We are so excited for this one! Kapisanan is proud to be part of this with our long time community partner, Carlos Bulosan Theatre, for the first ever full public reading of Through The Bamboo, a play by Andrea Mapili and Byron Abalos. Their original reading of this play was in San Francisco, California with Bindlestiff Studio.
In the tradition of Alice and Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz, Through the Bamboo is a modern retelling of the Odyssey as a balikbayan story interwoven with the vibrant cultures and traditions of the Philippines. While searching for her Lola, a young Filipina-Canadian named Philly, finds herself in Uwi – a fantastical world filled with characters from Philippine mythology. Will she be able to find her Lola, restore the light, free the creatures of Uwi from the reign of the Six Sisters and make it back home before hockey try-outs?
Through The Bamboo
By Andrea Mapili & Byron Abalos
Saturday December 6
4pm - 6pm | $15 PWYC
@Artscape Youngplace Room 108
Free for kids under 12 and under!
Get your tickets here
About the Playwrights
BYRON ABALOS
Byron Abalos is a Filipino playwright, actor and producer from Toronto, Canada. He was Carlos Bulosan Theatreʼs inaugural playwright-in-residence in 2009 and was named one of Torontoʼs Top 10 Theatre Artists for 2010. His play, Brown Balls, had its world premiere at the Factory Studio Theatre produced by fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company in 2011. In 2009, his walking tour, Lola Lita, appeared as a part of SummerWorks inaugural SummerWalks. His play Remember Lolo won the NOW Magazine Audience Choice Award in the 2005 SummerWorks Festival. As an actor, he has performed with Soulpepper, Cahoots, fu-GEN, Theatre Passe Muraille and Carlos Bulosan Theatre among other companies and is a two-time Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee. Byron has a BFA in Theatre Acting from Ryerson University. He is married to Andrea.
ANDREA MAPILI
Andrea is a Toronto-based dancer, choreographer, playwright and movement and awareness coach who graduated from the Tamalpa Institute's teacher training program specializing in movement-based expressive arts education and therapy. She made her theatre debut as Lina in Jason Maghanoy's The Corner (JSquared) as a part of the innaugural Next Stage Theatre Festival. She also acted in Tales From the Flipside (Carlos Bulosan Theatre), Flipside Keeps Current (Carlos Bulosan Theatre) and Baggage (Pulang Maleta Collective). Andrea was a member of fu-GENʼs 6th playwriting Kitchen and had an excerpt reading of Happiness 101 at the Kultura Festival of Philippine Arts and Culture and fu-GEN's 6th Annual Potluck Festival as a part of 2009 CrossCurrents Festival. In 2010, Andrea appeared in Nightwood Theatreʼs 4 x 4 Festival. Andrea is currently a member of Molayo Dance Company, an international collective of 16 dancers from 8 countries creating and performing pieces across Europe. She is married to Byron.