Under the moonlight...six-year-old Eddie imagines a dragon eating moons and an imaginary friend teaching him English. His mother smokes as she prays to a statue of the Santo Niño. His father waits alone in Manila for their daily phone calls. Songs from a mythical giant turtle travel across oceans, but are drowned by the voices of Duterte and Trump on the television. As fantasy and reality become indistinguishable, the family is forced to learn how to articulate unspoken truths that will either break them or heal them. How will the weight of living undocumented in New York City force them to reevaluate their understanding of “community", “dreams”, and "home"? To assist the actors, a new narrator (a fellow artist, community organizer, or elected official) joins the cast every night. The narrator reads the play aloud to the audience, having neither seen the play nor read the entire script. The cast performs original music and songs to help tell the story. The play is spoken in English and Tagalog with subtitles. 2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist 2021 E.A.G. Barbour Award Finalist care advisoryWe will sing, laugh, and dance as a community! The play is hella Pinoy. Note that it also explores mental health, racism, government sanctioned police violence, and xenophobia with a vulnerable and tender heart. We encourage each other to explore these themes as a community and be witness to each other's humanity. Let us lean in with empathy and love so that we may support each other through the performance.
Cast(in alphabetical order)
SERGIO MAURITZ ANG CLARO DE LOS REYES PATRICK ELIZALDE KRISTIAN ESPIRITU VANESSA RAPPA creative + Production teamwritten by..... GAVEN D. TRINIDAD
directed by..... MAURICIO SALGADO + MARIA CAMIA original music and lyrics by..... GAVEN D. TRINIDAD projection and scenic design by..... CINTHIA CHEN lighting design by..... ALEX ALIPIO sound design by..... JORDAN BERNSTEIN puppet design by..... MARIA CAMIA language and cultural consultation by..... LYDIA GASTON + BING MAGTOTO stage management by..... MARS NERI executive producer + artistic director of Leviathan Lab..... ARIEL ESTRADA producer..... JENNIFER OGASIAN producing organizations..... LEVIATHAN LAB + EPISCOPAL ACTORS' GUILD Help make a DifferenceAt each performance of Learning How to Read by Moonlight we raise money towards Churches United for Fair Housing, an organization that services and advocates for immigrants of all statuses. We are hoping to raise 1K! Donate now, CLICK HERE.
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Performances + TicketsPUBLIC SALE HAS STARTED! Reserve your tickets now.
Tickets are set at tiered pricing, from $10 to $25. RUN TIME: approx. 90 minutes
GUEST NARRATOR SCHEDULEFEB 10th | Iyvon E.
FEB 11th |Eva Santos-Veloz FEB 16th | Roger Q. Mason FEB 17th | Lia Chang FEB 18th | Salma Zohdi FEB 22nd | Daniel K. Isaac FEB 23rd | Luis Francia FEB 24th | Victor I. Cazares FEB 25th | Ching Valdes-Aran LocationGuild Hall at the Episcopal Actors' Guild
1 East 29th Street, NYC 10016 (midblock between Madison and Fifth, between #3 and #9 East 29th Street) on the second floor of the Church of the Transfiguration (aka the Little Church Around the Corner) Transportation
The closest subways are the R/W or 6 at 28th Street or the B/D/F/M or N/Q/R/W at 34th Street/Herald Square. If you are arriving by bus, take the M1, M2, M3, M5, M6, or M7.
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Dress rehearsal Photos
Photos taken by Yuko Kudo.