By Andrew Hamlin
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Photo by Brett Love
Filipino playwright Anamaria Guerzon wasn’t popular or outgoing as a child. A later-in-life medical diagnosis helped her understand why.
“I was a super shy kid, and struggled a lot with making friends,” recalled Guerzon, whose play “Blood/Sucker” plays at the Washington Ensemble Theatre (WET) starting Aug. 28. “I was diagnosed with autism in adulthood, which makes a lot of sense in hindsight.
“I enjoyed living in fictional worlds and learning about people that way, in a safe environment. I always had this powerful desire to be onstage, or be a part of performing in some way. I was really drawn to the storytelling. However, I had crushing stage fright. Growing up, I would try to audition for plays or enter talent shows, which usually ended in tears. After years of trying, I could finally be onstage without crying. It was then that I took guitar and vocal lessons, finally ending up in theatre when I was around 14. That’s how I got started in theatre.”
She began to write stories as a small child, and joined a Young Authors Club at her local library at Maple Valley. After several years of theatre and music as her primary creative outlets, the pandemic hit, and she returned to writing, turning out her first plays.
“I had been aware of WET and its existence for a while! I always saw their audition listings and posters around town, though I never actually saw a WET production before I joined. WET has an incredible legacy in town, and is so unique in that every few years, there’s a totally different group of people that are running the company.
“I joined in 2024. They were looking for people to work for the Literary Department, and someone pointed them towards me. I interviewed, got in, and the rest is history. Since starting at WET, my co-lit manager, Nelle Tankus, and I started WETworks, our new work residency program. I’ve been really proud to be a WET ensemble member. I think this iteration of The Ensemble in particular is driven and focused and community-oriented, and trustworthy.”
She finished a full-length play called “Skin,” selected for the Playwright’s Realm Scratchpad program in New York City. “Skin” shares certain attributes with her new play, notably Filipino history, colonization, and heritage, together with the power of friendship, community, and standing up against censorship.
As for the content of “Blood/Sucker” itself, she described it as “about the public education system, and it also happens to be about monsters. When I worked as a paraeducator at a public high school immediately post-lockdown, I was struck by the burnout that everyone was facing. Lockdown had resulted in kids missing out on key social/emotional developmental stepping stones: The kids didn’t know how to talk to each other anymore, and were more online and isolated than ever. The teachers had spent a year pivoting to online, and teaching to blank screens with cameras off. They were so tired. All this in the political haze that was the aftermath of the 2020 election, Trump, the Black Lives Matter movement, and more.
“I think more than anything else, the play is about what education and the school system mean to those who live within it. It’s essential for the children who are fed at school, for instance. But for many teachers, they give their lives to a place that is built to exploit them and their labor.”
The director, Sophia Franzella, connected because of “Blood/Sucker” itself, which Franzella workshopped at the 2026 New Works Festival, at Seattle Public Theater.
Said Guerzon about Franzella, “We have very similar personality types (both Virgos), and intensity to the way we work, so this partnership has been a dream. Sophia as a director doesn’t merely see the play visually, but is able to understand it as a full-body experience. This play includes choreographed movement, fights, and close collaboration between sounds, lights, and shadows. Sophia runs a tight process, is very communicative and intentional, and challenges her collaborators to make something truly excellent. Sophia is brilliant, and I’m so proud of what we’ve made together.”
Asked what she wants people to take away from the play, she replied love, kindness, and empathy.
“The question then is not what we should do, but how to maintain that kindness when the world punishes people for it. I hope people take away that despite the cruelty of the world, it is still worthwhile to be kind. It’s what makes us human.”
“Blood/Sucker” plays Aug. 28–Sept. 21 at the Washington Ensemble Theatre, 12th Avenue Arts building, 1620 12th Avenue in Seattle.
For prices, showtimes, and other information, visit https://washingtonensemble.org/blood-sucker.
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