Pilipino Cultural Night (PCN) is back for its 35th year at Cal Poly, with the production celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pilipino Cultural Exchange (PCE) in San Luis Obispo.
Playing back-to-back nights on Apr. 26-27 at 7 p.m. at the Clark Center in Arroyo Grande, PCN includes traditional Pilipino dances and themes centered around the Pilipino-American experience. The performance is called ‘Kapwa,’ which is a Pilipino value emphasizing interconnectedness between living things, according to PCN coordinator and biomedical engineering sophomore Kristin Gascon.
“Reconnecting with your culture is like a big theme,” PCN Coordinator and journalism junior Lauren Yoon said. “I hope that people will come away, not completely changed, but thinking more about that more about, ‘Okay, how can I pass my culture down to my kids and to the people around me and just make it more present in my life?’”
This year’s performance takes many other themes, like generational conflict, that have been present in past PCNs. They seek to further develop them through the lens of the experiences that many members of PCE share as descendants of people who immigrated to America, according to Yoon.
“It’s the Pilipino-American experience – not just Pilipino experience – because even that, even though that is important to us, obviously, it would just be wrong to label it as just Pilipino culture,” PCN Coordinator and anthropology, geography and city and regional planning sophomore Naeryl Ronquillo said.
‘Kapwa’ has overarching themes of interpersonal and intergenerational connection, an influence that extends to how the coordinators of this year’s performance have approached the relationship between different generations.
“We just kind of wanted to use PCN as a way to kind of start those kinds of conversations between generations through, you know, the arts,” Ronquillo said.
The main character of the production is Danee, a Pilipino-American teenager played by biology junior Lauren Parcutela. The performance follows Danee along a journey of both self and cultural discovery, according to Ronquillo.
Danee’s character is also non-binary and queer, aspects of the performance this year that are still new to PCN and aimed to start discussions between generations.
“I don’t expect this to cure homophobia, right, but I do hope that it starts a conversation,” Yoon said. “If somebody can relate to what’s going on in the script, then I want them to at least just talk about it with people around them, with their families.”
Like PCE itself, the performance is open and welcoming to people of all backgrounds, with multiple pages in the program dedicated to Tagalog translations for all audience members who don’t speak the language, according to Gascon.
“You don’t necessarily have to be Pilipino sitting in the audience watching the show, you can still resonate and connect with different themes of our script,” Gascon said.
In addition to the story aspects of ‘Kapwa’, the production will include Kasayahan’s traditional Pilipino dance suites, modern dances from PCE Modern and choral performances from Ating Himig, PCE’s non-audition choir. All have been produced and prepared throughout the course of the year.
One student working both behind the scenes and on stage is communications sophomore Ryan Quisol. As a tech coordinator for PCN, Quisol worked with the set and props for the performance.
“We actually had to map out with cardboard how we’re going to build the sets, how it’s going to look, where we’re going to place it,” Quisol said. “There’s a lot more than people think, so that’s just been like really fun to kind of just be behind the scenes.”
Quisol also choreographed a modern dance for one of the performance’s 30 scenes.
“Hours and hours and hours of putting in work and me going to the REC until like, literally until it closed: midnight. Finally, it all paid off and I had choreo that I was really, really proud of,” Quisol said.
All of PCE’s performing groups, as well as the cast themselves, require no prior experience to join. This atmosphere has led to a massive performance with more than 100 people working both in the production and performing throughout the weekend.
“What I like about our show is that we involve different levels of participation, so regardless of if you have a busy schedule or a quarter, you can still be a part of the script, even if it’s just one scene,” Gascon said.
Students have been able to join in on PCN since its origin in the 1970s as a show called Panahon Na, that eventually fully evolved into Pilipino Cultural Night in the late 90s. The event remains one of PCE’s biggest throughout each year, with different aspects on both the performance and production sides of the event for students to get involved with, according to PCE.
Alumni who were a part of PCE, or performed in past PCNs are also able to reconnect with their community during the performance, as the production does something special to honor alumni, according to Yoon.
“Our second night is when all of our alumni come, because in our script, all of our cast names are alumni names,” Yoon said. “They kind of get to see themselves represented in the show.”
For alumni and current members of Pilipino Cultural Exchange, PCN acts as an avenue for students and members of the community to reconnect with their culture, and share their experiences through expressive art, according to PCE.
“No matter what you may or may not be interested in, you’ll always be able to find a place you feel like you belong in and no matter what you’re doing,” Ronquillo said. “You’re always positively contributing to this cultural production.”
Tickets for both performances of ‘Kapwa’ start at 8$ and can be found here or on Clark Center for the Performing Arts website.