
Chicago-based playwright Lani T. Montreal brings her acclaimed solo show, Anak ni Tapia: Leaving Mother, to San Francisco as part of Playground Experiment’s Free Play Festival this August. Following sold-out performances in Chicago in Summer 2024 and Spring 2025, this marks her fourth stop in her international tour after celebrated runs at FringeMI in Milan, Italy, the Hollywood Fringe Festival, and a fundraising performance in Toronto supporting ADHIKA, a 40-year-old Filipino-Canadian community organization. Anak ni Tapia: Leaving Mother is a deeply personal and poignant exploration of identity, memory, and reconciliation. The show centers on the journey of an immigrant woman who grew up in the shadow of her celebrity mother in the Philippines. The title translates to “Child of Tapia,” a reference to the iconic character “Miss Tapia,” played by Lani’s mother, the late Mely Tagasa, on Philippine television from the 1970s through the 1980s. In the play, Montreal blends traditional Filipino kundimans—folk love songs her mother once sang as a teenager—with multimedia elements, including vintage photos, video clips, and soundscapes that evoke the era of old-time radio, where her mother’s career began. The performance charts Montreal’s migration from the Philippines to America, navigating the legacy of her mother’s fame, the pressures of cultural expectations, and her own identity as a queer Filipina immigrant. Through storytelling, humor, and raw introspection, Anak ni Tapia honors the complicated love between mother and daughter—highlighting a stern but passionate woman, a star whose presence loomed large, and the quiet strength of a daughter carving her own path. Don’t miss this intimate and powerful theatrical experience that resonates with anyone who has ever sought to understand where they come from—and where they’re going. Tickets are by donation or pay-what-you-can. Please go to: https://playground-sf.org/boxoffice/
Spirals and Dirt (2/16/26-2/16/26)
Potrero Stage is at 1695 18th St., San Francisco, CA 94107, San Francisco, CA.
Therapist Zero at Playground Solo Performance Festival (1/19/26-1/31/26)
The Specimen - A Horror Play (1/18/26-2/2/26)
LA CUCARACHA (8/1/25-8/3/25)
PlayGround Festival: Best of PlayGround(SF)'25 (5/24/25-5/25/25)
The Passing Storm (5/17/25-5/18/25)
PlayGround Festival Premiere: The Passing Storm (5/17/25-5/18/25)
PlayGround Festival Premiere: Work/Shoot (5/10/25-5/11/25)
PlayGround Festival Staged Readings (5/9/25-5/19/25)
PlayGround Festival: Festival Kick-Off & Playwrights Panel (5/6/25-5/6/25)
Private (3/17/23-4/2/23)
Videos
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Paranormal Activity
American Conservatory Theater (2/19 - 3/15) | |
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What the Constitution Means to Me
Hillbarn Theatre (1/22 - 2/8) | |
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The Cherry Orchard
Marin Theatre (1/29 - 2/22) | |
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TheatreWorks Silicon Valley presents “Hershey Felder: The Piano and Me”
Mountain View Center for The Performing Arts (1/17 - 2/8) | |
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Comedy Oakland at The Elbow Room Sat Feb 14 8pm
Elbo Room Jack London (2/14 - 2/14) | |
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Comedy Oakland at Elbo Room Sat Feb 21 8pm
Elbo Room Jack London (2/21 - 2/21) | |
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An Evening with a Mentalist: Jay Alexander's Mind Tricks Live
San Francisco Magic Theater (w/Jay Alexander) at the Marrakech (2/20 - 2/22) | |
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Voices that Raised Us: An Evening of Iconic Female Hits from Decades Past (Concert at the Center)
Sonoma Community Center (3/6 - 3/6) | |
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Comedy Oakland at Quinn's Lighthouse Fri Feb 20 7:30pm
Quinn's Lighthouse (2/20 - 2/20) | |
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