STORY DESCRIPTION A young woman's murder prompts Maya (played by Melinda Corazon Foley*) to confront the family she has shunned for 8 years. Told in stylized verse language, influenced by hip hop and spoken word, "the Coconut Masquerade," plunges into the depths of one family's hidden shame as they journey towards forgiveness. The world premiere of Coconut Masquerade, [www.coconutmasquerade.com] produced by Teatro ng Tanan, played to sold out houses at SF's Bindlestiff Studio in 2002. Developing segments of the project have also reached audiences in cities from NYC to Denmark, London, Chicago, Washington D.C.,and Los Angeles. "Coconut's" production coincides with the increasing fusion of Spoken Word and Hip Hop influenced theater, as evidenced by the national success of Youth Speaks, a San Francisco-initiated and now bi-coastal literacy program, as well as by productions ranging from MTVs recent Hip Hopera, a contemporary remake of the 19th century opera, Carmen, to the 1998 Sundance and Cannes Film Festival Winner, Slam. *Excerpt cast: Ruth Virata, Mariel Flores Vinalon, Michael Dorado, Siwaraya Rochanahusdin, Aaron Niles, and Melinda Corazon Foley. Select music production by Soleil and Reynaldo Timosa Novicio, Jr.