Review: Fran de Leon’s assured direction keeps that under careful watch while still allowing actors to shine...

via Nerds of Color By Edward Hong September 2, 2024

This may be very inside theatre knowledge but there hasn’t really been an Asian American family play that fully utilizes multiple family members throughout different generations quite like Nicholas Pilapil‘s God Will Do The Rest, now having its world premiere directed by Fran De Leon in a co-joint Artists at Play and Latino Theater Company production.

Karaoke, chicken adobo and Santo Niño prayers. “We can only do our best, diba (right)?” Artists at Play and Latino Theater Company present God Will do The Rest, a warm, funny new play about a multigenerational Filipino American household. Strong, glamorous family matriarch Maggie is celebrating a milestone birthday, and the de Dios family has gathered to celebrate in true FilAm style. Get ready for a warm, loving, hilarious — and explosive — family reunion.

Right from the get go, one must admire the incredible set & properties design by Leah Ramillano and Rye Mandel respectively as this fully realized living room & kitchen will provide the source for all the conflicts and wackiness that will ensue for the 1 hour and 45 minutes that will breeze by and leave you wanting more. We are soon introduced to most of the family members that dominate this play with Maggie (Rinabeth Apostol) as the matriarch grandmother, Fritzie (Josette Canilao) as the successful yet entitled daughter, Connie (Ellen D. Williams) as the other sister just trying to get her life together), Tanner (Ryan Nebreja) as Connie’s son wanting to understanding his Filipino heritage more, Ferdie (Reggie Lee) as the grandfather whose pride refuses him to quit his nursing job, Nate (Josh Odsess-Rubin) as Fritzie’s white Jewish boyfriend who sincerely wants to be accepted by the family, and Babette (Jason Rogel) as the fabulous auntie who comes in halfway through the play.

Each and every single one of these cast members contribute to the greater ensemble whole in providing such fantastic comedic moments and pathos that I give much kudos to the playwright for accomplishing that while also balancing it so that it doesn’t bog the play down. I was ALMOST uncertain about Jason Rogel’s casting as the auntie Babette as I wasn’t sure if this was supposed to be a Mrs. Doubtfire situation or an actor playing a trans character but within a few minutes, Rogel instantly captivated me with their amazing comedic timing and nailed the auntie vibe. This will definitely be seen as a bold and risky creative casting decision by the director but I fully believed in the risk paying off and especially more so after I inquired De Leon about this casting process.

...this play soars as it crackles with well crafted family drama and the absurd comedy that only comes with any family that refuses to be honest with each other.

Similar to the likes of Tracy Lett’s August Osage County, there is a chaotic energy that can go left unchecked with that many actors and their characters’ personalities onstage but Fran De Leon’s assured direction (with the excellent assistant directing by Katherine Chou) keeps that under careful watch while still allowing actors to shine (or in one adorable moment during opening night, break as Josette Canilao and Josh Odess-Rubin did after Reggie’s character made a hilarious jab at them having a kid while in their 40’s). Kudos also to stage manager Brandon Hong Cheng and assistant stage manager Irene DH Lee for keeping all the technical elements running smoothly with such a large ensemble cast and all the technical elements that are constantly present throughout the production.

There is not a dull moment as the play expertly weaves comedy with drama, allowing the peaks to effortlessly ebb and flow which then allows the audience to partake in the high frenetic madness while also absorb the somber tragic moments that will leave many in the audience (including myself) with not a dry eye before we are back to laughing again.

You won’t be feeling the run-time and though it could be seen as a slight risk that a play will go 1 hour and 45 minutes without an intermission, it was necessary so there isn’t a single break in experiencing this beautiful play. And in due time, I hope to see this play performed across the country (and world) and incorporating the many, many incredible Filipino talent all around so the world can see this play in action and witness what I will say is one of the best Asian American plays I have ever seen.