Full Contact
Written & Performed by Ariel Estrada; Directed by Gaven D. Trinidad
TheatreLab | 357 West 36th Street, New York, NY 10018
November 20-December 7, 2025
Ariel Estrada's one-man show, Full Contact, lives up to its name as the enigmatic performer is unconcerned with the outcomes while he breathes, flows, and parries with precision around the stage. These four of thirteen tenets of Poekoelan fighting are highlighted throughout the piece - as are the others - enhancing the storytelling.
The story is written and performed by Estrada, who experienced many hardships in his amazing life. Originating from the Philippines, Estrada's father joined the U.S. Coast Guard in order to find a better life in the United States. This eventually brought him to serve in Sitka, Alaska, where a young Estrada's painful journey began. Bullied for being different, not just in race, but also for his sexuality, he was forced to navigate this harsh world, often escaping into the worlds in comic books to find solace. Then one day, he was introduced to Poekoelan, and his life would never be the same.
Estrada invites the audience to share in personal moments of his youth, young adulthood, and later years through his eyes, as well as the eyes of his disapproving father. Estrada takes on numerous characters in his life's journey throughout the piece, but the most captivating is the relationship between the ghost - or shadow - of his father, and himself.
Besides the incredible display of physically-demanding Poekoelan movements, Estrada effortlessly portrays the harsh reality of the mental and emotional strain he endured from not being able to truly connect with his father. Decades of physical and emotional struggle come to a head as a father and son recount their struggles, finding commonality where none appeared before.
Director Gaven D. Trinidad's blocking keeps not only Estrada moving, but also the story as a whole. Estrada gave the audience his back while speaking as his father, which helped keep characterization clear, but doubled as a metaphor for how his father treated him throughout his life. In addition, lighting designer Yang Yu did an incredible job of bringing Estrada's father's judgmental eyes to the forefront, staring back at the audience as if also judging them. The lighting elements drove home the darkness and aloneness of Estrada's harsher moments.
The audience feels the desperation and exhaustion of Estrada's struggles and is just as spent as he is by the final blackout. He clearly did all the work, but the audience leaves completely understanding how much Poekoelan meant to him - and how much it destroyed him.
Review by Nioholas Radu-Blackburn.
Click HERE for tickets.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on December 4, 2025. All rights reserved.