Fil-Am playwright responds to gun violence in Chicago

Fil-Am actress Nina Mae Vidal Howard (left) in rehearsals for Lani Montreal’s play, “Panther in the Sky.” CONTRIBUTED

CHICAGO — Filipino American playwright Lani Montreal believes that art and advocacy are tools that can be used to help end gun violence.

Her play, “Panther in the Sky,” was written specifically because of and as a response to troubling statistics on gun-related incidents and deaths in her area.

It will have its world premiere this May from a collaboration between Filipino American theater group Circa Pintig and Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble.

The play is about four mothers dealing with the murders of their teenage sons on the streets of Chicago. The sons meet in the afterlife and grapple with the reality of their abrupt demise, while their mothers cope with grief and struggle to understand it all.

Fil-Am playwright Lani Montreal believes that art and advocacy are tools that can be used to help end gun violence. Image: Lani Montreal/Facebook

Despite the subject matter and premise, Fil-Am actor James Macapagal says, “I love the bits of humor woven into the serious topics of the play. I believe comedy is how we make sense of the world, and tragedy provokes us into action. There are so many great moments in our show where both work together to create meaning and hopefully inspire action. I’m excited to be part of it!”

Compelled

Among Montreal’s plays are “Sister Outlaw,” “Nanay,” “Alien Citizen” and “Looking for Darna.”

Montreal started writing “Panther in the Sky” in 2009. “That year, there were record numbers of 290 shootings and 34 gun-related deaths of public school students in Chicago,” she says.

At the time, Montreal was living in Albany Park. “Though not as frequent as in the south side, we also had shootings there,” Montreal says.

She had started teaching English Composition at Malcolm X College, where students would share, until now, “their experiences of loss and trauma from gun violence.”

“As an educator, a writer and a new foster mother, I felt compelled to respond to the issue by writing a play about it.”

More than a decade later, “The issues are still the same!” she says.

Encouraging change

Even while she was seeking funding to stage the play over the years, Montreal was already doing her part to encourage change by getting the message on gun violence prevention out to the public.

She would arrange to have readings and excerpts of the play performed. One was held at Fil-Am visual artist Cesar Conde’s 2016 exhibit “The Bang Bang Project,” which was his response to police brutality and racism in the criminal justice system.

Circa Pintig executive director Ginger Leopoldo says, “At every reading and performance, the diverse audiences, many of whom have been impacted by gun violence, gave positive feedback and believed the play should be shared with a wider audience.”

For this world premiere, there will be community tables at the theater to allow audiences to write a letter or sign a prefilled postcard about gun violence prevention. The letters and postcards will then be sent to local, state and national politicians.

Fil-Am actress Nina Mae Vidal Howard plays one of the mothers. “I’m so honored to have been given [a voice] to help stir up a call to action. As parents, co-parents and grandparents, we must protect our children. They are all our children. Let’s stand together and take action to help stop and end gun violence. We dedicate this show to all of our friends and family who have lost their loved ones due to gun violence,” she says.

Montreal adds, “There is still a lot of work to be done to get guns off the streets of Chicago, and gun violence is still a big issue, unfortunately. This is why the play is just part of a bigger campaign to end gun violence.”

“I had a student in a previous Circa Pintig workshop who was killed in a drive-by. If you live in Chicago, [gun violence is] something you cannot escape or ignore.”

“Panther in the Sky” runs May 3-18 at Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, 1650 W Foster Ave, Chicago. Visit danztheatre.org. Walter Ang is the author of Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater. Available at Amazon, Bookshop and other online booksellers.