT playwrights.
An alumnus of Crowded Fire Theatre Company, he appeared in their productions of 49 MILE, SLAUGHTER CITY, and ONE BIG LIE. He HAS performed extensively in the Bay Area, with Magic Theatre, Oakland Public Theatre, Brava! Women in the Arts, Shotgun Players, and Word for Word. As a director, his works include DOOLEY, THUNDER ABOVE, DEEPS BELOW, and, most recently, Theatre Rhino’s inaugural pop-up theatre production of THE UNDERPANTS GODOT. He was last seen in Theatre Rhino’s World Premiere of Boni Alvarez’s DRIVEN.
Lauren Andrei Garcia (she/siya/ella) is a Bay Area actor, teacher, and visual artist born to a viraginous Filipina woman and a green thumbed Mexican man.
She is a part of Las Hociconxs, El Comalito Collective, and Granny Cart Gangstas. Recent work includes acting for Custom Made Theatre Co.’s staging of GOOD. BETTER. BEST. BESTED; performing with the Granny Cart Gangstas on Tour; casting and directing for presentations given locally; statewide (PeriAnesthesia Nurses Association of California,
2018 Annual Meeting and Fall Seminar and the SEIU Nurse Alliance of California – 2017 Legislative Conference); and nationally (2017 National Nursing Ethics Conference), production management for Youth Speak’s production of Brave New Voices at the University of Houston; visual art at El Comalito Collective’s Ser Muxer Exhibit; and leading workshops during Moments: Youth Arts Conference and Sam Mihara Day of Justice Workshop . Her chapbook is an international Elgin award nominee.
Conrad A. Panganiban (he/him/his) is a Filipino-American playwright representing the San Francisco Bay Area. His plays include WELGA, INAY’S WEDDING DRESS, THE PERFECT AMERICAN, and ESPERANZA MEANS HOPE. Conrad’s work has been produced and/or developed by Bindlestiff Studio (San Francisco, CA), CIRCA Pintig (Chicago, IL), MaArte Theatre Collective (San Diego, CA), San Francisco Playhouse, and the Sinag-tala Filipino Theater and Performing Arts Association (Sacramento, CA).
Awards include: James Milton Highsmith Award Winner (SFSU), National Ten-Minute Play Festival Finalist (Actors Theatre of Louisville), and Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist (Playwrights Foundation). Member: Dramatist Guild of America and Theatre Bay Area. MFA. San Francisco State University.
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