By Chi Sanford
This article contains some spoilers for the play Roots.
Roots, written and produced by Filipino playwright Jose Socrates Del Reyes, contributed to the 5th Peckham Fringe Festival and the 40th Anniversary of Theatre Peckham, is a new play-in-progress that confronts social, political and economic contexts that shape the migrant Filipino family.
The non-linear play focuses on characters who continually unravel – grandfather Bobby (Amar Atienza), father Alon (Mikki Villa), and daughter Corazon (Rose Charmine Camacho). Throughout the play, the characters’ voices were expertly balanced and invited the audience to intimately witness the complexities of assimilation, grief and sacrifice just as they bubbled to the surface.
Paired with dream-like sound design, the audience were wrapped in a blanket of nostalgia, intentionally warm and suffocating. We were transported.
What I deeply appreciated about Roots was the poetic voice it brought to all the difficult conversations some have never had the opportunity to have with family, or don’t (yet) have the courage to begin. Playwright Soc skilfully uses a non-linear narrative to deliver political and emotional truths in digestible, tender moments. Rather than forcing a message, the play subtly unfolds to address the devastating realities of climate change, failed government interventions, labour exploitation, unprotected free speech, and the enduring history of revolution.
The tenderness came from the characters. The magnetic daughter Corazon, played by Rose Charmaine Camacho, invited us into her family, whilst also relentlessly pursuing her understanding of Filipino identity. Possibly noticeable to a few, she seldom entertained the conversation of ever being “enough” – this was in fact reserved for her father!
Instead, her bravery and maturity, evoked by her humorous and somewhat ditzy father, shone a light on the unwritten daughter role of emotional translator. Through her journey, we saw the painful reclamation of her father’s Filipino identity – confronting the juxtaposition of working as an NHS nurse during the Covid-19 pandemic and the painful moments when his wife passed away in the Philippine healthcare system. It’s no question, Cora’s character holds the future.
And like an angel in the wings, grandfather Bobby waltzed in with typical Lolo “Give your dad some grace” jest that bridged his granddaughter and son together. Bobby, played by Amar Atienza, had every audience member hanging onto his every word.
From TikTok dances to parenting his middle-aged son, Bobby was the “I’m too old to care” wise man who imparted knowledge just at the right times, balancing the mistakes that need to unfold, and gluing the family back together in the aftermath. His death in the play felt like a loss for us all.
Finally, the heartstrings of the piece was Alon, the widowed husband, single father and grieving son played by Mikki Villa. The frantic, energetic, distracted Alon held the pace of the play at the beginning as it seemed he was stuck in a survival mode that felt both familiar and heartbreaking. Bouncing between late night shifts at the hospital, disconnected conversations with his teenage daughter and decoding his elderly father, Villa made Alon completely loveable.
Watching Alon be grounded by his ambitious daughter, offered a mercy and grace to all parents who know all too well the mindset to “just keep going” – without knowing where they’re exactly going. Cora and Bobby knew how to love Alon when Alon didn’t love himself – a powerful reminder for parents to lean into those around them and “find the story within the story”.
It was a pleasure to be an audience member for Roots, and to write this article sharing its impact on me. I am a second generation Filipino British daughter to a first generation Filipino mother, and from this play I saw moments of connection mirrored back to me (cooking together, airport traditions), and more nuanced moments (secret university applications, tiptoeing towards our parents past lives).
This is the importance of Filipino playwrights as well as Filipino creatives, producers, directors, dramaturgs and writers. It remains rare to have Filipino voices and bodies occupy theatre spaces in the UK. But when they do, they’re tender, powerful and meaningful.
Roots creative team:
Jose Socrates Delos Reyes – Writer, Producer
Tara Jamora Oppen – Director
Dominique La Victoria – Dramaturg
Louise Pimentel – Designer
Kerrica Kendall – Producer
Marianne Therese Cadiz – Graphic Designer
Run Time: 60 mins
Age Guidance: 12+
Content Awareness: Scenes of medical distress and hate-speech
About the Author
Chi Sanford
Chi (she/her) is a Filipino British, London-based multidisciplinary artist, researcher and network builder. Working in a range of mediums, Chi often debates the themes of belonging, identity and home within her works. With a range of exhibitions, performances, workshop facilitation and community engagement roles under her belt, Chi is keen to bring communities together and spark honest and vulnerable conversations, bringing to the forefront collective care and decolonising shame. She blogs at Chismis with Chi.
