Where's the Drama?

He is a performer. She is a writer. We've both done one-person musical shows. They were meant for each other!! What could go wrong?! Phi Palmos, my wonderful partner on this project, has been the most valuable and generous resource in this artistic process. As a gay man with a history of transgender, queer, and questioning experiences, his stories are inherently ripe with dramatic tension and conflict. And!! What does performed gender expression mean to someone like Phi, who performs for a living. Like, hello? There is a play in this story! But maybe that's the trouble isn't it.

Phi Palmos starring in the 90s-themed "Nobenta Nostalgia: A Monomusical" (2018). Photo by ABS-CBN.

Gabbi Campomanes in her one-woman musical "My Night with Lea" (2018). It's me!!!

I can't help but wonder what I can bring to the expression of this narrative. What happens to the raw material if I am the one tasked with giving it shape? And as a cis-het woman, I can't help but worry that I'm playing with something that is not my own.

Because of the material we want to use (which would be biographical elements from Phi's life), the project teeters between essay and musical. In essays, we probe, we remember, and we attempt to render our findings as truthfully as possible (whatever that means). In drama, we search for opposing points-of-view and put these perspectives into events and actions. Essentially in both forms, writers feel it is their duty to identify conflict and to problematize events or actions. So even now, as I investigate the details of Phi's life (as generously provided by him), I may be becoming...both more aware and more comfortable with the experiential gaps between Phi as storyteller and performer and myself as writer.

Gabbi Campomanes and Phi Palmos meeting for the first time as artist-partners. I had just cried because Phi told me he trusted me. Sorry Phi!! Observer Andrei Pamintuan also appears in the photo as an innocent bystander to the drama. Sorry for making it weird, Andrei!!!

Now, I want to write something that is respectable, entertaining, and above all, kind to its subject and its audience. I'm very lucky to be working with Phi, who is always encouraging and always points out that I do in fact have a valuable perspective. This is, after all, largely a piece about femininity and how this gender expression can still be maligned within even the most liberal communities. And I can't let myself forget that this is a piece about really listening to what individuals need. And while the working relationship I have can maybe be seen as a microcosm of our ideals, I have to ask myself, how else can entertain the context of our local community? Why do we perform for the people around us? How can we help each other? Why do you two like musicals so much??