What do you get if you pit three young women, alike only in their Filipino heritage, against each other in a beauty pageant? Montreal's Teesri Duniya Theatre, dedicated to promoting cultural diversity, explores this question in a multi-faceted fashion.
Miss Orient(ed), which premiered in Montreal on International Women's Day, gives us more than a snapshot of a beauty pageant. The play tackles the issues of ethnic minority identity and women's roles with hilarious, satirical force, educating the audience about internal dilemmas they have not-or perhaps have-experienced.
Written by Nina Aquino and Nadine Villasin (who also stars as a contestant), Miss Orient(ed) follows three pageant hopefuls through their journey on stage: Jennifer, Canadian-born and grudgingly participating to please her mother; Carrie, a self-absorbed know-it-all who believes the key to success lies in claiming your heritage fully, but also being able to hide it completely; and Twinkle, a shy recent immigrant.
Along with the talented cast and crew, Director Sarah Stanley takes the recipe
Miss Orient(ed) offers and cooks a brilliant, memorable dish-besides the accompanied catered Filipino cuisine, of course. The open runway set allows for full audience interaction; Stanley makes sure each cast member takes full advantage of this. The stage sparkles with all the overdone glitter one would expect from a beauty pageant, adding in a video projection for entertaining scenes between scenes. Many moments of the play are accompanied by music, ranging from the current and well-known (Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl" and Tori Amos's "Crucify") to upbeat selections of Filipino pop. Cultures collide, blend, and sometimes make friends throughout the show.
The all-Filipino cast demonstrates amazing stage chemistry, playing out their stereotypes in an utterly believable way. The audience is especially drawn to the struggle of Emilee Veluz's Twinkle, who exemplifies the messages
Miss Orient(ed) tells by being both the only overweight contestant and the only one without a perfect command of accentless English.
The show's surprise highlight, however, lies in Carolyn-Fe Trinidad's triple role as the three mothers. Veluz and Trinidad, along with the rest of the cast, keep the audience in stitches all the way through.
But
Miss Orient(ed) is no simple comedy. In keeping with its producers' mandate, the play offers a lesson in Filipino-Canadian identity, playing with stereotypes and breaking them completely. Wrongs are not "right" by the end, but each contestant learns some form of lesson about her background-and her attitude towards it.
For over 20 years, the Teesri Duniya has been staging plays like this to promote culture and give all actors, both neophytes and veterans, the chance to work together. If the joy
Miss Orient(ed) brought to the packed house is any indication, the company will be doing so for many years to come.
Miss Orient(ed) runs until March 27 at 3997 boul. St-Laurent. For ticket information, call the box office at 848-0238.
