An ensemble of a first time playwrights and upcoming San Jose artists will delve into the mind of Ilawan, a teenager who struggles to connect his life issues together. Staged in his room, a sacred space, events and objects throughout his day cause him to reflect about the issues of identity, dance, music, family, current events, humanity, love and spirituality. Dealing with these issues, he imagines these dilemmas through various forms of performance & visual art: live instrumentation, poetry, rhyming, beat boxing, modern and break dancing, turntablism and digital video. Ultimately, his issues overlap to bring clarity to his life and culminate into a unison performance piece conjuring the idea of a cypher and connection.

Delving into the mind and heart of Ilawan, who thinks and acts through non-verbal expression, takes theatre back to its roots of understanding each others movement to find the energy and vibe of an individual. Also, the street poet, an instrumental part of the production will signify multiple roles from the narrator to the consciousness of Ilawan to the thoughts of the audience. His unpredictable monologues pieces will add excitement and humor to the entire production. Although some parts of the narrative will be written by the writers, all actors will have written and performed their own poetic pieces.

It is the aim of this production to tap into new & local talent and pushing the limits of theater. This innovative and fresh look at what teenagers experience are great examples of the heartbeat of young people’s expression that will help people understand that these are their ways keeping them sane in this world. These artists become the modern day storytellers who connect issues that all people can identify with and are a reflection of what people experience in life that can transcend age, race, class and gender. Our hope is to create community and bring people one step closer to each other by understanding commonalities and struggles that we all face as human beings. Realizing that we are in this world together struggling, maintaining and celebrating life!