Valencia Park Native Lani Gobaleza, No Pushover, Prepares for Debut of Play ‘Every Day Vanilla’

Spare Pen this week will present the premiere of Every Day Vanilla, the debut play of writer-actor, and Valencia Park native, Lani Gobaleza.

Performances begin at Moxie Theatre in Rolando Village on Thursday, continuing through Dec. 29.

The play, which features LGBTQIA+ stories and intergenerational conflict, focuses on teen Filipina-American writer Frankie Robles. She dreams of escaping San Diego for somewhere less “vanilla,” and over the course of 10 years, begins to reexamine her relationship with her hometown through the eyes of family, friends and lovers.

Gobaleza, who will play the title role, is also producing the play.

“I decided to independently produce the play for many of the same reasons that authors self-publish their books,” she said in a news release. “I didn’t really want to wait for someone to validate my story. Sometimes, you have to make the magic happen yourself.”

The Morse High School alum, who went on to college at UC Berkeley and to teach English in Japan, now works as a copywriter and runs a specialty tea business in La Jolla with her partner.

Given her own journey, and Frankie’s in the play, she concedes, “Every Day Vanilla is inspired by my personal experiences, more or less.”

The cast also features Sasha Foo, best known locally for her stint at KUSI News. She plays Frankie’s mother.

For Gobaleza, her goals in writing Every Day Vanilla were clear.

“I wanted to include everything I wish I saw in stories growing up,” she said. “Single mothers, mother figures, representation of Filipinos who aren’t Catholic – I grew up Methodist, and I would get made fun of for that growing up – Southeast Asian representation, the introvert’s struggling (with) feeling punk rock but presenting like a pushover, sapphic love that doesn’t end in death, drag queens, first-generation guilt, depression and anxiety in its many forms, and more.”

This production is presented separately from Moxie Theatre’s programming. Tickets, with general admission starting at $44, are available at everydayvanilla.com.