Maximo Kalaw: "Presenting A Sketch of Our National Life"
Catch THE BOY WONDER. Now playing through Oct 29.
In the preface to his novel The Filipino Rebel, Maximo Kalaw wrote that he “began cherishing the hope of presenting to our people and to the world a sketch of our national life." This resonates for Eric Pogi Sumangil as “someone who has wanted to represent our culture on stages/screens.”
Sumangil plays Maximo Kalaw in THE BOY WONDER. “It's been rare in my career as an actor to have the opportunity to play a Filipino onstage, and it's been even more rare to play an important historical figure from the Philippines with the Philippine flag flying behind me.”
Dr. Kalaw was a strong advocate and agitator for Philippine independence from the US occupation of the Philippines. He was educated at the University of the Philippines, University of Washington, Georgetown University, and got his doctorate at the University of Michigan. He put his intellect to great use as a pioneer of political science in the Philippines.
As we come to the end of Filipino American History Month we honor the history, pursuits, accomplishments, and legacy of Filipinos in the United States. It also serves to provide a link between Filipinos in the U.S. and Filipinos in the Philippines by showcasing their shared culture and heritage.
Sumangil wrote The Debutante's Ball a coming-of-age story set within Minnesota's thriving Filipino community, which premiered at History Theatre in March 2015.
“It's an honor for me to bring even a small part of Dr. Maximo Kalaw's life to the History Theatre stage in The Boy Wonder.”- Eric Pogi Sumangil
Maximo Kalaw quotes
- "The foundation for the Philippine trouble rests on the fact that America has deviated from the principle which she holds sacred--that governments derive their first powers from the consent of the governed."
- "The people must see to it that the tremendous power of the government is not misused: that the public welfare is ever its goal; that it always carries out the will of its citizens; that corruption and inefficiency do not waste the nation's substance; and that it lives up to its primal functions of justice and protection for all."
- “Without belittling what America has done for the Philippines, it must be recognized that the progress towards democracy in the Philippines has been due mainly to the materials that America found there.”
Catch THE BOY WONDER. Now playing through Oct 29.