What I liked
The pace of this show was incredible, so much story in fifty minutes, with no gaps or lags. The Lumad land struggle and the everyday upbringing and culture of Filipinos were demonstrated in a variety of methods. The show was women-focused, and the male characters provided enjoyable improv and emotional balance.
What I didn't like
I hope they get to make this play longer to develop more characters, with microphones, and a bigger audience!
My overall impression
Representation matters, to say the least. The careful writing of this play took bravery and community to research, interview, and collaborate with Lumad tribes and Philippine/Philippine-American justice coalitions, honoring the stories of people the play represents. Katotohanan opens with Tagalog chatter and ends with Tagalog resistance chants, with a breadth of emotions displayed in Filipino throughout— striking a live-theatre chord in the diasporic people of the Philippines we had not known was silenced. This play pays respect to the culture of Philippine women warriors. The cast and crew presented a heart-striking, based-on-reality story with female foil storyline leads, deep and emotional but balanced and digestible all the same. Katotohanan connects us to the lives of yesterday and today. Of struggle, resilience, and bravery. After watching, our community members, young and old, are chatterful, sparked with ideas, and reconnecting with others in advocacy, interested in the freedom and empowerment of the disenfranchised tribes of the Philippines. And an underlying lesbian love plot undetectable to our elders adds to the replay value, comfort, and intrigue.
