PRESS RELEASE - UNIVERSAL SELF

March 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Through personal experiences we can find the most honest and vulnerable wounds that are waiting to be treated in the racial emergency room of the American consciousness. Take a moment to slow down and feel the pulse known as UNIVERSAL SELF, an emerging solo theater production whose time has come. When we are able to gain deeper insight into the complex processes of how American youth make sense of the world and how childhood experiences shape our racial identity, we inevitably come closer to achieving racial unity and progress for multicultural America in the 21st century.

Set within the 1980’s and 90’s, Bay Area, California, UNIVERSAL SELF takes audiences on a journey of struggle and redemption. The challenge for American youth is not just black and white. The stories for Americanized children of immigrant parents are continuing to surface as a reminder of the need to balance, validate and make sense of all the cultural world’s represented in one’s identity. Written and performed by Kilusan Bautista, UNIVERSAL SELF is a nationally toured solo theater production formerly known as Universal Filipino. During his youth, Kilusan is haunted by a historic hater who wishes to destroy his self-esteem by influencing him into a helpless, violent and psychologically troubled state of existence. Malakas is an ancestral guardian spirit who exists to guide Kilusan in remembering his true self worth and connection to his people. It is now up to Kilusan to make the right choices as a youth in urban, working class America. Shall he fall victim to the statistics of growing up in a “high risk” environment, polluted with drugs, violence and crime? Or shall Kilusan find his destiny and live a life that possesses knowledge of self?

Are you ready to experience a thought provoking, Edu’tainment reality that brings you deeper into the universal family living room, a visionary space that embodies compassion and understanding? UNIVERSAL SELF will take you to a doorway into the future of multicultural America one story at a time.

For booking and inquiries of UNIVERSAL SELF please contact Lia McPherson, Booking Manager, via email at bookkilusan@gmail.com. The full length production runs for 1 hour and 30 minutes. We also offer a 30 minute excerpted version and interactive performance workshops centered on the themes of UNIVERSAL SELF. Kilusan is currently a teaching artist with the NYC Department of Education, where he teaches UNIVERSAL SELF as an elective course.