Watch Black Henry

Watch the Talkback

Black Henry explored the profound consequences of a clash of cultures, when in 1521 Ferdinand Magellan and three Spanish ships make landfall in the Philippines. His Malay slave, Enrique, acts as the go-between the conquistadors and the islanders. However, Magellan’s disastrous attempt to colonize the islands not only complicates Enrique’s life but alters irrevocably the character and destiny of the archipelago.

VIRTUAL LIVE PRESENTATIONS:

PREMIERE | Sunday, April 25th, 2021, 6:30pm (EST)
Followed by a talkback with Luis H. Francia (author), Claro de los Reyes (stage director), and Nerissa Balce (SUNY Stony Brook’s Department of Asian and Asian American Studies)

TALKBACK | Monday, April 26th, 2021, 6:30pm (EST)

This innovative virtual dramatization mixed pre-recorded segments with live acting, as well as virtual scenography in an example of a new and innovative approach to online theater. A global cast of actors from New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Manila brought to life this epic story. Directed by Claro de los Reyes, with creative design by Francis Estrada, Charles Reynoso, and Cynthia Alberto, from Atlantic Pacific Theater. Live production, online realization, and staging by Laia Cabrera and Isabelle Duverger.

Luis H. Francia is a poet, journalist, and adjunct professor of Filipino. He is on faculty at New York University’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. An online columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he is the author of, among other books, the travel memoir Eye of the Fish: A Personal Archipelago, RE, a collection of essays, and his most recent poetry collection, Tattered Boat. Black Henry is Francia’s second full-length play.

More information on Black Henry and the Creative Team here.

Sulo: The Philippines Studies Initiative at NYU is the result of an agreement between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and New York University to establish a Philippine Studies program at NYU. Understood as an initiative that includes programs, events, and funding for students and faculty, Sulo also seeks to support and partner with other units in the University as well as cultural and academic centers in New York City and elsewhere. This year Sulo has contributed to the founding of the graduate student Global Philippine Studies Forum at NYU, a Bennett-Polonsky Humanities Lab on Cross/Currents, and research and travel funds for undergraduate and graduate students.

More information on Sulo at https://wp.nyu.edu/spsi/

Co-sponsored by NYU Sulo: the Philippine Studies Initiative and NYU King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (KJCC) and Atlantic Pacific Theatre

Live presentation was produced for educational purposes.