On April 30 and May 1, PCN held their 5th Annual Pilipino Cultural Night in Skyline’s Main Theatre. The students of the program wrote, produced, directed, staged, advertised, acted, and danced their way into a successful production of their creation: Brownout. Walking into this play I did not know what to expect. PCN is night to celebrate Pilipino culture, which is annually put on by students of the PCN class. Considering that Skyline College does not have a single Performing Arts class available for the semester, I was shocked to find out they were performing a play comprised of seventeen scenes.
The May 1 production was filled with current and former students, friends, family, and also students from other community colleges, state colleges, and universities in the Bay Area. As soon as the lights dimmed the crowd roared, setting the mood of an exciting and fun play.
The play started off with the actors sounding a little faint, but that could be credited to the still cheering crowd.Brownout is a story, based in 1939, of two Filipino American sisters, Reina (Geraldine Veras) and Mila (Karisa Plurad), who inherit their father’s house in the Philippines, along with its mysteries.
Right off the bat the performance of Veras and Plurad was moving. Their emotion felt so real that one couldn’t help but to feel for what was occurring in the play. The emotion that the performers brought out to the audience had a vast range, they brought forth suspense, laughter, and even chills of terror.
Pinsan Junior (Alex Deguzman) was the comic relief of the story, consistently drawing out the most laughs from the crowd.An interesting part of the production was the incorporation of dance. Pilipino culture dancing was highlighted in between specific scenes of the play, which effectively told pieces of the story without the use of words. The dances were very entertaining; they provided a lively change of pace. All of the Pilipino dance outfits were decorative, especially the dresses that the ladies wore in the Jota Moncadeña dance, they were gorgeous.
The performers were great, the dancers were marvelous, and the stage crew, headed by Jazzie De La Cruz, also did superior job. Scene changes were fluid and the stage layout worked well.
What makes this play great is not just a fantastic performance and a sellout crowd, the greatness lies in the fact that Brownout is a play for the students, by the students.
As mentioned before, every aspect of the production was through the efforts of the students. Head Writer Jonathan Tioseco crafted an incredible story that showcased Pilipino culture spanning across multiple generations.
De La Cruz commented that “nothing comes easy when you take a role in PCN.” She believes that the key ingredient to PCN’s success is “everyone’s dedication, passion, and love for one another, and most importantly, love for this production.”
The director, Lloyd Bautista, and the producer, Allan Gargaritano are both students who attend Skyline College.
Bautista summed up his thoughts of PCN by saying “the complete turn out for both shows, seeing everyone’s hard work pay off, feeling that ultimate feeling that no one can take away is beautiful.”
After seeing Brownout my skepticism (of how a group of students who don’t have access to performing arts instructors at their college can pull off a full-fledged play) diminished completely. My only complaint about the play is that they will not be performing this play anymore at Skyline, it is very unfortunate. Brownout is an impressive play that I am happy to have been able to experience.
