go777 Japanese Filipino play ‘Sari-Sali Portal Cafe’ highlights search for community and connection

PETA’s collaboration with the Japan Foundation Manila is both a showcase and a celebration of two cultures and artistic sensibilities

 

The idea of finding a third place has experienced a resurgence in recent years, and many attribute it to the growing loneliness epidemic.

Many studies have already proven the benefits of third places in creating connections, building communities, and overall addressing the pervading feelings of loneliness, boredom, and isolation. 

For many of us, spaces like cafes serve as these very third places, thanks to their accessibility and “openness” to cater to all types of people. And with the creativity and innovation that many cafes now employ in their concepts, it’s not surprising to see it as one of the core venues for these kinds of purposes.

In the recent collaboration between the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and Kyoto-based theater group BRDG and the Japan Foundation Manila, various personalities also find their community in a third place much like a cafe. “Sari-Sali Portal Cafe” is an interactive Japanese Filipino play that touches on the very timely theme of seeking connections and belonging. There are four primary characters: Ayaka an introverted artist (Hitomi Nagasu), Mayumi, a Filipino music teacher (Zoe Damag), Kaloy, a former political activist (Julio Garcia), and Yoshi (Hiroyuki Kozaka) a part-time worker in the cafe.

This collaboration fosters the intersection of Filipino and Japanese sensibilities and storytelling, going beyond the surface-level connections of setting and premise.

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Photo courtesy of PETA

This convergence of characters and stories in “one” setting is reminiscent of many cozy Japanese novels, equally poignant and heartrending. (One such example is Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s “Before the Coffee Gets Cold.”) What makes this collaboration more engaging to watch and more profound to witness is how they’ve managed to marry elements of both cultures into one play. 

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In “Sari-Sali Portal Cafe,” Japanese ambiguity meets Filipino specificity, and though they obviously are not a homogenous mix, it is neither awkward nor jarring. Instead, they are welcome contrasts that serve to highlight each other.

In how the Japanese often grapple with feelings of solitude and loneliness, the Filipinos respond with the search for and consequently self-inspired resilience to bring warmth and belonging. Both are in search of community, of a sense of place in the world. What we witness from the Japanese side is also their culture of omotenashi—a kind of hospitality rooted in care, going above and beyond, a gesture that easily moves the heart. And so moved is the Filipino side that it inspires our very own sense of utang na loob, pakikisama, and bayanihan.

 

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The cafe at the heart of this play is inspired by a real cafe in Kyoto, which director Keiko Yamaguchi had worked at. In this cafe, she shares, she was able to meet a variety of people, whom together had built a community. That same feeling of different personalities and backgrounds coming together to form a united community is what she wished to impart in the play. And the idea works particularly well with the welcoming nature of Filipinos.

What makes “Sari-Sali Portal Cafe” even more effective is its interactive nature. Getting the audience to participate in the show’s music-making or literal storytelling adds a layer to the message of community building, and the success of each performance lies greatly on the cast’s ability to not only draw out reactions but also to establish the theater as a safe space—a new third place, if you will. And this cast, composed of Damag, Garcia, Nagasu, and Kozaka, has done a great job bridging their audiences.

 

“Sari-Sali Portal Cafe” was presented by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and Kyoto-based theater group BRDG. Directed by Keiko Yamaguchi and Ian Segarra, with playwright consultant J-mee Katanyag, and dramaturg Ness Roque. With set and production design by Ralph Lumbres, lighting design by David Esguerrago777, and sound design by Toru Koda. Starring Hitomi Nagasu, Hiroyuki Kozaka, Zoe Damag, and Julio Garcia.