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Ginger Leopoldo (312) 956-9489

 

CIRCA Pintig presents Daryo’s All-American Diner, a new play about family and friends coming together in times of crisis!

 

Chicago, IL – The pandemic brought the entire world to its knees and the challenges that it poses after a two-year wrath unravels the delicate fabric upon which our moral and cultural values find its true humanity. For its 32nd theater season, CIRCA Pintig, the Filipino American community arts organization, brings to the stage the story of the Daryo family in the fictional town of Lakeside, Illinois and how a tragic incident transforms their sense of humanity and community. Written by Conrad A. Panganiban, Daryo’s All American Diner is a new play about resilience seen through the lens of a Filipino family who struggles to keep a family business open at the height of the pandemic. May, the 40-year old daughter who manages the diner is torn between keeping the business afloat despite mounting expenses or sell the business altogether. As she tiptoes on navigating these choices, her mother April and her African American surrogate aunt Alberta suffer the brunt of racial hatred. May is forced to revisit her decision as family and friends redefine what binds them together as a community. The play sets the tone for how a traumatic act of violence can lead to an act of grace when Daryo family and friends find new joy in honoring the legacy of Augusto Daryo, the late father whose culinary prowess makes Daryo’s All American Diner ‘all American’.

 

Directed by Luis Pascasio, the play finds its strength through a multiracial assembly of characters creating a montage on which to view the ongoing anti-Asian hate from a perspective that engages cross-cultural healing and understanding. Cast includes Heather Jencks, Ginger Leopoldo, RJ Silva, Cary Shoda, Amanda Payne, and KC Khan with music and sound design by Demetrio Maguigad and set design by Larry Leopoldo. In partnership with the Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble (CDE), the play is double-billed with CDE’s production of The Wasteland and will go on stage on May 5-6, 12-13 and 19-20, Friday-Saturday, 8pm at The Auditorium of Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster in Chicago.

 

This production of CIRCA Pintig is supported in part by Asian Giving Circle, Crossroads Fund, DCASE City Arts Grant, Illinois Arts Council, an agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, Asian Improv aRts Midwest, and Resist. For tickets and more inquiries, visit www.cricapintig.org or email GingerLeopoldo, Executive Director at ginger@circapintig.org.

 

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Become a Sustaining Donor

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CIRCA-Pintig has been 100% volunteer-run for most of its existence. All funds raised each year go directly to its programs. Only in the past couple of years has CP started paying staff on a part-time basis. We would like to invite you to be a Sustaining Donor by committing to giving on a sustained basis such as donating $20/month or $1 a day.

With CP’s new direct services programs, sustained funding ensures that CP is able to deliver the services that it planned. Concretely, this means that:

  1. A monthly podcast featuring a story about Asian Americans with disability and their struggles is produced and shared broadly.
  2. At least 1 caregiver story is collected per month, transformed into a monologue and performed in CP’s Monthly Beat event and/or featured in a printed or social media article.

As a Sustaining Donor, you shall enjoy the following benefits:

  • Acknowledgment and listing in a special Sustaining Donors page of the website and in all souvenir playbills.
  • Free admission to all performances and organizational events.
  • Special invitation to Donors-Only private events.
  • Member’s 20% discount for family & friends to all performances and organizational events.
  • Unlimited opportunities to share input and feedback re. CP’s programs
  • A copy of CP’s annual report on the impact of its programs

As a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, donations are tax-deductible as fully allowable by law.

Currently, all online donations are processed using Network for Good. If you would like to make a donation via mail, you may send a check to “CIRCA Pintig” at 2429 W. Jarvis, Chicago, IL 60645.

 

The Verdict of the Drawn Circle, 2003

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CIRCA-Pintig would love to have you participate in any of its activities and events. Here are a few ways that you can be part of our work:

  • Get trained and conduct interviews and collect stories
  • Be part of a playwriting collective that transforms stories into monologues and short performance pieces
  • Assist in developing promotional materials for print and social media
  • Help document activities and community events through photos, videos and voice recordings
  • Translate stories and relevant documents from English to Tagalog and vice-versa
  • Initiate or facilitate community dialogues or conversations with elected officials about specific issues

There is room for everyone. Come on board!

To Volunteer, please click on the button below and send us your Name, Address and Phone Number.

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