Cahoots Theatre in Association with B Current Performing Arts Announces the World Premiere of HILOT MEANS HEALER

 

Exploring the social and political consequences of war and occupation in the Philippines and its impact across generations, Cahoots Theatre, in association with b current performing arts, announces its first show of the 2019/2020 season, the World Premiere of HILOT MEANS HEALER.

Drawn from traditional Philippine folklore, legends, and Indigenous spirituality, this play tells a story of unexpected bonds formed during cataclysmic change. Written by Jo SiMalaya Alcampo, and directed by Jasmine Chen, an original score by Luyos Mc (MaryCarl Guiao), and performances by Karen Ancheta, Aldrin Bundoc, Belinda Corpuz, and Carolyn Fe, HILOT MEANS HEALER will premiere at The Theatre Centre BMO Incubator, October 5 - 27, 2019.

"Listen to the songs of the Balete tree, revive the spirit of the Babaylan, and face the spectre of the Aswang - HILOT MEANS HEALER is the story of an unlikely group of individuals caught in the crosshairs of colonial violence, who must depend on each other or risk becoming isolated in the devastation of war." - Jasmine Chen, Director

Set in Manila during World War II, HILOT MEANS HEALER tells the story of Flor, a mangihilot (healer), and Alma, a young orphan, surviving on the outskirts of the city. When a mysterious young man, Alfredo, appears in Flor's garden, old memories and new revelations are awakened. With a darkness growing inside the garden, Flor must choose whether to hold onto the past or look to the future for guidance. Reflecting on the Japanese occupation of the Philippines between 1942 and 1945, HILOT MEANS HEALER weaves together the tangible and intangible to tell a complex story of war and healing.

Jo SiMalaya Alcampo (playwright) is an interdisciplinary artist born in Manila and raised in Toronto. Their art integrates storytelling, installation-based art, and electroacoustic soundscapes. Jo has developed community arts projects with queer youth, consumer/survivors of the mental health system, and migrant domestic workers. Jo is the co-founder of the Kwentong Bayan Collective and has exhibited their work internationally at festivals, conferences, and galleries.

Jasmine Chen (director) is a Chinese-Canadian multidisciplinary artist based in Toronto and Vancouver. Select directing credits include Le Ba-Ta-Clan (Opera 5), Musik Für Das Ende (Crow's Theatre and Soundstreams), and Bombay Black (Factory Theatre). In addition to directing, she has developed several new works including The Mother Tongue Project (Cahoots), Bite Hard: The Justin Chin Project (b current), and Yellow Rabbit (Soulpepper/Silk Bath Collective).

HILOT MEANS HEALER has an exceptional cast, including: Karen Ancheta, actor, director, playwright, and teacher. Select acting credits include In the Shadows (RedBetty/Frost Bites Festival), Future Folk (Sulong/Passe Muraille), Singkil (fu-GEN Theatre), Ghost Train (Young Peoples Theatre), and Taming of the Shrew (Stratford Festival); Aldrin Bundoc is a Toronto-based, Filipino-Canadian actor. Select credits include Towards Youth (Project Humanity/Crow's Theatre), Meet Cute (Roseneath Theatre), Body Politic (Buddies in Bad Times/lemonTree Creations), Schitt's Creek (CBC), and Private Eyes (Global); Belinda Corpuz is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist: vocalist, musician, composer, actor, and creator. Select acting credits include Prairie Nurse (Factory Theatre/Thousand Islands Playhouse), Lighters in the Air (Dive Bar Productions/Toronto Fringe), and Jezebel (Reel Asian International Film Festival); Carolyn Fe is an award-winning blues artist and actor, and the founder of Altera Vitae Productions. Select acting credits include Calpurnia (Nightwood & Sulong Theatre) for which she received the Toronto Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, P4W (Zeitgeist Productions), The Procrastin8r (Black Theatre Workshop), and Hedda Gabler (MainLine).

MaryCarl Guiao (Luyos Mc) (live musician/composer/sound designer) is a performance artist, , and host and producer of Migrant Matters Radio on CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph. Her art is a unique mixture of Manobo and Moro kulintang, sarunay, gandingan instruments, electronic soundscapes, tribal Pinxy, and hip hop dance, as well as critically engaging theatre.

MaryCarl Guiao is a daughter of Maharlikan is/lands, birthed from a
Kapampangan lineage of dedicated carpenters, benevolent engineers,
kitchen goddesses, public-spirited politicians and more guides that she
holds in her heart. For years, she engaged in bottom-up community
care-work (including hosting Migrant Matters Radio for independent
media). MaryCarl still communicates an appreciation for culture where
building respectful relationships with all life prevails, and finds
place in story-witnessing through cross-genre music
making and precolonial cultural regeneration (specially with Obo Manuvu
kulintang arts). 

b current is the hotbed for culturally-rooted theatre development in Toronto. They aim to develop new works by diverse artists primarily rooted in the cultural, social, and political experiences of the Canadian and international black and brown Diaspora. b current also produces theatre creations and has mounted over a dozen main stage plays, along with 100+ other public performances.

Single tickets start at just $15 for previews and $25 for regular performances. Student, Senior, and Art Worker prices also available. To purchase tickets, please visit cahoots.ca/hilot