Queer As Fuck VI: Escape to Queertopia, a bold mix of comedy and queer futurism!

QAF VI invites audiences to explore the intersections of queer identity, humor, and imagination with a two-week festival of short plays. Featuring the talents of 25 queer and trans writers, directors, and performers of color, the festival will light up the Bindlestiff Studio stage with a collection of sharp, provocative, and hilarious short plays that tackle everything from love and polyamory to political power and magical realism.

This year's festival lineup includes a kaleidoscopic array of themes and genres, giving a voice to underrepresented experiences and offering up fresh perspectives on the queer and trans experience. Through satirical comedies like "The Adventures of Bisexual Sperm" to mystical tales like Bitopia, where a mystic promises freedom from a past-life curse, QAF VI promises audiences a ride through laughter, reflection, and queer fantasy.

A talented costume designer, Joyce lent a playful yet refined flair always rooted in her strong Pilipina identity to numerous productions, most notably Lorna Chui Velasco’s adaptation, “A Pinoy Midsummer.” Her careful attention to detail brought each character to life; by sourcing cultural garments, hand making costumes, and utilizing fresh produce for accessories (sitaw for string bean bracelets).

Her proudest achievement was Tagalog Fest, co-created with Lorna, which features works written and performed entirely in Tagalog (with one performed in Cebuano), selected from the Virgin Lab Fest, curated by Rodi Vera of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Thanks to Lorna and Joyce’s taste and vision, Tagalog Fest regularly brings to our shores some of the best plays in modern day Philippine theater. For Aureen Almario, artistic director of Bindlestiff, “Tagalog Fest was special for those of us behind the scenes because for the first time we were able to do theater in our mother tongue. As immigrants who had to grapple with assimilation, it provided solace and a deep sense of pride.”

Throughout her life, Joyce shunned the spotlight, choosing instead to empower others to shine. Through her decades of work in the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural District, including at FADF (the Filipino-American Development Foundation), Kearny Street Workshop (where she co-created the body-positive fashion show, Celebrate Your Body), and Bindlestiff, Joyce always championed her community - to fight for our place here, to tell our own compelling stories, and to do it well. Her influence will be felt for generations to come through those she has nurtured, encouraged, and uplifted.

Joyce is survived by Allan, her husband of 28 years, along with her brother Boni and his wife Elnora, her brother Gerry and his wife Malu, her niece Abigail, her nephew Mikey, her brother Roberto and his wife Wena, her niece Janice, her brother-in-law, Manuel Fermin and her niece Ayenne and nephew Jose aka “Boogs”.

The family is raising funds to cover memorial costs, which includes bringing her ashes back to the Philippines, where she was born. Please click here to donate. https://www.joycejuanmanalo.com/