Alia Ceniza Rasul is one of the funniest comedians around, powered by a creative well that simply never runs dry. Her new solo show Moro Girl runs at the Tarragon Theatre Solo Room as part of the 2022 Toronto Fringe Festival from July 6 – 17. This is welcome news, as few can tackle tough topics with as much honesty and humour as Rasul.
The Canadian Comedy Award-nominated writer/performer is a Fringe veteran as part of the Tita Collective, an all-Filipina collective of award-winning artists. Their hilarious, award-winning musical comedy revue Tita Jokes tells stories about the Filipinx diaspora and centers the Filipinx people, specifically the female elders lovingly called Tita. Since debuting in 2019, it has been a runaway hit with critics and audiences. Among other awards and honours, it won Tarragon Theatre’s Mainspace Patrons’ Pick at the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival.
Last year, Rasul published her first collection of poetry – by accident. She published one poem per day on her Instagram. It was a confidence-boosting exercise intended to help her generate ideas more freely and curb her tendency to self-edit. Self-help turned unexpectedly into Super Important Filipina Thoughts! the collection of hilariously irreverent poems discussed in this article when it debuted last year. With a passion for telling stories about the Filipin* diaspora, Rasul has created, produced and performed in multiple award-winning projects including annual, sold-out Filipin* comedy festivals Tawa and Island Womxn Rise, a new Filipin* musical folktale, Kwento, and her debut play, Tang Ina.
Audiences familiar with Rasul’s clear-eyed satire and canny ability to mine humour from unexpected places will find much to enjoy in Moro Girl. In the show, Rasul shares stories about growing up half-Muslim/half-Christian and wholly obsessed with her Catholic country of birth. She is technically a “Moro”, a term for the Muslim population from the Philippines; however, she never felt like that label fit her. In fact, as a Filipina Muslim whose Christian mom would send her to Sunday School, no labels really fit.
She concedes that having a plethora of identities is catnip for grant applications . . . but the Taurus in her needs to get on the path to self-actualization. So now, in her mid-thirties, she is determined to figure out who she is . . . and why she likes charcuterie so much. Self-reflection isn’t enough: she will search for answers in her family’s stories and history.
And in Moro Girl, Rasul not only journeys toward deeper self-discovery and self-awareness but pushes past simple representation by confronting what it means to be seen as a person from the Filipino community and as a Person of Colour. She wants to teach others about the diverse identities within Filipino culture and the importance of not compacting rich cultures into simple stereotypes. Just before the opening of Moro Girl, she chatted with SesayArts Magazine about her successful career pivot from corporate work to comedy, how annoyance motivated her to create Moro Girl, and how audiences should expect “a 101 on Moro-ness” at the show.
Yes, she is funny . . . please read on!
SM: Let’s start with you. You completed your degree in Economics and Psychology at McGill University and had a plan for a successful career in business. What prompted you to pursue a career in comedy?
ACR: I sort of fell into it. I decided to take improv at Bad Dog Theatre to help me get over my fear of public speaking. I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much; it provided me a space to play and be silly, and I loved the community. So I kept at it, and now here we are.
SM: Speak to us about the genesis of Moro Girl. Where did the idea for this solo show come from, and what’s been your process for creating it?
ACR: I got really annoyed at someone. During Ramadan last year, a pretty well-respected Filipin* diasporic web publication asked a question “Why don’t we ever hear from our Muslim brethren?” and it kind of made me feel so invisible because I am right here. I am an active member of the community, especially through my work with the Tita Collective. What followed was a real rollercoaster of emotions, and I felt a lot of anger as well because there’s so much moro culture being appropriated as Filipino culture like vintas, kulintang, singkil, fans, pangalay…so I felt erased.
Moro people, Filipino muslims, are a minority; we make up 5% of the population in the Philippines, in the diaspora even less. So for so long I have been so used to being the only moro in the room, and I almost never speak up about it. Worse, I stopped being curious about it and stopped deepening my relationship with my own heritage. So I decided, rather than get angry about it, I would do the work to learn, re-connect and reclaim my heritage, and start speaking up about, hence this show.
SM: Moro Girl will go a long way towards giving audiences a wider window into the intersectionalities within the Filipinx diaspora. What can the audience expect to experience at the show?
ACR: You’re going to get a 101 on Moro-ness, but not before I explain in full detail why I’m probably not the best person to be representing Moro people. Jokes will be told. Hearts shall be tugged. Fun will be had. Sensibilities may be slightly offended.
SM: What do you hope that audiences learn about you specifically through Moro Girl?
As a fellow Taurean, I’m curious to know how much your Taurean identity factors into everything.
ACR: I just want people to finally know where I am coming from, so that I can bring my full self into my comedy and not just the parts that I think people will find relatable. If I am being honest, I think this show is for me, too. I need to find trust that people will find all of me relatable or even relevant. I need to start doing the work and telling these stories, so that young Moro girls have a reference to agree with (or disagree with), something to build on. Maybe they won’t feel as isolated as I have.
My Taurus-ness is in everything I do, of all the different aspects of my identity, this was the easiest part of me to be loud and proud about because it is such an established thing that everyone understands. All the other parts of me are less so, if not confusing.
It may be silly to some folks, but being a Taurus was very important to me growing up; this is why I grew up equal parts glamorous, stubborn and compatible with Cancers. Every Taurus season, join me on my instagram @aliarasul for #TaurusFest.
SM: I’ve seen Tita Jokes a few times, read your poetry collection last year and am really looking forward to Moro Girl. You are incredible at making serious topics hilarious. How do you do it?
ACR: Haha, thank you and to be honest, I’m not sure I know. I think it’s a mix of being an “ate” (having big sister energy) and being a woman of colour, I think I’ve developed a way of telling people hard truths in an accessible, non-confrontational way because I had to. And then I took a bunch of comedy classes, and that helped too.
SM: You have a choice of final question: What question didn’t I ask you that you wish I had (and what is the answer)? Or: Tell us something about you that is not on your resume. Anything that might surprise?
ACR: I speak French fluently, or at least I used to. I learned French in Dubai for a decade before moving to Montreal and living there for 6 years. Having lived in Toronto for 10 years, I’m a bit rusty now, but it’s in there, and people are always so surprised because it’s super random.
To my dad, it’s the single most impressive thing about me, so when I visit home, he’s always trying to get me to speak French to everyone he knows, so I just recite the non-naughty bits of “Lady Marmalade”. Just kidding, I do the naughty bits too.
Reserve tickets to Moro Girl here.
© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2022
