The Great Leap closes today, and it’s difficult for me to describe how much this process has meant to me.
I am mixed race, half Filipino, half white. From day to day, and interaction to interaction, I find myself constantly needing to identify, to reaffirm, in the face of assumptions that other people make of me. I tread the line that some people like to label “ethnically ambiguous,” which means that I am somehow both white passing and not depending on the lighting, the day, the person, or something.
This play is the first time I have worked on a fully realized production of an Asian American narrative. I was in the room with other Asian American artists, with a Filipina American director, telling an Asian American story for the first time in my professional career. Our director Jesca Prudencio taught me so many things about directing and working, but the most important thing that she imparted on me is how boldly and confidently she exists in the world. Her art reflects that in the best possible way, and I could not be more proud of the work that we did.
Happy Closing, folks! I’ll see you at Front Bar after that final post-show discussion.
The cast, crew, and design team of Steppenwolf’s THE GREAT LEAP.