Becca Godinez: 'Flipzoids is a story of every Filipino migrant'

MANILA, Philippines- Becca Godinez has previously  thought that she left theater for good,  but she was wrong.

But one sunny day in America, an opportunity in the  theater  arts presented itself again.

"When I got to the States, an actress friend said, 'Becca, there's somebody auditioning, reader's theater. I told them to call you.' I was, 'what?' so I got auditioned over the phone and I did a reader's theater,” she said in a recent interview.

She continued, “the author was Mona Simpson, sister of Steve Jobs. So she's a writer of a book that became a film with Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman (Anywhere But Here, 1999). I got a call from this lady and she does word theater, and on the phone she said, 'I know you can do it. Come to my house.' That was my audition, sa telepono.”

It was in 2005 when she met Simpson and one of her co-actors, Hollywood actor  Dermot Mulroney. Upon seeing Mulroney, Godinez felt insecure, but that did not dishearten her  to do the show.

In 2011, she finally got hold of the script and  fell deeper in love with “Filpzoids” which was written by Ralph B. Peña.

“Ralph B. Peña wanted to show  how different kinds of people react to being in a foreign land they now have to call their home,” she said about the story.

She also explained the story's title, “zoid you'd think of a zombie, some jelly-looking thing...just a being.

“Then Flip is a derogatory term for Filipino. I can't tell you the word but it begins with F. So it's F Little Island People. So that was a derogatory term that was being used before.”

The Characters

Godinez says “Flipzoids” tells the story of three people who are struggling as they try to fit in a different country, which serves as their new home.

The first character is Redford played by Maxwel Corpuz.

“He is the offspring, a very young offspring of a very successful couple that goes to the States and wants nothing to do with the culture. Ayaw na talaga, they don't want anything to do with the Philippines. Walang turning back, they didn't teach their child any culture - nothing,” she said.

Next is the character of Ellen D. Williams named Vangie who is “our proverbial nurse who by hundreds goes to the US. She's from Pagudpud, Ilocos and what happens is she knows that one of the things that the Americans at that —time '80s 'to ha, it's an '80s kind of a story— at that time, they say Filipinos, they pay 50 bucks and they get a diploma.

“So Vangie's whole purpose is to belong to this small culture, to belong tp a more intelligent group. Kaya binabasa niya diksyunaryo, she memorizes the dictionary.”

Lastly is Godinez' character named Aying, “a 72-year-old traditional woman from Pagudpud who has absolutely no love for Anaheim, California. She's losing her memory, she's at the age where she's losing her memory.”

Though  Godinez is younger than the age of her character, she admits that she relates to her character especially since she's a US migrant.

“Hundred percent related to her!” she said laughing when asked if she could relate to her character.

"When I left the Philippines, I  lived in Rio Janeiro for one year then I moved to US.  There were many cultural differences that I had to live with. When I moved to  theUS, I was looking for anonymity. But there's a sense in me where one foot is in the Philippines and one foot  isin the US.”

After overcoming her “loneliness and cultural adjustment,” another challenge to her was introducing Filipino culture to her US-raised daughter.

“So how do you do that, how do I make her appreciate the culture that I love? So I went through that. So my daughter at the beginning was somehow offish about it, she couldn't relate. But I began to teach her. That's how I kind of related to Aying,” she said.

Even if the story of “Flipzoids” was set in the '80s era, Godinez says  the story of these three characters is relatable.

“I'm very excited for people to come because at this age, the decision to do things now is because it really means something,” she said about the show. “I'm just appealing to everyone, come and see this. This is so worth it! It really is!”

“Flipzoids” is directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera and will be staged on July 17-19 at the Music Museum.