Fil-Am directs play about Pinoy gay men

A confident cross-dresser in love with a macho American soldier and a teenage gay faced with fears on becoming a transgender... These are some of the issues being tackled by the Los Angeles musical play "The Girl Most Likely To," directed by Filipino-American Jon Lawrence Rivera, the news site LAist said. In a report on April 11, the news site Asian Journal  said Rivera has previously directed some of the most acclaimed plays by Los Angeles based playwrights such as Jessica Hagedorn, Nick Salamone, and Oliver Mayer. Shown in Los Angeles, California, the play "The Girl Most Likely To" tackles some of the issues that Filipino gay men face in the United States — gender identity, self-love, cultural identity, and the challenges of post-immigration life in the US.

 

The first part of the play focuses on cross dresser Mama Cid, played by Filipino actor Ramone de Ocampo, who confidently identifies himself as “bakla” and had a relationship with an American soldier from Texas, the news site said.

 

The other half of the play features “The Boy,” portrayed by Filipino-American actor Tobit Raphael, whose mother is worried that her son will become a victim of hate crimes once he becomes a transgender. The play was written by Michael Premsrira who took inspiration from the murder of transgender woman Gwen Araujo in 2002 by her “lovers” after learning she was a transgender.

 

According to LAStageTimes.com, an online publication devoted to the performing arts, Premsrirat said he was intrigued by the “cycle of violence” against transgenders by their male lovers.

In the same report, Ted Benito, the producer, described "The Girl Most Likely To" as a "funny, heart-wrenching, sweet play about owning yourself.” 

 

The play runs Thursdays to Sundays, until May 13 at The Los Angeles Theatre Center. For more information, visit www.thelatc.org. - Jon Lindley Agustin, VVP, GMA News