As Straw Before the Wind: A powerful drama

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From 1564 until 1946, a period of roughly 382 years, the Philippine people were ruled by colonial powers. First it was Spain followed by the United States of America until 1942 when Imperial Japan began its terrifying occupation. By 1945 General Douglas MacArthur had indeed returned and finally on July 4^th 1946 the Republic of the Philippines was declared a free, independent and sovereign nation.

When an entire population lives under the rule of others for 382 years their survival depends heavily upon the qualities of resilience and perseverance, and those two qualities are uniquely evident in virtually all Filipinos and are presented dramatically by the character Nene Santos, as portrayed by Tita Pambid in the world premiere of the play As Straw Before the Wind, written by Felix Racelis and directed by Lesley Asistio.

The story centers on Nene Santos who, during the severely brutal World War Two era Japanese occupation, was savagely treated by a Japanese soldier. Many years later she is living in the United States and running a senior care facility out of her home.

Her two clients are Poncing Enrile a retired American Filipino Army Captain [portrayed by Muni Zano] and Mildred Novak [portrayed by Anita Borcia] . Poncing Enrile or simply “The Captain” as he is known is an incorrigible but lovable senior citizen while Mildred is known most for being a devoted chain smoker. Nene Santos also has her adult daughter Pilita Santos [portrayed by Sarnica Lim] living with her and helping out with the family business, but Pilita will soon get married and move out of the family home. In fact there will soon be many dramatic changes in the life of Nene Santos

It is the story of story of survival in the face of unthinkable brutality and the evolution of one life to a place where happiness seems assured but isn’t. It is very much a Filipino story written, directed and performed by Filipinos and Filipinas, but which also has a sense of universality that reaches a broad audience. I will say that in the first few scenes the dialogue often seemed a bit too rigid and the transitions between scenes were not particularly clear. But in the end it did come together and by the end of the show a truly magnificent display of powerful emotion is projected by Tita Pambid, from the stage to the hearts and minds of the audience, leaving everyone in total awe.

As Straw Before the Wind is playing now through September 4^th 2016 at the Ruby Theatre at the COMPLEX, 6476 Santa Monica Boulevard, Hollywood, California 90038. Show times are Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m. Reservations may be made and tickets purchased by calling: 1-800-838-3006 or online at. If you want to learn more about the show you may do so by visiting:

All photos by Michael Helms photography
Top photo: Tita Pambid as Nene Santos and Doan Nguyen as a loan officer

Ron Irwin

Ron Irwin was born in Chicago, Illinois a long time ago. He served in the Marine Corps in Vietnam, became a trial lawyer, TV and radio host, CEO of a public company and once held an Emmy. He never won an Emmy he just held one. Ron has written and published twelve books. His most important book to date is “Live, Die, Live Again” in which Ron tells of his early life and his unexpected and very temporary death in 2012. That experience dramatically refocused his life and within the pages of that book Ron reveals how he achieved a much healthier life, ridding himself of Diabetes, Cancer and Heart Failure. Now Ron enjoys writing about many things including health topics, travel [he has circled the globe several times], adventure, culinary experiences and the world of performing art. Ron’s motto is “Live better, live longer and live stronger because it feels great and annoys others.” Contact the author.