What is better than your favorite funny aunt? How about a whole collection of them! Let me introduce you to the Tita (aunt in Tagalog) Collection. This theatrical hilarious group of Filipina-Canadian artists is here to entertain and tell us some new stories, not the same boring ones about some white guy in the same-old same-old situation. To learn more about this troupe and find out where you can catch them next, please read on!

Where are you based?
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

What led to the creation of the multi-award-winning all-Filipina-Canadian artistic troupe Tita Collective?
We were tired of being gatekept, so we created our own way. The Tita Collective was born from a place of seeking empowerment and honestly, just having a wildly good time laughing together. Casual hangouts and goofing around evolved into sharing experiences and finding common ground as artists.

Where does your name come from?
Tita means ‘Aunt’ in Tagalog, and we are all proud titas. In our work, we want to honour our Titas, they are the backbone of our communities and the keepers of our culture and heritage, and we wanted to tell their stories thoughtfully and with the utmost respect. We wanted to move beyond having them be relegated to a punchline, which is what we often saw in mainstream media.

You are quite the collective – a group composed of playwrights, comedians, musicians, dancers, theater makers and actors. Tell us a bit about your members and their integral roles.
When we’re not busy doing Tita things together, we’re all individually pretty cool too. Alia just had a sold-out run at the Toronto Fringe Festival, debuting her new solo show, Moro Girl, which won Patron’s Pick! She is also the newly appointed Artistic and Managing Director of Bad Dog Theatre, one of Toronto’s premier comedy theatres. Ann Paula is busy finishing her Master’s in Community Music at Wilfrid Laurier. She was also part of the world premiere of the new Canadian musical, Grow, at Grand Theatre London. Belinda has been busy composing, arranging, musical directing and performing in Canadian Stage’s production of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”, in Dream in High Park! This September she’ll also be performing in an Uncommon Folk Collective’s new musical, “Ursa: A Folk Musical” at Tweed; Company Theatre, playing the title role of Ursa! Ellie is in the wildly successful Canadian Screen Awarded film, “Scarborough”, playing the role of Edna, now streaming online (in Canada - Crave)! Maricris is also a producer-extraordinaire, having produced several of the Filipin* musicals and new works in the city! She is currently working at the renowned SummerWorks Festival!

The Tita Collective explores different mediums to tell the stories about the Philippine Diaspora and is devoted to raising awareness for proper representation. Can you tell us more about your mission? Why is this important to you?
BECAUSE IT IS TIME!!! Waiting is exhausting, and we’re tired of seeing the same kinds of stories happen over and over again. Our advocacy is to create work that celebrates our culture because the Philippine heritage is badass and cool, and the world shouldn’t miss out. As aunts, we want to make sure that the future generations don’t have to go through this weird Groundhog Day thing that happens, where we think things get better but nothing actually changes, so we are here to break down doors for them.

In April 2022, the Tita Collective featured their new work KWENTO at the Forward March Festival in Toronto. What inspired the creation of the show? Can you tell us more about KWENTO?
“Kwento” in Tagalog means ‘story’. It is a musical about a young one named Ara, her Mom, her Nanay (her other mom) and her Apoh (her grandma). This tale is based on a Tausug (people from Mindanao, Southern Philippines) folktale, Ararabuntu In The Animal World. The show follows Ara’s journey who is seeking to understand her place between her two identities and her connection to her heritage. Failing to find it at home, she enters the Animal World, a place that exists in between.

The music of Kwento is inspired by various musical genres ranging from traditional Philippine music to present-day pop and contemporary music. Each character in the show has their own motif, inspired by the music of their generation.

Additionally, you performed at the Undercurrents Festival where you presented your award- winning musical comedy show, Tita Jokes! Can you tell us a bit about Tita Jokes?
Tita Jokes is a musical comedy about our Titas. The Filipino equivalent to the Dad Joke is the Tita Joke because our Titas are the best and are hilarious. It is a love letter to them.

It looks like you will be performing Tita Jokes again this fall, can you tell us what we can look out for?
We love to bring the feeling of FamJams to our shows, inviting the audience in to party! We always want to celebrate our stories with our community, and to see them laugh and be joyful in the audience feeds us as storytellers. Expect lots of music, dancing, jokes and laughter!

Are there any other shows/projects we need to know about?
Tita Collective is cooking up some exciting things (which is still a secret…shh) but keep an eye and ear out for some exciting news! We will also be performing Tita Jokes again in November, this time in Hamilton as part of the Hamilton Presenting Series. Follow us on instagram @tita.collective to keep up with our news. ;)

What do you find to be the most empowering part of performing and sharing these stories through music and dance? What do you hope people take away from your performances?
Being able to make our audience laugh, the “wheezing-tears-in-your-eyes” kind of laughter, fills us with so much joy. We know this because it’s a sign of making connections with one another, which is hugely important, especially with the amount of isolation we collectively experienced over the past few years. After our shows we love to hear from community members talk about how much they felt seen and heard. They often share their own stories with us, which we carry into the show. Not only is this empowering for us, but feels like a huge gift. The most important lesson from our experience with Tita Jokes and Kwento is that storytelling is powerful and it is healing, that’s what we’d want people to take away.

Asian artists are just starting to see more of the big screen. Do you feel there is still a long way to go for proper representation? What are your hopes for the future?
Yes, there is so much work to be done. Our hopes for the future is that someone will give us a bunch of money to create cool stories that aren’t just sitcoms about problematic white men doing standup.

The pandemic was hard on live theater, how did the Tita Collective weather the storm? Are you back to normal now?
We really turned to each other, leaning on our mutual support and care as a sisterhood to get through the pandemic. We also wanted to support our community, and while it was not easy, we continued to create online/virtual shows for them. For us, self-care includes community-care, and we wanted to make sure that our community felt taken care of as well, especially since a large population of frontline workers continue to be Filipin*. For us, laughter has always been a tool of resistance and empowerment - there’s so much joy when you’re having a laugh with your community. With everything that’s happening in today’s world, it’s a huge effort to stay uplifted. When you’ve created conditions for laughing, it means that you’ve created a safe space for people to be vulnerable, funny and silly. You’ve created a space where people feel like they can just be themselves. That’s a healthy place to be.

What is your motto in life?
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” and “Let’s eat.”

To learn more about the Tita Collective, please follow them via the links below:
www.titacollective.com
Instagram: tita.collective

Images Courtesy of Tita Collective.

The Tita Collective Is Representing The Family