“The old world is dying, but a new world is being born.” – Carlos Bulosan
For 38 years and counting, Carlos Bulosan Theatre (CBT) has helped tell Filipino-Canadian stories for several generations. Now more than ever the world needs theatre and art with purpose and heart, with depth, intelligence and soul.
What is this new world’s, this new generation’s story? What is your story? Since 1982, Carlos Bulosan Theatre continues to work hard to help Filipino-Canadians realize their potential as artists and storytellers. We also strive to build an audience, a community to help support these artists and stories that are (y)our artists and stories.
This is CBT’s invitation, challenge, call to action to you as artists and as members of our community. Believe in the power of courage, generosity of spirit, talent/creativity/art and action to change the world. Join us mga kapatid!
NEVER FORGET: PEOPLE POWER REVISITED
HAVE FAITH
SUMMER 2022 – Things continue to move forward as it relates to the opening up from pandemic related lockdowns and we couldn’t be happier here at Carlos Bulosan Theatre. Please continue to believe and support our theatre company and hopefully we’ll manage to get through this. We’ve continued play development efforts with the Disconnect(ed) Collective, restarted the CBT Anthology initiative and re-opened our offices in the spring for the use of our artists. For the time being it will have to be solo sessions or with groups of less than 5 . Contact us on Facebook or Instagram to book office time if you’d like a quiet place to write or do basic design and video editing on our computer. Have faith friends! We’re still here and we look forward to representing and supporting the community for many more years to come!
KUMUSTAHAN 2020
KUMUSTAHAN 2020 – a series of 7 videos commissioned by Carlos Bulosan Theatre that feature very personal experiences and reflections of Filipinx-Canadian artists in our community during these very strange and challenging times.
In Tagalog, ‘kumustahan’ means to say hello to someone; to send regards; inquiring about the condition of something, or the health of someone. CBT checked-in with artists from across the country, inviting them to create original works that spoke to issues that mattered to them in the midst of this pandemic, and these were their thoughtful, heartfelt responses:
Visit the Kumustahan 2020 site now.
Featuring videos by: Marie Barlizo, Davey Calderon, Daniella Dela Pena, Marissa & Christina Orjalo, Luisito Queano, Adriano Sobretodo Jr., and Bryan Sandberg.
WHO IS CARLOS BULOSAN?
Carlos Bulosan was a young immigrant in the United States in the 1930s. He spoke little English and worked as a dishwasher, farm worker and cannery worker. He came to America during a time when African-Americans and Asians faced systemic racism enshrined in such laws as the Anti-Miscegeny Act which barred marriage between white people and people of colour. In spite of these oppressive conditions, he educated himself and became a writer. He chronicled his life and time in the autobiographical novel, America is in the Heart. Carlos Bulosan helped organize unions and fought for equality in a racist society until his death in 1956. It is in this spirit that we name our theatre company after him.
Past Projects:
CARLOS BULOSAN THEATRE BRINGING BACK ‘TALES FROM THE FLIPSIDE’ IN 2020!
Tales from the Flipside is a festival featuring new Filipinx plays first produced and created by Carlos Bulosan Theatre in 2002 and presented for many years in different incarnations throughout the company’s history. In February 2020, CBT is proud to bring back this tradition in collaboration with Theatre Amihan and Theatre Passe Muraille.
Five to six plays/performance pieces by Filipinx artists across Canada will be chosen. Playwrights/creators will be paired with an artistic team comprised of a seasoned director, and emerging actors. Each performance excerpt will receive two to three rehearsals. Local producers, theatre artists, and members of the Filipinx community are invited to engage with the play readings at the festival and meet the artists.
CALLING ALL ARTISTS: We’re excited to invite the next generation of playwrights/creators and performers to be a part of this exciting project!
PLAYWRIGHT/CREATOR SUBMISSION DETAILS
Submissions are open to all playwrights living in Canada, who are Filipinx, or are engaging with narratives that centre the Filipinx identity, or feature Filipinx characters. We also wish to invite creators of mixed Filipinx origins, creators who are queer, and creators who are trans/non-binary to submit!
Plays/performances can be of any length, feature 1-6 characters, original or an adaptation, and can be in different performance forms such as a musical, dance piece, drag piece, performance art, etc. The piece must be unpublished, and not previously produced in Toronto. Only one submission is allowed per playwright/creator.
Unfortunately, due to budget constraints, we cannot offer travel and accommodations at this time for creators out of town, but we can offer archival of the performance.
2020 Festival Dates
February 13th-15th, 2020 – with two plays/performances being featured each night, for three nights. Each piece will be presented once.
What Creators Need to Submit
- a CV/Resume
- a script in PDF form if you are submitting a play
- or a video sample if you are submitting a visual performance form
- a short letter describing your relationship to the Filipinx community, and why Tales from the Flipside might be a great fit for your work
Please email your submissions at cbt.flipside@gmail.com
DEADLINE: November 15th, 2019
What Tales from the Flipside can offer
- an honorarium
- a staged reading of an excerpt of your play/creation
- feedback from the Filipinx community of audiences
- an archival video of the reading sent to the creators
- a warm community of Filipinx artists and creators!
Acknowledgement
Tales from the Flipside is produced by people of the Filipinx diaspora, who have settled in the city of Toronto, originally known as Tkaronto, or the place where the trees meet the water. We would like to acknowledge the original caretakers of the land: the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Wendat, the Mississaugas of the Credit, and many other peoples and nations remembered or forgotten.
ACTORS SUBMISSION DETAILS
We are looking to cast five to six plays/performance pieces that will be chosen for Tales from the Flipside – a new works festival featuring creations by Filipinx artists across Canada, based in Toronto. Playwrights/creators will be paired with an artistic team comprised of a seasoned director, and emerging actors. Each performance excerpt will receive two to three rehearsals. Local producers, theatre artists, and members of the Filipinx community are invited to engage with the play readings at the festival and meet the artists.
Submissions are open to actors living in the Greater Toronto Area, who are Filipinx, Non-Union, and are looking to engage with narratives that centre the Filipinx identity. We also wish to invite actors of mixed Filipinx origins, actors who are queer, and actors who are trans/non-binary to submit!
2020 Festival Dates
February 13th-15th, 2020 – with two plays/performances being featured each night, for three nights. Each play will be read once.
What Actors Need to Submit
- a CV/Resume
- a headshot
- a short letter describing your relationship to the Filipinx community, and why Tales from the Flipside might be a great fit for you.
Please email your submissions at cbt.flipside@gmail.com
DEADLINE: November 30th, 2019
What Tales from the Flipside can offer
- an honorarium
- an opportunity to engage with new works and emerging creators
- a warm community of Filipinx artists and creators!
Acknowledgement
Tales from the Flipside is produced by people of the Filipinx diaspora, who have settled in the city of Toronto, originally known as Tkaronto, or the place where the trees meet the water. We would like to acknowledge the original caretakers of the land: the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, the Wendat, the Mississaugas of the Credit, and many other peoples and nations remembered or forgotten.
Press:
CARLOS BULOSAN THEATRE RAISING FUNDS FOR 35th ANNIVERSARY BOOK
By Walter Ang, Inquirer.Net
December 7, 2017. TORONTO — Carlos Bulosan Theatre (CBT) has launched a fundraising campaign for its forthcoming book A New World Being Born: 35 Years of Carlos Bulosan Theatre at Gofundme.com/cbtanthology.
“The anthology is being created by CBT, its artists and alumni to document Filipino Canadian theater,” said artistic director Leon Aureus.
The book will include plays written by CBT’s current and past artists and were developed or staged by the company. It is scheduled for publication and launch to the public in late 2018 or early 2019.
“Within these pages are our aspirations and dreams, meaningful and authentic stories, sometimes a reflection of the worst of us, but more often a shining inspiration, a commemoration of the best of us, who we are and who we can be, as individuals and as a community,” Aureus stated.
“Be a part of preserving our artistic history and help us say ‘We are here’ to help the next generation of Filipino Canadian artists and storytellers orient themselves in their journeys,” he added.
CBT kicked off its fundraising campaign at the Tarragon Theatre Workspace with an exhibition of past production posters, photographs and props celebrating over three decades of original works.
Guests were also presented with a showcase of an all-Filipino Canadian ensemble of actors reading excerpts from past CBT plays and productions, including “If My Mother Could See Me Now,” “People Power,” “In the Shadow of Elephants,” and others.
To read the full article visit: https://usa.inquirer.net/8562/carlos-bulosan-theatre-raising-funds-35th-anniversary-book#ixzz5YJQhGqwj
Scenes from Past Productions
Past Production: ANAK
“You’re always busy, that’s why you have to make time.”
In March 2017, Carlos Bulosan Theatre proudly presented the world premiere of their newest play, written and performed by the CBT Collective at St. Paul’s United Church in Scarborough. ANAK was a touching drama about a Filipino-Canadian family’s struggle to stay together in the face of unexpected challenges that uncover deep seated resentment and tensions. ANAK is a story about family — their hopes and dreams, their secrets and lies, and their struggle to stay together.
WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY THE CBT COLLECTIVE Ann Paula Bautista, Belinda Corpuz, Isabel Kanaan, Richard Mojica, Alia Rasul, Anthony Raymond Yu WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY Ray Jacildo & Ulysses Valiente
DIRECTED & DRAMATURGED BY Leon B. Aureus
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR/DRAMATURGE Ash Knight SET & PROPS DESIGN Jackie Chau LIGHTING DESIGN John Cabanela SOUND DESIGN Belinda Corpuz COSTUMES Richard Mojica PROJECTION DESIGN Kevin Feliciano STAGE MANAGER Maricris Rivera
PLEASE SUPPORT CARLOS BULOSAN THEATRE
- ENGAGE: Like Carlos Bulosan Theatre’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter (@CBTheatre) and Instagram (@carlosbulosantheatre). Come out to our events and invite your friends and family.
- VOLUNTEER: Offer your help on upcoming CBT projects and committees. You don’t have to be an artist to support the arts, we could use help in the office, with promotion, graphic design, fundraising, on our board. Sign-up on our mailing list.
- JOIN: If you’re a Filipino-Canadian artist interested in being part of CBT’s future projects, e-mail us your info and get on our artist database.
- DONATE: Every little bit helps. We can offer you charitable tax receipts and our taos-pusong pasasalamat.
The Filipino-Canadian community is one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic communities in Canada. CBT believes it’s vitally important to nurture the artists, the stories, and the audiences in our community for a truly meaningful and vibrant presence in Canada and the Philippines. But we can’t do this without you. Please support your voices, your stories – your theatre company.
Past Production: KALDERO
In 2016, CBT developed and presented KALDERO, a theatre production for young audiences for Asian Heritage Month. We enthusiastically invested our time and resources to create a fun, fast moving show that explores the richness of Filipino culture through music, dance, shadow play, and performance and is relatable and accessible to everyone!
Our young heroine, Cassandra Agbayani must travel via a magical kaldero (cooking pot), to the magical realm of Mahiwaga to save her brother Caleb, who is a captive of the mischievous King Kapre and his duwende minions. Through the young characters interaction with each other, their quirky old Lola, and even the audience, KALDERO celebrates culture and family, and encourages youth to honour their roots and to find their inner strength.
The show successfully toured various elementary schools in the GTA in the Spring of 2016 and 2017, engaging and delighting Filipino and non-Filipino Canadians alike. We didn’t actively pursue any performances in 2018 in order to focus on other projects, however, we’d be very happy to bring this show back to the stage (or gym floor)!
Contact us if you’d like to know more about the show and how to bring it to your school/organization!
Carlos Bulosan Theatre gratefully acknowledges the invaluable support of its programs and productions
by the Ontario Charitable Gaming Association (OCGA) via Dolphin Gaming.
Carlos Bulosan Theatre, 95 Danforth Avenue, Suite 202, Toronto Ontario M4K 1N2 Email: info@carlosbulosan.com