When local actor Troy M. Apostol visited the Philippines in 1998 as part of the traveling Kumu Kahua Theatre production "peregriNasyon" (Wanderings), he was amazed by what he calls the simple beauties of the country and its culture, and unsettled by the deprivation and poverty that accompanied it.

Apostol was 25 at the time, an up-and-coming actor from Mililani whose first-generation Filipino parents had raised him to embrace Western culture as a way of fitting in and succeeding.

And success seemed to be his. In the Philippines, Apostol and his fellow community theater troupers were treated like celebrities. But Apostol couldn't help wondering about what really separated him and his American-born friends from the impoverished Filipino kids who surrounded them on the trip.

Such questions lie at the heart of Apostol's play "Who the Fil-Am I?" which opens tomorrow at Kumu Kahua Theatre.

"I remember the children who would beg for money every day as we left our nice, little five-star hotel on our way to some grand cultural center theater," Apostol says, sardonically. "I remember just looking into their eyes, but we had to turn them down because we were too busy with telling a story about them."

Apostol and fellow actors Harold Bayang, M.J. Gonzalvo, Martin Romualdez and Dwayne Dumlao recorded their experiences in their personal journals. These would serve as the basis for "Who the Fil-Am I?," a play about a trio of Filipino-American twentysomethings traveling through the Philippines.

An early version of the play got a staged reading at Leeward Community College, but it was not developed into a full-fledged production until Kumu Kahua selected it in recognition of the Filipino Centennial in Hawai'i.

"We're always trying to figure out ways of approaching specific communities, sometimes to celebrate them and sometimes to take an honest look at what is going on," says Kumu Kahua artistic director Harry Wong. "This is an interesting play because it becomes a reminder of all the people who got you here. As harsh as it might be, it's a reminder to be thankful and to have respect for the people who brought you to a place."

Wong says Apostol takes an unconventional approach to theater that works well with this production. Structurally, a subplot involving a woman trapped in a bad relationship slowly becomes the main plot. Traditional Filipino dance, and its derivations, also play an important role in the storytelling.

"Troy's a for-real director," Wong says. "He's not afraid to try less-traditional ways of getting his point across."

The play stars Gonzalvo, Stu Hirayama, Jaedee-Kae Vergara, Reno David, Cheyne Gallarde, K.C. Odell, and Kiana Rivera.

Apostol's mother came from Ilocos Norte in the Philippines and his father from Manila. He was born in Alaska and arrived in Hawai'i at age 3.

Growing up, Apostol, who graduated from the University of Hawai'i with a degree in theater, said he wasn't always sure what to make of his Filipino heritage.

"In Hawai'i, you can think about Japanese people and you have these Japanese images and virtues," Apostol says. "The same is true for Chinese and other ethnic groups. But when you think Filipino, there are not a whole lot of notable Filipinos out there."

And while his 1998 trip raised important questions for Apostol, the writer-director says "Who the Fil-Am I?" isn't intended to offer concrete answers.

"I hope people come away with a greater understanding of life over there and an appreciation of what we have here," Apostol says. "If they are facing their own questions of who they are, or if they're trying to get out of their own oppressive situation, I hope they come away knowing that the power is in there to do so."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.