TITA COLLECTIVE
City: Toronto, ON
Instagram: @tita.collective
Previous work: Grow, Ursa: A Folk Musical, Scarborough, Moro Girl, Short Dances
Good laughs, good vibes, and good times –– what more could a group of friends and collaborators want? Tita Collective is a five-piece, all filipina sketch comedy group based in Toronto. The loveable collective uses comedy, dancing and music to brilliantly tell the stories about the Filipino diaspora.
Composed of award-winning playwrights, comedians, musicians, dancers, theatre makers and actors, the collective, made up of Ann Paula Bautista, Belinda Corpuz, Ellie Posadas, Alia Rasul, and Maricris Rivera, takes on a unique approach to theatre by centering community and identity. Through thoughtful and playful creative expression, Tita Collective honours and celebrates their roots and history, while simultaneously nurturing and uniting community through joy and laughter.
Tita Collective’s resume boasts won several awards, including the 2022 Just For Laughs Award at the Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival, 2019 Steamwhistle Producers’ Pick at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, Best Newcomer at the Montreal Sketch Comedy Festival, and the Second City Outstanding New Comedy Award and Patrons’ Pick at the 2019 Toronto Fringe Festival. They were featured in the “19 Asian Millennial Women You Should Know” listing by Cold Tea Collective, and in Spotify Canada’s “Need Women” campaign for Women’s History Month.
They have performed with notable artists, including Sam Milby (ABS-CBN/The Filipino Channel), Bob the Drag Queen and Monét X Change (Just for Laugh Toronto)
More about Tita Collective
How did you meet?
“Ann Paula, Maricris and Belinda met through various youth theatre programs from a very young age, often we were the only Filipinas in the room, so we became close. Ann Paula and Ellie both went to Randolph College for the Performing Arts to study musical theatre. We met Alia, who had just completed the Second City Conservatory program at a Filipino Comedy show. We met and came together to collectively create and perform a play called Anak at Carlos Bulosan Theatre. It was then we realized that we all had similar ambitions as artists and, more importantly, the same values and principles. We also realized the potential of our collective. We each were no longer the only Filipinas in the room, and without the pressure of being tokenized by systems that were often limited and oppressive, we became more empowered to become unapologetic in how we spoke about being Filipinas. As our collaboration grew, so did our sisterhood.”
What obstacles/challenges have you had to face to get to where you are today?
“From our lens as Filipinas, we want to break down stereotypes that are still often shown in mainstream media, go beyond representation and get into the nuances of our culture. The Philippine story is so complex and vibrant, but has experienced more than 400 years of colonialism. In that time we lost a lot of our stories, we have experienced an erasure of our culture and heritage. There’s been a lot of trauma experienced by our people, and everyone has a different relationship with their roots, but when we come together to share our stories, we will help each other remember, and we can begin to heal.”
How has your city, region or places you were raised impacted you artistically/creatively?
“Toronto and Canada at large has a big and amazing Filipin* community. This collective was created not just for us, it was and continues to be for our community too.
Tita means ‘Aunt’ in Tagalog, and it is because of our Titas that we are here, making the art we love and are passionate about. We are all proud titas as well!
In our work, we want to honour our Titas, they are the backbone of our communities and the keepers of our Philippine culture and heritage. 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.
Our biggest supporters have always been our community – fun fact: Filipin* restaurants, businesses and organizations in Toronto were amongst the first to fund our show “Tita Jokes” (shout out to Tinuno, Kanto by Tita Flips, DGA Variety, Filipino Heritage Month committee, PATAC, The Filipino Channel, and everyone in our community who continue to support us!)”
What’s something people should know about you?
“We got into this year’s Toronto Fringe Festival, where we first debuted Tita Jokes. We are thrilled to debut a brand new show this summer 2023 at the festival! We’re also cooking up some very cool things (some of which are still a secret…shh), but keep an eye and ear out for some exciting news at www.titacollective.com or at our instagram @tita.collective!”
