In 2017, I was awarded funding by Arts Council England and British Council as part of their Artists’ International Development Fund. I returned to my maternal homeland of the Philippines to work with Pineapple Lab again, collaborate with local queer artists, and participate in Fringe Manila 2018.

I was Pineapple Lab’s first Artist-in-Residence of 2018 and performed the most of any artist at FringeMNL. These performances included Fringe Opening Party at Museo ng Makati, Burlesque PH and The Hernandez Brothers’ Bodabil, and TEAM‘s Gay Per View. My performances were met with critical acclaim from news outlets including INQUIRER.net and ABS-CBN News, and my workshops and I were mentioned in outlets such as Rappler, PeopleAsia, adobo magazine, and Tatler Philippines.

I held a series of workshops I called the (T)werkshops, which culminated in a showcase at Pineapple Lab’s Gayborhood. Twenty local artists partook in the workshops and created and presented brand new short-form solo performance pieces.

I then co-produced Elephant’s debut Cabaret at XX XX with (T)werkshopper and Elephant co-founder Super Starlet, where we performed alongside fourteen more of my (T)werkshoppers and London-based artist Scarlett Lassoff. Here I also premiered my debut art video, an adaptation of my stage piece Spell.