Ruby Slippers Theatre premieres Abi Padilla's Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla., February 6 to 16
Heartwarming, hilarious play is presented in association with the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Presentation House Theatre, and Blackout Art Society
Abi Padilla in Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. Photo by Emily Cooper
Ruby Slippers Theatre presents the world premiere of Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. by Abi Padilla in association with the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Presentation House Theatre, and Blackout Art Society from February 6 to 8 and 13 to 16.
Audiences are invited to witness this hilarious and heartwarming tale that is not a traumatizing story about war crimes, dementia, or getting old. On the contrary, Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. is a sprint down memory lane of a butt-kickin’, bar-spittin’, tough grandma who escapes the care home to be with her family.
When beloved Filipino grandma Lola Basyang goes missing, it’s up to her grandchildren Nika and Jun-jun to bring her back to safety. Using their Lola’s unfinished memoir, the two find clues that lead to her whereabouts, simultaneously uncovering details about her full-of-beans origin story and the historical turmoil of their motherland. Reminiscing on their immigration stories, Nika and Jun-jun reflect on what it means to maintain family ties in a Western society.
Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. started as a 15-minute solo show created by Padilla while she was a Studio 58 acting-program student at Langara College. It has since evolved into a full-length play directed by Leslie Dos Remedios, with historical elements inspired by both of Padilla’s grandmothers, who were children during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in the 1940s.
Audiences will get to experience the comfort of everyday laughter and the thrill of juicy gossip in Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla., along with such elements as fun fight choreography, rap songs, and culture-infused dark humour. Padilla herself will star in the production alongside cast members Yorlene Bernido, Evelyn Chew, Kevin Nguyen, Vince Sendrijas, Raugi Yu, and Terrence Zhou.
Performances will take place at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby from February 6 to 8 at 7:30 pm and on February 8 at 2 pm, and at Presentation House Theatre in North Vancouver from February 13 to 15 at 7:30 pm and on February 15 & 16 matinees at 2 pm.
Tickets can be purchased through the Shadbolt Centre and Presentation House Theatre. More information is available at Ruby Slippers Theatre.
Post sponsored by Ruby Slippers Theatre.
Related Articles
At The Cultch’s York Theatre, wonderfully weird characterizations meet gravity-defying feats in a raucously unpretentious banger that has “hit” written all over it
Whether you’re looking for a quick drink and snack, conversation, reflection, or people-watching, these airy meeting places hit their marks
Playwright Kate Besworth and director Ming Hudson team up for a contemporary adaptation of the classical Sophocles tragedy
Cheeky, DIY theatre event aimed to throw light on the stage scene’s unsung heroes—and ended up selling out
The veteran theatre artist grappled with big questions of good and evil, and took inspiration from genre films, for his visually stylized new adaptation
Elevated visual design and a strong, multitasking cast bring ample Newfoundland warmth to new Arts Club Theatre Company and Citadel Theatre coproduction
Ashley Wright has helmed it himself, but in Bard on the Beach’s new production, he plays Shakespeare’s dissolute knight under the capable direction of Rebecca Northan
London’s Three Legged Race Productions folds in influences from contemporary circus to cabaret in a raucously funny show that celebrates a ’90s-style birthday at The York Theatre
Boca del Lupo and ArtstageSAN’s show at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival is more of an immersive experience than a plot-driven play
Megan Milton’s Free Kittens and William Rubel’s Robin Redbreast in a Cage converge on close human relationships in an age of reality TV and AI
The Arts Club teams up with Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre for new local production of the international smash-hit musical
Two senior artists play young Newfoundland couple in Western Gold Theatre’s gentle staging
Stephen Drover directs his own haunting adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, laced with tyranny and moral corruption
Boca del Lupo returns to the outdoor stage in partnership with Korean puppet masters for five-metre-tall spectacle
Event’s top works from across the country and the globe leap between juggling, circus, art installation, concert, and more
Laugh-out-loud, music-filled production sets Shakespeare’s play in a fictional soccer-obsessed Vancouver suburb
The Vancouver director says there’s something “extraordinarily intimate” about Nobel Prize laureate Peter Handke’s 1966 “anti-play”
Tomatoes Tried to Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life documents the creator’s retirement, cancer diagnosis, and pursuit of a long-deferred passion for music
Sharply funny shows by standup comics Scarlet Chen and Megan Milton get theatrical about themes of immigration and mother-daughter relationships
Veteran actors Craig March and Dolores Drake play the young lovers in David French’s play, set in a Newfoundland outport 100 years ago
Arnaud Hoedt and Jérôme Piron look at linguistic absurdity and educational inequity in their hit shows La Convivialité and Kevin
