 think tech, raising public awareness about technology, energy, diversity, and globalism. This show is center stage. I'm your guest host Tony Pasculli, filling in for Donna Blanchard, who's on the mainland again. Donna Blanchard is the proud managing director of Kumakua Theater, which is right down the block. We're broadcasting live from Pioneer Plaza in the heart of downtown Chinatown. We're going to be talking today with Jeannie Barroga. She is a playwright and author, and she is in particular the author of the new play, Buffalo'd, at Kumakua Theater opening. When is that opening, Jeannie? Thursday, tomorrow. Opening tomorrow. That's exciting. Are you ready? Yes. Okay, great. And this is not the first time you've had this play produced. Is that right? It's been done somewhere else? This is considered the Hawaiian premiere. It was the world premiere in 2012 at San Jose Stage in California. So I understand the play is about buffalo soldiers in the Philippines, and that's really all I know. And you're a history buff. Is that right? Pretend I'm completely ignorant of history, and I don't know what a buffalo soldier is. What would you tell me? I would tell you that the buffalo soldiers were first formed in the Civil War. They were invited to fight for the North against the South for their own freedom, and proved to be such good fighters they went on to fight in the Indian Wars and in the Caribbean and Spanish American War and the Philippines and even a little further to the Boxer Rebellion. So the buffalo soldiers have quite a history since that time. And what makes them buffalo soldiers? Two schools of thought. One is that when they fought in the Indian Wars, there were 38 recorded Indian Wars that they fought in, and the Indians were so impressed with their fighting ability, they named them after their favorite animal, Katanka, which is buffalo. And the other school of thought is their woolly hair resembled the buffalo. So I go with the first. Okay. Great. So how is this production shaping up compared to, I don't want to put you on the spot and make you choose a favorite, but obviously this is going to be a very Kumakoho. It's going to be a very different sort of production than your production on the mainland, I imagine. So what are some of the differences that you've encountered along the way? CAST. But the difference is that it really is a new play. After it closed in 2012, I rewrote it two months later. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. Great. Because then I just figured there are things I could still tweak. And as a writer, if you're going to grow and really look at your own work critically, it's like, okay, if I can fix that, I will. And if I get another production, it'll be ready. So I set myself up that way in the anticipation that I'm going to make it the best possible product I can. Okay. Great. Any other differences? I imagine that Kumu, I don't know this, but I imagine Kumu is a smaller, more intimate than you, than your previous venue. Yeah. Well, actually, it's almost about the same seat. Oh, really? Okay. But San Jose Stage was an equity house. So that's the biggest difference. So now you're working with much more passionate people. Passionate people who are doubling, tripling, quadrupling roles, which are amazing that they can get that much done in the amount of time that they were given. So, yeah. How involved are you as the playwright with the production? Are you kind of hands-on? Does the director allow you into the room? The director, Ribb, has been very, very good about allowing me into the room. But we had been in conversation by telephone for at least a couple months before I came out. And that established the groundwork for our working relationship. So once I came into town, which was earlier in January, I started sitting in on some of the rehearsals and we would have our talks afterwards. And then I'd go away for a couple of days and come back and see what else had been done and comment on that. And as it got closer to opening, which is tomorrow, the amount of involvement just sort of lessened and lessened. And now it's on them there. It'd be wonderful to see what they'll show me and everybody on opening night tomorrow. Any surprises for you in this production? Surprises. Anything just like, oh, that's an interpretation that hadn't occurred to me before. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I kind of hesitate to tell them about it because it's so wonderful. It's a monologue. No spoilers. It's a monologue that turned into something very, very creative and theatrical. It was a whole different view of how to even handle that compared to San Jose Stages Urgent. So I really was pleased with it, yeah. That's one of the things I love about live theater is that it's, you know, it's unique and it's ephemeral. You can't really see the same play twice. Even if you in the same play, right? Same play. Well, you said even the play script is different. Yeah. But just coming to it with a new cast and a new director and a new venue just changes everything. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And coming into town and also having a different script. So by the time it shows tomorrow, I would say it's another, maybe another 5% change since they first got the script. How long have you been in town to support the production? I arrived January 5th. Is this your first trip to Hawaii? Oh, excuse me. I lost my thing. Is this your first trip to Hawaii? No, I've been here about a dozen times. Oh, great. Okay. So is there something about this play that you think is particularly relevant to Hawaii? I think in general, it's a viewpoint of where the US really became an imperialist country and how that affected not only the Philippines, but pretty much all the islands across the Pacific, between the US and China. And that to me really was a point I wanted to make a bigger emphasis over with this production, because the takeover preceded the Philippines at least by six years. So there was already that school of thought about, you know, they're coming this way and they're starting to take over this and own that and beware of it. And it kind of gave a heads up to the American public, too, about what are you doing? This is not even a little over 30 years since the Civil War. Why can't you take care of things at home? And why do we need to go over there and take over countries and essentially use people who we have no connection with or we don't know about and yet we're trying to change their culture. So across the board, yeah, anything that was along that path, any island, any territory, but particularly Hawaii. And I did adapt that in my PowerPoint presentation that I was giving at the local colleges, Windward, Leeward, UH Manoa. So I wanted to make sure that that was something the local audiences would be able to identify with. That's great. And so and then just to be clear, that's that is supporting material that you did for the colleges. That's sort of a lecture. That's the history. That's the background. But the play itself is is not a history lesson. It's a dramatization. It's still a very human story. Very theatrical. And there's the Screma arts, martial arts that the actors had to learn and also be able to morph it really into dances because that's what happened in that war they were not allowed to congregate. So they would have their their meetings and their dances and disguise the moves. So yeah, I just really think it was something that would add to the theatricality of it. There is an original song by the playwright. There's other songs of the period. So I see it as a full theatrical experience. Great. I had another question for you and it slipped my mind when we were talking about that. So what? Oh, this is it. What was it that brought this play to Kuma? Was that you? Was that Kuma? Did you submit it as part of the playwriting contest or something else? Or when it was in production in San Jose, I really thought, you know what, this would be nice to see the theaters that I'd worked with before it would be interesting. Again, I always resummit to the theaters I've worked with before and Kuma Kuma. You did a talk story at Komu in 1995. That's a while ago. Yeah. So I had been in touch with Harry. And I was kind of sending him draft after draft after draft till fine. I said, this is it. This is the one I would really be nice to be able to even have a reading of, you know, just kind of get my foot in the door again. And in summer of 2016, he finally contacted me and he said, we're just didn't do it. And I was like, yes. And then and so you brought this play to Kuma, but I'm sure because you're connected with what is it, the Asian Asian American theater company that's in San Francisco? That's in San Francisco. Yeah. So you must have done other other plays that the tie into the Hawaii experience in some way, the Asian community in some way. Why why this play at this time? Why this play at this time? At the time when I was influenced and inspired to write it, we were in a state of being aware of the Gulf Gulf War soldiers having a very, very, very hard time over there. They don't talk about the desertion rates really, but it was something that was becoming more and more of an issue. And so when I came across a story about the Buffalo soldiers, I figured, okay, there's something that probably could connect people today, modern audiences with what already had happened back then. It's the repeat of history that shouldn't have to happen. That's that's kind of one of the issues I was making a point about. So yeah, it's always my plays are always meant to to connect something going on currently. And without hitting people over the head, it's just like, look at this story, you know, re look at history as you've been taught or not taught and just just be aware that there are other ways of thinking about that parallel residences. Sure. Okay. Do you so you've done you've written a lot of plays, 60 plays, according to your that I tell people about it's really more than that. But I want to have some some trunk plays. I'm sure trunk plays a lot of trunk plays. So are there are there themes in your plays you keep coming back to? Yeah, pretty much. Identity was a large one for a long time. Connection, which is I see as Buffalo's main theme, really. And again, it's because of all the disparate cultures and peoples that are in America today. I write about an American landscape. I want to see on stage, the friends and the people I see on the street that I rub shoulders with. So it needs for me to be that specific, let's say. So even though people say, Oh, you write just Filipino plays, not necessarily. I really write to show that there are Filipinos in this fabric that we call the American society. Yeah, and then there's others. The people you meet on the street is going to depend on what street you live on, for sure. So definitely something I experienced moving to Hawaii. Speaking of, Cece, you've been out here for how long? A couple weeks? I don't know. It's almost about three weeks. Three weeks? Okay. I've had a chance to do anything fun in the islands besides you've been changed at the theater all the whole time. Yes. You're out here with your your husband, Sony, who is who is watching the show right now. He arrived a couple days ago. So I had time to kind of just bop around the island and find some little snorkeling areas. And I got in touch with an old friend of mine, who is the daughter of a band member who was in my dad's band. So I wanted to connect that way as well, just because the history of my own family is something very new for me. In the last year, I finally found a lot of things on ancestry. And I direct the PowerPoint lecture about two other people who may have that same type of dilemma. Like, where did I come from? How did I end up here? You know, just to say, we're going to take a break. Second, we will be back after about a minute break with Jeannie Baroga. Playwrights her play Buffalo is opening at Kumakahu. Aloha, I'm Kauai Lucas, host of Hawaii is my mainland here on think to Hawaii every Friday at 3pm. We address issues and importance for those of us who live here on the most isolated landmass on the planet. Please come join me Fridays at 3pm. Mahalo. Aloha and how only Maka Hiki Ho, which is happy new year and I hope it's a happy and prosperous new year for you. I'm kidding Akina with the grassroots Institute. Every week we partner with think to Hawaii and produce a program called a Hanukako. Let's work together. We bring together movers and shakers who are making a difference here in Hawaii, making a better Hawaii for everyone. If you're interested in improving the economy, the government and society, join us every week on Mondays at 2 o'clock PM for a Hanukako on the think tech Hawaii broadcast network. Until you see me then. Aloha. Welcome back to think tech Hawaii. This is center stage. This is again Tony Piscoli guest hosting for Donna Blanchard, who's still in the mainland, and we are talking to Jeannie Baroga playwright, author, director, actor, backstage helper in theater. You wear all the hats. What are what are some of the more unusual hats you have worn in the more unusual? Hmm, let's see. That's hard to say. They're probably early in the career when I was thrown into the booth to work not only the sound and the music cues and what was the other one? It was it was it was like three different things at once. And of course, I had contracted to just do sound and while you're up there in that small booth, instead of us getting another person in there, but that's not as unusual really. No, no, that's that's not unusual at all. It happens all the time. Right, right. Probably the one thing was when I was the associate artistic director of Asian American Theater, and actors came in from all over for Philip Katanda's play. And they said, Well, would you would you drive them around? All right. Well, okay, these are Asian American actors that had very specific needs, let's say, and they wanted to go to a very specific restaurant. And so we're driving around or driving around. And I'm thinking, like, we got to get back to the theater. This is just a break. No, no, you have to eat this place. It's really, really wonderful. So that was kind of unusual there. But also being called upon to drive around a very, very well known actually, Hollywood, who they had her up in a bed and breakfast, which was really nice, except she didn't know anybody to for the very, very short weekend run. And so they said, Would you take her around? And I said, I have a truck, you know, I'm in theater, you know, I said, she doesn't mind being a truck. Fine, you know. So I took her around to Chinatown in San Francisco. And boom, everyone recognized her. So I'm thinking, Oh, good, she gets to see people, they get to see her in town like that. So it was really, it was unusual because because I knew it was important for her to be seen, you know, and she was so appreciative after that, because she knew that she wasn't going to be able to make her own way around. And in the short time, she was there. Oh, that's nice. It's always great to have a host. I mean, yeah, just really introduces you, not just shows you the places, but connects you to the people in the place. That's a wonderful thing. So yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, and that just taught me a lot too about about sometimes when you think someone is big, there's a humility that they know that is part of that persona as well in order to have a fan base that will love them really, you know, so she was very gracious. I just, I was, it was lovely to spend time with her. We were talking before the show about how when you when you get involved in theater, you end up doing basically all the jobs. And then you settle you're mostly a player right now. Is that your favorite job? Or is that the one where you just felt like you just bring the most to bear? Well, that's the one I put on my tax return. So yeah, it's the one that brings in the majority of the money. So I'm saying is that the one you enjoy the most? Oh, yeah. Okay, that's great. That's always nice. I mean, it's helpful to get the income coming in. But you also love it. Yeah. So I mean, because of course, there were times early on where I didn't get that that kind of income. This is like all love and to the point where you're holding down four other jobs, you're paying to be in theater. And and it's it over time, it changes. And it's so so gradual, you don't really notice it because you still love it. Yeah. So you're also a director. How is that? How is that different from play writing? Oh, way, way different. It's different hats. I keep calling it different hats. When I would talk to my cast about the play that I wrote. And they'll say, you know, I don't quite get this point blah, blah, blah, blah. I said, let me run that by the playwright and I'll get back to you. So I just have to be very, very specific when I'm the director and when I'm the playwright, you know, so you have directed your own work? Yes. Okay. But I have directed other people's work to which is it's easier because then you you do have that distance to look at their their work and be the geometric for that as well as the director. It's easier. I guess it is easier to direct other people's work. But then on the other hand, how do you feel you're comfortable at this point, you must be you have to be you're comfortable having other people direct your work. There's a there's always that that sort of risk you take when you hand this is your baby and you hand to someone else and you say, here, please be gentle with this. And they just go, I have an idea for this. I see it as a as a Busby Berkeley musical. Like, no, no, it's not. Yeah, is that every horror story along those lines? That's pretty drastic. I think the probably one of the worst case scenarios was where I really did have to say no, this is probably not the play for you, you know, and I just pulled it. And that's a big chance because, of course, especially if money has already been exchanged. And it's like, I'll give you your money back, you just, I don't think you're going to do justice to the play. Okay, you know, but that's very rare. You know, when you work with a director, like I'm working with Reb right now, and he says, I have ideas. I said, okay, run it by me. And you can still tell you're in sync, because the ideas, the presentation is going to change no matter what happens. But as long as it doesn't change the story and and and the lines, you know, but particularly the thrust of what the plays intent is, what the scenes intent is. To me, I'm probably a lot more flexible than some people because having gone through that route, I know when it works, you know, by a description, it's like, that sounds good. Let's try it. But if it doesn't, you know, we just say, you know, well, it's really gratifying to hear that you and Reb had been in so much contact beforehand. He's really open to, you know, having you in the room and working with you and a lot of directors are not like that. They really just want to, you know, it's like, Hey, your line, your job, your job is right. And I don't know. I mean, that's not to me the meaning of collaboration. And that's not the meaning of theater, because here I am in my little room alone and I'm typing and I know it so well, we give it to people. And there are things that are going to be explained. But as a playwright, it's like, if I have to explain that much, it's in the writing. That's something I have to change, you know. So that that's the difference to me. If if there's something we collaborate on, and we come to that same point, it's like, OK, good, we're on the same page, but we're just not working on a writer's level. It means I have to go back to the table, you know. And playwriting is sort of, as you were saying before, it's kind of a more fluid art form than some. I mean, I have friends who are novelists and you put a novel out there and that's it. You don't get a second second bite of the apple, you know, what you printed is what's there forever. And you you've mentioned that you got you immediately went back to Buffalo. Oh, I've lost my earpiece again. You immediately went back to Buffalo and and made changes. And is it something that you do often do? Or is this a special special play for you? Pretty much. Yeah, no, I don't think there was a play that's ever been produced the first time that I didn't touch again. Probably one. And that was a one act, but that was because I just worked. It worked. It worked until I finally got to the point where that's it. That's it. That's the one I want. But I still look at some older plays and I could tweak that. But it's not that important to like have a workshop about it. It's just like when it goes into production. I talked to the director. I said, can you look at this one area for me or just see how it works in your first reading? And that's that's enough feedback right there. Do you ever find yourself in the rehearsal process changing the play? Like this one? I'm not. No, I'm suggesting this one. No, no, no, no, but because I have. Oh, did you? Oh yeah. Okay. Wow. Yeah. So tell us about that. Well, okay. There were places in there that again, because it was a new script, I hadn't seen before. And seen the actors work a scene. Maybe there were too many words. I was like, okay, let's just see if we can we can infer that with the action instead. Because maybe the action is going to be stronger than these wordy, wordy, wordy words. And so we we did changes along that that line. The monologue I was telling you about before. That was another case in point. Talking it over about what what what is the final moment in at the end of the play? What do you want to really leave the audience with? And so that took that took a bit of talking through because it's like, well, we could do this, we could do that. And because I have it in my script already, it's like I already know I've got to change it because something already is going on that's better. So again, this this is after years and years of having dealt with many directors and and and learning when that that collaboration is just going to blossom or it's just going to, you know, lay flat. And this didn't happen here. You know, that's great. So yeah, that's another challenging thing about about play writing is that you like as you say sometimes you find that the action is so clear. The actors are so expressive that you can you can get by with less language and you can cut it away. You can strip it away in the rehearsal process. But unless that language is there in the first place, the actors, the director, may not necessarily know what the intention was to be able to play it. So as someone who goes back and forth between playwriting and directing, do you have a strategy for coping with that? Pretty much on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes it could be it could be the acting, you know. Being the writer, I'm always willing to believe that if I can fix it first, you know, there's only only a latitude that an actor or a person creating something can go because it's so concise. It's like, okay, I get it. I know what the point is, you know, and that means my writing worked. So that's why I test myself. You know, it's like if any actor can can read the scene and it still plays, I've done my job, you know, because that's what's going to happen. It's going to be in the mouths of very, very many different types of actors at different experience levels. And you've got to be as clear as you are as a writer to make sure that it will play no matter what. That's great. And then you said you're also an actor, so you have some experience with that too. You know what it is to take a script and find a way to make it work for yourself and deliver that language. So is that something you find valuable? I mean, having those different hats, is that being a director and an actor, does that assist you in writing plays? Yes and no. Okay, I was in a play two years ago and it turned out that playwright was one of my playwriting students. And she liked how I read as we were developing her play. She said, would you audition for this role? And I went, oh, no, I can do that. And so I finally went out for auditions and the director called me and he says, we want to offer you this role. And I went, okay, this will help her, I'm sure, you know. But being in the process, it's not even a but. When we're in the process, I could see already that the changes I had suggested to her while we're developing it, still hadn't been touched. And I said, this is the place and the time to kind of re-look at that. And at one point she was just really adamant, no, no, you have to be on stage for this. And I said, but it's not her moment. It's not that actor's. It's not that character's moment, you know. And as it turned out, right up until the very end it was, okay, yeah, yeah, we'll have to rethink that. But for now, let's just keep it. So it's that kind of concession that I kind of always have to kick myself. It's like, I shouldn't say anything. I'm an actor, you know. But they're asking me, if you ask me, I will tell you. If you ask me, I will tell you. And then she's a student too. I mean, sometimes you have to learn this stuff the hard way by trying it and getting it wrong and figuring out. Yeah. Well, she was a very, she's actually a very, very good writer. She's been around and published as a poet. But this was her first play. So that was something that was, that came into play too, because I knew she loved that story. And it worked for the most part. But it was just again, theatrically, whose moment is it when you're having these characters represent something. Right. So again, your play, Buffaloed, opens tomorrow night at Kumakahua Theatre. And you're excited about that. Yes. And this has been Jeanie Baroga. I'm Tony Pisculli, filling in for Donna Blanchard on center stage, Think Tech, Hawaii. Thank you so much.