Sara Porkalob Returns to A.R.T. with DRAGON CYCLE

American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) announceS that award-winning storyteller, playwright, and activist Sara Porkalob will return to OBERON (2 Arrow Street, Cambridge) this month. After an acclaimed run at OBERON in spring 2018, the virtuosic performer returns to perform the first two chapters of her Dragon Cycle honoring Porkalob's family: three generations of Filipino Americans descended from gangsters and karaoke singers fighting to survive, thrive, and love.

Porkalob will perform her musical Dragon Lady (featuring new songs by Peter Irving) in repertory with the world premiere of Dragon Mama as part of the A.R.T. Breakout series from March 20 through April 6, 2019. A.R.T. Breakout presents cutting-edge performances that push theatrical boundaries at OBERON and beyond.

Discounted package tickets for Dragon Cycle are currently available, as are single tickets from $25 for Dragon Lady and Dragon Mama. Tickets are available online at americanrepertorytheater.org, by phone at 617.547.8300, in person at the Loeb Drama Center Ticket Services Office (64 Brattle Street, Cambridge), and 30 minutes before doors open at OBERON. Discounts are available to Subscribers, Members, groups, students, seniors, Blue Star families, EBT card holders, and others

The A.R.T. recently commissioned Porkalob to write Dragon Baby, a new musical about Sara herself that will complete the Dragon Cycle.

Dragon Cycle

Created and Performed by Sara Porkalob

Directed by Andrew Russell

Dragon Lady - Return Engagement

It is the year of the Water Dragon and the eve of Sara's Grandma Maria's 60th birthday. By the light of the karaoke machine, fueled by pork dumplings and Diet Pepsi, she shares a dark secret from her Filipino gangster past with one lucky grandchild. Traversing 50 years of faulty family memories and dark secrets from a fantastical life, this timely new musical is about discovering the possibility of healing and what it means to come to America. Winner of the 2018 Gregory Awards for Outstanding Musical and Outstanding Actress in a Musical.

Dragon Mama - World Premiere

How does a Dragon earn her wings? Maria Porkalob, Jr., yearns for a gayer, more POC-filled life than Bremerton, WA, can offer. When presented with an opportunity to make a quick fortune, Maria must make an important decision: leave her debt-ridden mother, four young siblings, and newborn daughter Sara for the wild unknown of Alaska, or stay close to home, family, and intergenerational trauma. Traversing 25 years filled with queer love in a barren land, Dragon Mama features ghosts, Filipino gangsters, and a dope 90s R&B soundtrack.

"My family wouldn't be the same without music-it's in our bloodstream," says Porkalob. "In Dragon Lady, we see music as a place where my grandmother could be her full self when she couldn't be in other ways, even with her family. Dragon Mama builds on that legacy, and in that piece, music is a vehicle for the love story between my two moms, and the vehicle for how these two women express love for each other. The first time I performed Dragon Lady outside of Seattle was last spring at OBERON, and I could not have asked for a better experience-it changed me. Magic exists in certain places, and I really feel it at the A.R.T. I am so thankful for the A.R.T.'s investment in me and my work, and I look forward to returning with Dragon Lady and Dragon Mama to make more magic."

The creative team for Dragon Cycle also includes Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting design) and Erin Bednarz (Sound Design). Kate Hausleris the production stage manager.

Photo Credit: Robert Wade