Thursday February 6 2025
Wednesday January 22 2025 at 10:20 | updated at January 30 2025 8:55 Culture

Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. Celebrating family, history and connection

Scene from Abi Padilla’s Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. | Photo by Emily Cooper Photography
Scene from Abi Padilla’s Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. | Photo by Emily Cooper Photography
“There is value in learning and appreciating the sacrifices of our ancestors,” says playwright Abi Padilla. “But it is just as important not to diminish people for the trauma [they have experienced].” Her production of Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla., presented by Ruby Slippers Theatre, will be showcased at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (Feb. 6–8) and Presentation House Theatre (Feb. 13–16).
Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. Celebrating family, history and connection
00:00 00:00

Scene from Abi Padilla’s Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. | Photo by Emily Cooper Photography

“Tell me about your culture and bridge the cultures by creating together,” says Padilla, actor/playwright/filmmaker, of her approach to cultural collaboration.

Padilla says her biological grandmothers – as well as many other women, including the Filipino “comfort women” – and other “fun, strong women who are fictional characters” all inspired her to write the story.

Recognizing strong women

Raised by her maternal grandmother for several years, who she describes as a “very sassy, hilarious woman,” she asked and probed about her grandmothers’ childhood, trying to learn about them and their being alive during the Japanese occupation.

“Like colonial Canada, the Philippines shares colonial history… [and the play tells the story] of what happens to an immigrant family that experiences the pain of colonialism,” she says.

They indicated that they did not want to talk about it, leaving Padilla to research documentaries and read autobiographies that told the stories of Filipino women during the war.

With family as its central theme, the play tells the story of a feisty Filipino grandmother who escapes from her care home. Her grandchildren set out to find her, learning of her past and memories of war and occupation in the Philippines during World War II.

Despite their challenges of dealing with the pain of the past and overcoming adversity, Padilla points out it is important that they are still individual people with dreams and aspirations.

“They are regular grandmas who like to gossip, hear about show business,” she comments. “It is about seeing people for who they really are.”

Respectful cultural exchange

Padilla is no stranger to cross-cultural collaborations, noting how she previously worked with a Vietnamese writer. A cultural exchange experience allowing her to identify similarities, the collaboration resulted in one of her previous works – a short play titled The Banyan Tree.

“With the EDI [equity, diversity and inclusion] movement, it’s almost like each culture or nation has its own way of promoting their own culture,” she states.

Padilla explains the Filipino concept of kapwa: seeing each other in one another, seeing ourselves. Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla. is not an all Filipino cast, but an ensemble of many cultures including Filipino, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Chinese.

“When I create art, it’s very amazing that I don’t know that this can happen,” Padilla says, noting how she plans to continue advocating for DEI. “A respectful cultural collaboration, not just my culture.”

While she’s working at remaining present in the moment, she also has her sights on other projects such as trying to organize a small arts festival, the Sapin-Sapin: Filipinx Art Festival, which had its first run last year. The festival promotes emerging local Filipino artists.

“When I elevate, I try to bring as many people with me,” Padilla points out. “We have drag performers, emerging playwrights, emerging singers… we are so rich in talent and culture with this festival.”

Being the type of person to be “inspired by anything,” she is actively developing new works with the Filipino community and wider Asian community.

A graduate of Studio 58 at Langara College, Padilla has taken Grandma. Gangsta. Guerrilla., a piece used for her graduating requirement, developing it from three scenes to its present work.

“I always envisioned it for a [larger] audience. It was a daydream thing, as a fresh graduate,” she says, recalling how her successful pitch of the show to Ruby Slippers Theatre pushed her to further develop the play. “It was a great time, such a pleasant surprise that Ruby Slippers was interested.”

For more information, please see: www.rubyslippers.ca/grandma-gangsta-guerrilla