Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble Presents A Night Of 'Humanity And Hope'

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE) has announced its collaboration with CIRCA Pintig, the Filipino American community arts organization, for a night of "Hope and Humanity." The double feature event features T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland, adapted, directed and choreographed by CDE Executive Director Ellyzabeth Adler and CIRCA Pintig's world premiere production of Daryo's All- American Diner, written by Conrad A. Panganiban, directed by Louie Pascasio with music by Demetrio Maguigad, May 5 - 20, at The Auditorium at Ebenezer Lutheran Church 1650 W. Foster Avenue.

The performance schedule is Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. with the art gallery and doors opening at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the venue box office with student and senior discounts available. Tickets and more information are available at DanzTheatre.org.

CDE will exhibit a 20 year retrospective of images, posters and art from the company's performance history as well as their arts education programs. Included in the exhibit, which will be open for viewing in the gallery space at The 30 minutes before and after each performance, will be original print images from artist David Sarallo, who has his work featured in The Wasteland. Bar and concessions will also be available during this time.

Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble - The Wasteland

T.S. Eliot's The Wasteland, has a cast of four illuminating "the lost generation" of post World War I European society and the human soul's search for redemption using CDE Founder and Executive Director Ellyzabeth Adler's unique style of danztheatre that blends together dance, theatre, music and video imagery, featuring the illustrations of David Sarallo, into a visceral theatre experience. Written in a stream of consciousness, it seeks out what humans are looking for, a constant connection in life.

Cast for The Wasteland includes Ellyzabeth Adler (Fortune Teller), Courtney Reid Harris (performer), Joshua Hogan (performer) and Peyton Hooks (performer).

The creative team for The Wasteland includes Ellyzabeth Adler (director and choreographer), David Sarallo (video imagery).

The Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble aims to address the social issues and injustices within the theater community through performances of activism. Their efforts challenge the status quo, to shine light on a restructured, diverse and equitable theater community both on stage and in the classroom.

Circa Pintig - Daryo's All-American Diner

Written by Conrad A. Panganiban, Daryo's All-American Diner is a new play about resilience seen through the lens of a Filipino family who struggles to keep a family business, Daryo's All-American Diner, open at the height of the pandemic. May, the 40-year old daughter of the late founder, Daryo, manages the diner and is torn between keeping the business afloat despite mounting expenses or sell the business altogether. As she tiptoes on navigating these choices, her mother April and her African American surrogate aunt Alberta suffer the brunt of racial hatred. May is forced to revisit her decision as family and friends redefine what binds them together as a community. The play sets the tone for how a traumatic act of violence can lead to an act of grace when Daryo's family and friends find new joy in honoring the legacy of Daryo, the late father whose culinary prowess makes Daryo's All-American Diner all American.

The play finds its strength through a multiracial assembly of characters creating a montage on which to view the ongoing anti-Asian hate from a perspective that engages cross-cultural healing and understanding.

Cast for Daryo's All-American Diner includes Heather Jencks (performer), Ginger Leopoldo (performer), RJ Silva (performer), Cary Shoda (performer), Amanda Payne (performer) and KC Khan (performer).

The production team for Daryo's All-American Diner includes Conrad A. Panganiban (playwright); Louie Pascasio (director); Demetrio Maguigad (music and sound designer); Larry Leopoldo (set designer) and RJ Silva (graphic designer).