by Linda Chin
‘Dragon Lady’ – Creator & Performer: Sara Porkalob, Director: Andrew Russell; Lighting Design: Amith Chandrashaker; Sound Design: Erin Bednarz; Original Music: Peter Irving, Band: Hot Damn Scandal, Assistant Director: Michael Rosegrant, PSM: Kate Hauser. Presented by the American Repertory Theater as part of the A.R.T. Breakout series at Oberon, 2 Arrow St. Cambridge through April 6
Sara Porkalob is a multi-hyphenate wonder: a Filipinx American activist-feminist and actor-writer-singer-producer-director-storyteller. Let’s add educator to this 29 year old’s list, as experiencing her remarkable show Dragon Lady is akin to taking a master class. A master class from a superhero, that is, as in this tightly crafted show written in homage to her grandmother, Porkalob the Wonder Woman takes us on a journey through time and space. Each vignette in Dragon Lady reveals part of Maria Porkalob Sr.’s life story – working in a nightclub owned by the Philippine mafia, immigrating to America, raising five children in a trailer park, sharing time-honored wisdom with her granddaughter Sara – and each is a pearl.
Porkalob plays over 20 characters of various ethnicities, gender, roles in society, and ages, including (as per the character list in the program): Old Man, White M, age 71, Old Woman, Black F, age 80, Gang members, Filipino M, 30’s, Maria Jr.’s brothers, Ronald and Charles, Filipino age 9 and Filipino Mixed age 7, respectively. Porkalob’s acting is highly nuanced, and she morphs into new characters with facial expressions, body posture and tone with seeming effortlessness. For four women in the Porkalob line – matriarch Maria Sr., Mama Maria Jr., sister Lilly and herself, Sara plays a range of ages, childhood to present day. And did I mention that Sara has inherited her grandmother’s captivating voice? She sings like a bird.
Shows dependent on a single actor’s performance make the theater producer-director-mentor in me wonder, who is the understudy? When I asked this question of Devone Tines, co-creator and principal actor of ART’s Black Clown, Tines responded that he has no designated understudy and took care to get plenty of vocal rest (and the mom in me poured him another glass of water). One might expect that after each marathon performance, Porkalob would do the same, but understandably in a space as intimate as the Oberon (and where she interacts with some audience members during the show -watch your drinks and partner’s laps, folks) she took time post-show to greet friends and fans warmly, genuinely thank them for attending, and inviting them to come back for more. Luckily Dragon Cycle is a trilogy that includes Dragon Lady, Dragon Mama, and Dragon Baby, each focusing on one of the three generations of women in the Porkalob dynasty. Dragon Lady and Dragon Mama are being performed in repertory through April 6.
This production of Dragon Lady is a repeat engagement, and while I thoroughly enjoyed it last year, this time round it reflected even more maturity, depth and confidence. Porkalob added some songs to the repertoire and changed some of the material. Having Dragon Mama in the works and a Dragon Baby on the way (thanks to ART’s commission) as well as some audience feedback may have informed some of the reworking. While I enjoy the Oberon’s flexible use of space, I generally prefer staging that grows from the actors’ motivation to move, enter or exit a scene, not to accommodate the director’s blocking/stage pictures. This is not as problematic with a one-woman show like Dragon Lady as with larger casts where it can be hard to find the actor, sound is inconsistent or shifting chairs and craning necks are distracting. Dragon Mama will be staged more traditionally – in the round. Sara the Sifu generously makes time in her busy schedule to teach master classes, and is particularly committed to supporting the growth of AAPI theater artists on and off-stage, conducting workshops at Harvard, Pao Arts Center, and a Filipino restaurant in Somerville. Rumor has it that Dragon Baby is being developed as a musical with 10 people. If Porkalob is not playing all 10 herself, there will surely be talented actors of all ages, ethnicities and genders ready to audition for the opportunity to be in Porkalob’s presence. For tickets and information, go to: https://americanrepertorytheater.org/shows-events/dragon-cycle/
