With measured amounts of satire, Luis Francia’s play speaks on issues of radical nationalism–its effects and its outcome–with characters and situations that take aim at the manners and mores of Philippine politics. For mature audiences only. Not for children.
Directed by Jeffrey Lo With Tasi Alabastro, Rose Almario, Percival Arcibal, Christine Jugueta*, Ryan Morales, Jed Parsario, Lee Robin Salazar, and Patrick Silvestre * (appears courtesy of Actors Equity).
About the playwright
Luis Francia is a celebrated poet, journalist, and creative nonfiction writer. His semiautobiographical account of growing up in the Philippines, Eye of the Fish: A Personal Archipelago, won both the 2002 PEN American Open Book and the 2002 Asian American Writers literary awards. His poetry books include The Arctic Archipelago and Museum of Absences. He is the author of Memories of Overdevelopment: Reviews and Essays of Two Decades; the editor of Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth Century Philippine Literature in English; and co-editor of Flippin’: Filipinos on America, and of Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream, 1899-1999. He is included in numerous anthologies, the latest being the Library of America’s Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing (2009). Two books were released in 2010: Beauty of Ghosts (Quezon city: Ateneo de Manila University Press), a chapbook, and From Indio to Filipino: A Brief History of the Philippines (New York: Overlook Press). He has written for a number of publications, including the Village Voice, the Nation, Asiaweek, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. On the board of trustees of the Asian American Writers Workshop and Kundiman Arts, he teaches at New York University and Hunter College. The Strange Case of Citizen de la Cruz, written specifically for Bindlestiff Studio, is his first work for the stage.
Bindlestiff Studio
In 1989, Bindlestiff Studio was established as a 52-seat black box theater that fed the underground experimental theater scene of the early 90s in San Francisco’s South of Market (SOMA) District. This makes it the longest running theater arts organization in SOMA.
In 1997, the Filipino American theater group tongue-in-A-mood took over operations and transformed Bindlestiff Studio as the epicenter for Pilipino and Filipino American performing arts.
In 2003, Bindlestiff lost its theater to the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (SFRA), which acquired its building to build the city’s first green affordable housing project.
In September 2011, Bindlestiff Studio opened its new theater at its original location of 185 Sixth Street with the full support of the City of San Francisco and the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
Bindlestiff Studio provides Filipino Americans access to diverse offerings in performing arts in a district that is poised to infuse an exhilarating new cultural scene into San Francisco. Today, the organization serves and engages Pilipino and Filipino American artists of various arts disciplines, reaching over 1500 audience members annually. It continues to evolve as a theater for the community while developing into an innovative hothouse of new artists and creative, cutting-edge works.
Opening night of “The Strange Case of Citizen dela Cruz” is on Sept. 29 at 8PM. Performances on October 4,5 and 6 at 8PM. Matinee at 2PM starting Oct. 7. Bindlestiff Studio is located at 185 Sixth @Howard in San Francisco’s South of Market District. www.bindlestiffstudio.org