Full Length Pieces
Learning How to Read by Moonlight, a Children's Play for Adults
Eddie is six-years-old and his nanay ("mother") is determined to make the United States his family's new home after facing life-threatening danger back in the Philippines. Performed by two actors in a transformative space, Eddie and his imaginary friend create their own worlds in which Eddie can face the challenges of growing up in the United States undocumented head-on. A community leader narrates the 90 min play with new narrators at every performance. With imagination, heart, and with some audience participation, the play creates time and space for adults to remember what it is was like to be a child; and the play gives children a voice to be taken seriously by adults in these times of political tumult. Every performance of this play must feature closed captioning and translations (English and Filipino).
Ma'am Lys, or The Plan
Inspired by the real-life community of women in the Dado Village of Mindanao who organized a sex strike against their husbands to bring peace to their
villages, the women of the town's sewing collective have everything they need for their livelihoods except for the ability to bring their goods to the market which is two villages away. The problem is, one of the villages is closed due to historical differences between the male village leaders. Ma’am Lys rallies the women to not have sex with their husbands until they stop the fighting. This adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata hopes to examine the corrosive nature of the gender binary in Filipino cultures, opening possibilities to recognize the multiplicity of womanhood in the Philippines through its diverse community of Muslim, Catholic, queer, cis- and trans women. Together they interrogate and challenge the overwhelming toxic masculinity and machismo that has re-emerged in the politics of Duterte and Trump. Their battles with the men bring both laughter and revelation as they reconnect with the matriarchal and indigenous traditions that existed before the colonization by Europeans. This is a ritual play for all Filipino/a/x/os of the diaspora to try to reconnect with cultures, languages, and spirits that have been hidden by the hundreds of years of colonialism.
Sa Aming Puso/In Our Hearts - a Theatre Film Hybrid
We are in search of the spirit of our people. Where has it gone? Where does it live? In our bones live the history of our ancestors who fought, resisted, and survived centuries of colonial rule by the Spanish, Japanese, and Americans. Somewhere in the reconstruction of ourselves, it seems that we have forgotten something that unites us, all Filipinos from around the world. Using texts from three work-in-progress plays, theatre makers Gaven Trinidad and Regina De Vera openly interrogate the lasting effects of imperialism on contemporary Pilipino identity and what it means to be Pilipino/Filipinx today. The filmed vignettes will explore themes of immigration, belonging, citizenship, decolonization, and the continuous search for what unites all people of Pilipino descent. The project was filmed on location in New York City, and was presented in English and Tagalog. Written and directed by Gaven Trinidad. In collaboration with and featuring Regina De Vera; Translation into Tagalog by Regina De Vera. Film Editing by Uno Servida.
The Believers
A and Z are sent on a mission by their cult to preach the teachings of the Enlightened Garden. Before they do so, they are tasked by Father Aman to complete several errands that test their loyalty to the cult. Currently in development.
Peril in Thine Eye
A ballet libretto in response to the violence at Pulse nightclub in June 2016. Using Shakespeares's Romeo and Juliet as a jumping off point, the story examines the resilience of LGBTQIA+ love against cyclical violence in the United States.
Eddie is six-years-old and his nanay ("mother") is determined to make the United States his family's new home after facing life-threatening danger back in the Philippines. Performed by two actors in a transformative space, Eddie and his imaginary friend create their own worlds in which Eddie can face the challenges of growing up in the United States undocumented head-on. A community leader narrates the 90 min play with new narrators at every performance. With imagination, heart, and with some audience participation, the play creates time and space for adults to remember what it is was like to be a child; and the play gives children a voice to be taken seriously by adults in these times of political tumult. Every performance of this play must feature closed captioning and translations (English and Filipino).
- 2021 Bay Area Playwrights Festival Finalist
- Reading, Leviathan Lab & Episcopal Actors' Guild, 2021
Ma'am Lys, or The Plan
Inspired by the real-life community of women in the Dado Village of Mindanao who organized a sex strike against their husbands to bring peace to their
villages, the women of the town's sewing collective have everything they need for their livelihoods except for the ability to bring their goods to the market which is two villages away. The problem is, one of the villages is closed due to historical differences between the male village leaders. Ma’am Lys rallies the women to not have sex with their husbands until they stop the fighting. This adaptation of Aristophanes' Lysistrata hopes to examine the corrosive nature of the gender binary in Filipino cultures, opening possibilities to recognize the multiplicity of womanhood in the Philippines through its diverse community of Muslim, Catholic, queer, cis- and trans women. Together they interrogate and challenge the overwhelming toxic masculinity and machismo that has re-emerged in the politics of Duterte and Trump. Their battles with the men bring both laughter and revelation as they reconnect with the matriarchal and indigenous traditions that existed before the colonization by Europeans. This is a ritual play for all Filipino/a/x/os of the diaspora to try to reconnect with cultures, languages, and spirits that have been hidden by the hundreds of years of colonialism.
- commissioned by The Sống Collective with Filipina actor Regina De Vera
Sa Aming Puso/In Our Hearts - a Theatre Film Hybrid
We are in search of the spirit of our people. Where has it gone? Where does it live? In our bones live the history of our ancestors who fought, resisted, and survived centuries of colonial rule by the Spanish, Japanese, and Americans. Somewhere in the reconstruction of ourselves, it seems that we have forgotten something that unites us, all Filipinos from around the world. Using texts from three work-in-progress plays, theatre makers Gaven Trinidad and Regina De Vera openly interrogate the lasting effects of imperialism on contemporary Pilipino identity and what it means to be Pilipino/Filipinx today. The filmed vignettes will explore themes of immigration, belonging, citizenship, decolonization, and the continuous search for what unites all people of Pilipino descent. The project was filmed on location in New York City, and was presented in English and Tagalog. Written and directed by Gaven Trinidad. In collaboration with and featuring Regina De Vera; Translation into Tagalog by Regina De Vera. Film Editing by Uno Servida.
- Produced and streamed, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and New York Theatre Salon, 2021
The Believers
A and Z are sent on a mission by their cult to preach the teachings of the Enlightened Garden. Before they do so, they are tasked by Father Aman to complete several errands that test their loyalty to the cult. Currently in development.
Peril in Thine Eye
A ballet libretto in response to the violence at Pulse nightclub in June 2016. Using Shakespeares's Romeo and Juliet as a jumping off point, the story examines the resilience of LGBTQIA+ love against cyclical violence in the United States.
- The immersive dance-text piece premiered at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in November 2016. more information
Peril in Thine Eye (2016)
Ten Minute Plays
Recording Session Interview #3
Trevor and Paul meet on what happens to be the evening of Manhattanhenge, when the sun is in perfect alignment with Manhattan's grid layout. While they share tales of their search for home and family during this mystical event, they unknowingly conjure the spirits of queers past to seal their bond as human beings. Based on my interview work with HIV/AIDS activists from the 80s and 90s while as a senior in college in 2012.
Star Showers (an ending to an unwritten full length play)
At the end of a journey, a man finds himself on a mountain top with three clowns and a World War II veteran. As the night draws, they prepare to release stars into the sky and to the beauty of the world. With a little bit of magic, the characters bring the heavenly stars of the Milky Way inside an intimate theatre. Can be performed by several actors or one.
Kinky Choreopoems
Three POC leather queers walk into a bar and share a drink. Relishing in sex positivity and kink, they speak to their sexual desires. The choreopoems explore gender, cruising, intimacy, sexual desire, human contact, race, and physical and emotional liberation in a contemporary leather community.
Trevor and Paul meet on what happens to be the evening of Manhattanhenge, when the sun is in perfect alignment with Manhattan's grid layout. While they share tales of their search for home and family during this mystical event, they unknowingly conjure the spirits of queers past to seal their bond as human beings. Based on my interview work with HIV/AIDS activists from the 80s and 90s while as a senior in college in 2012.
Star Showers (an ending to an unwritten full length play)
At the end of a journey, a man finds himself on a mountain top with three clowns and a World War II veteran. As the night draws, they prepare to release stars into the sky and to the beauty of the world. With a little bit of magic, the characters bring the heavenly stars of the Milky Way inside an intimate theatre. Can be performed by several actors or one.
- First performed, May 2019 @ The Duplex, New York, NY. Featuring HanJie Chow in a solo version of the piece.
Kinky Choreopoems
Three POC leather queers walk into a bar and share a drink. Relishing in sex positivity and kink, they speak to their sexual desires. The choreopoems explore gender, cruising, intimacy, sexual desire, human contact, race, and physical and emotional liberation in a contemporary leather community.
- First performed, October 2019 @ The Eagle NYC (NYC's leather cruise bar), New York, NY. Featuring James A. Pierce III, Jess Orense, and Edgard Toro, produced by National Queer Theatre.