Fil-Am crafts punk rock sci-fi dystopia concert

Golda Sargento (center) is the playwright, songwriter, co-director of and a performer in “Darkheart.” Photo by Paciano Triunfo

SAN FRANCISCO — Filipino American theatergoers who are interested to know if art can survive in a post-apocalyptic world might find out in a new “concert narrative” to be staged at Bindlestiff Studio.

In “Darkheart,” Mary searches for the source of liberation while navigating a dystopic authority-controlled corporate kingdom with “inner-dimensional” entities named Art, Artist and Heart.

According to the show’s makers, their endeavor “pushes the boundaries of the stage to immerse the audience in a world filled with revelry” and “Filipino futurism punk rock sci-fi multiverse.”

At the nexus of this multiverse is Golda Sargento, who wrote the script of the show and its songs, is co-directing it and performing in it.

Michelle Talagrow co-directs. Music will be provided by Chris “Burd” Quines on guitar and bass, Carlie Mari on bass and blair switch drums. Mari will also handle sound design. Puppetry by Aureen Almario and projection design by Joan Osato.

Singer, songwriter, poet

Sargento has been active in the Bay Area since moving from Alaska in the late 1990s.

Primarily a musician, she has performed with bands Golda + the Guns, DeathGlam, and post-punks The Soft Stars as a singer and songwriter. She’s also a poet and does theater.

“My stage work developed through the community of Bindlestiff in the early 2000s with [Fil-Am playwright] Jeannie Barroga‘s ‘Gadgets.’”

Her most recent acting work was in Oliver Saria’s “Inay Dalisay’s World Famous Lechon.” Other credits include “My H8 Letter to the Gr8 American Theatre” and Jessica Hagedorn’s “The Gangster of Love.”

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Sargento has braided her multidisciplinary arts practice into this production. “It is my first full length play and is itself an album,” she says.

“Though a music play, the production is not a musical. Forfeiting the formula of songs which echo plot, the atmosphere, the stakes and the characters of ‘Darkheart’ are all drawn from the world of the music.”

Sargento says she coined the term “concert narrative” to highlight the music’s storytelling and worldbuilding. Creating something new is no easy task. It took Sargento over a decade to complete this show but “I was encouraged to nurture [it] by some of the Bay’s most generous and talented creatives.”

Collaboration, liberation

 Talagrow has been a theater maker for more than two decades and has worked with groups such as The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Central Works, Impact Theatre, Ferocious Lotus, Cutting Ball Theatre, Magic Theatre and Shotgun Players.

“I love supporting new works and the community at Bindlestiff. My initial reactions to the script were basically ‘What the ‘bleep’ is this world?’ and ‘I want to know more!’” After hearing the music, it was immediately a ‘Yes! I want to play!’”

Talagrow says that during rehearsals, she has been working together with Sargento to flesh out how music can take the lead. “It’s different from a musical where the narrative drives the show and song is an extension of the story. In ‘Darkheart,’ it’s the song that drives the script. It’s about a visceral experience than a linear story.”

“But it’s not just Golda and me, it’s really the collaboration with the designers, producers and actors that bring this work to life! My hope is that our process reflects the beautiful way Bindlestiff brings community together.”

Sargento adds, “At the core of ‘Darkheart’ is a liberation story told from the margins of a dystopic diaspora. In writing this, I hope to uplift the survivors of the apocalypses that have already happened, to inspire creatives and to unite all freedom fights.”

“Darkheart” runs May 16 to June 1 at Bindlestiff Studio, 185 6th Street, San Francisco. Walter Ang is the author of Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater. Available at Amazon, Bookshop and other online booksellers.