Fil-Canadian theatre director pushes for diversity in theatre community | TFC News British Columbia
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Award-winning theater director Nina Lee Aquino is no stranger to fighting for a more diverse and inclusive theater community.
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That is why, as the first Filipino-Canadian to hold the post of English Theater Artistic Director at the National Arts Center,
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Aquino led efforts to recognize the artistry of Filipinos.
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It was through her direction and support that the NAC Theater staged a limited run of Prison Dancer, the musical,
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based on the viral thriller dance of inmates in Cebu province in the Philippines.
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And it was also under her leadership that Vancouver-based Filipino-Canadian performance artist Ralph Escamilan was honored with the first RBC Emerging Artist Award.
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The chance to be in service of other Filipino-Canadian artists through theater, for example,
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and making sure that our writers are seen, making sure that Filipino actors are on our stages,
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Doing all kinds of roles and not just Filipino-Canadian roles, like it's really important.
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So, and I hope that, you know, by doing something like Prison Dancer at the NAC, it starts just spreading, right?
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For this month's celebration of Asian Heritage Month,
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Aquino has chosen to display the work of another Phil-Canadian on the next giant Kipnis Lantern to represent and celebrate Asian artists and audiences.
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One thing, though, that we're really proud of is for this month, you know,
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our lantern, our Kipnis Lantern that's outside of the NAC, which to me is probably one of the brightest, biggest digital canvases in the country,
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you know, is featuring kind of a Filipino-Canadian artist, Christine Mangusing, and her artwork called Sama-Sama-Sala-Sala.
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Manila-born graphic artist Christine Mangusing's Sama-Sama-Sala-Sala is a living tapestry that pays tribute to,
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indigenous weaving and tattoo traditions from the central and northern regions of Luzon and Panay Island.
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Aquino says Mangusing is not only a brilliant graphics artist, but also a talented writer and theater performer.
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I'm new here, you know, so we thought, you know, why not, like, match, you know, the overarching themes so far of the season.
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And so, you know, when I was looking through kind of Filipino-Canadian artists that can do this kind of scale and size,
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of the work, I just thought of Christine right away.
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And she has had other organizations commission her to do beautiful murals on other buildings as well.
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So she has also the experience for sure.
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At a recent event for Asian Heritage Month in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, joined by 40 other Liberal MPs,
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honored the resilience and contributions of Filipino-Canadians and reaffirmed his commitment to tackling anti-Asian racism.
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For her part, Aquino believes the theater can be an enriching vehicle that can foster greater empathy and understanding among different cultures.
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As soon as the lights go down and everybody takes that deep breath when the story begins, right?
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So already we are one.
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And messages, powerful messages can be communicated through storytelling.
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That's how we relate to one another, is through stories.
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So the values that, you know, the Prime Minister,
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the search outs of, you know, inclusion and diversity and kindness and understanding,
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like all of those are connected, you know, to me, the best way to receive them is through storytelling.
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Aquino, who has been a theater artist for more than two decades,
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says she's just warming up and promises to bring more Filipino voices on the next stage in the future.
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Rowena Papasin, ABS-CBN News, Vancouver.
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Thank you for watching!
