Compania Ynangbayan
Eunice Leano and J. Martin Romualdez in a scene from
Rene O. Villanueva's "Once Upon a Soldier."
Filipino plays deserve
By John Berger
large audiences
Special to the Star-Bulletin"Once Upon a Soldier" & "Prayers and Seduction": At 7:30 p.m.; today and tomorrow at Kumu Kahua, 46 Merchant St.; and Saturday-Nov. 24 at University of Hawaii at Manoa, Geophysics Building, Room 110. Tickets, $5. Call 536-4441.
ANYONE who thinks political theater or plays with a social message must be heavy-handed, didactic, or even lineal in presentation will find director Boots Pascual's English-language presentation of two Filipino one-act plays a refreshing surprise. Revolution is the nominal theme. The topic is approached using extremely different techniques in each. Pascual and his Compania Ynangbayan troupe should be seen by a far larger audience than will probably turn out for their ambitious production.
A soldier sent to Samar to suppress domestic unrest and a smoldering guerrilla insurgency during the Marcos era seeks out a prostitute who reminds him of his sister in Rene O. Villanueva's contemporary play, "May Isang Sundalo." (A native Tagalog speaker renders the title in English as "Once Upon A Soldier".)
Neither of these strangers in the night knows the name of the other. Both bear psychological wounds that are gradually exposed as the night wears on. She blurts out that he's an enemy of the people. He responds that he joined the army to support his impoverished parents and his siblings. She fell into prostitution through similar circumstances.
J. Martin Romualdez, already known as an accomplished comic act, adds an impressive entry to his resume in an intense dramatic role as the soldier. Eunice Leano is expressive and convincing in an equally demanding role as the prostitute (Rico Ventenilla and Imelda Reyes will appear in these roles in some performances).
Villanueva's story is not one for those squeamish about crude language or sexual content, but the themes are universal.
The mood lightens after intermission with "Prayer and Seductions," a musical revue based very loosely on Marcelo H. del Pilar's "Dasalan at Toscohan" (Pascual explains in his director's notes that the English title is not a direct translation but it is intended to covey the play's theme). Pascual deconstructs and then reconstructs del Pilar's 1888 indictment of the economic and social exploitation of the Philippines by the Spanish friars into an uneven but ambitious collage.
Sketches involving parodies of Catholic liturgy may well be similar to what del Pilar envisioned in 1888. Others involve disco dancing, satirical versions of modern pop songs, and a segment on "Friar Fashions" that ends with two friars stripping to beach attire. The successful gambits considerably outnumber misfires.
Eric Burns, J-Troi Orias and Jim Yoshioka are consistently entertaining as hypocritical and morally corrupt friars. The trio relentlessly defrauds and bamboozles gullible Filipinos, patronizes the Filipinos shamelessly, and warns of the sins of the flesh while pursuing any woman (or man) who catches their eye.
Mia Alvar, Sam Andales, Anne-Jasmin Baxa-Butay, Rowena Castanaga, Shidan Dadfar, Kathrine Mangrobang, Stephanie Quintal and Robert Respicio add fine performances.
Pascual suggests in a segment titled "Deadly Bodies" that Catholic-inculcated attitudes on sex and natural functions of the body continue to blight Filipino society (If Filipino women suffer from a higher than average rate of breast cancer is it because they believe that examining their breasts involves sinful touching?). It is an interesting idea but developed clearly enough.
John Berger has covered the
local entertainment scene since 1972.
