The Familiy on Stage

As mentioned in a previous post, I watched a performance of the Virgin Labfest 3 last Friday. As one of the blogs that I check everyday, Gibbs Cadiz announced last week that he was giving away free tickets to the Labfest. The catch though is that anyone who avails it would have to write about the plays in his/her blog. I quickly emailed Gibbs (a million thanks to you) and a day later I met him outside the CCP for the set called Madradramang Pamilya.

First, I have no idea why I'm even daring to write a "review" of the plays we watched. I'm not a theater fanatic although I've seen quite a number of them back in college because the teacher required us to do so. Once I watched a play called Ming Ming in Davao, and that was the only time I watched theater on my own accord.

When I moved back to Manila I often wanted to watch the fare offered by the theater groups here. But always I find them too expensive or that they're always performed in some theater that were simply out of my way.

So when free tickets to the Labfest became available, and anyway the CCP is just an FX ride away from Diliman, I quickly grabbed the opportunity.

All of my comments here are definitely the most pedestrian things said about theater. I badly need enlightenment on these things so any comment is welcome.

The first piece, called Bagahe, was set mostly in the US and explored the relationship of a mother and her son, who were at odds over the Nanay's plan to bury her husband in the Philippines. The two characters were engaged in an endless argument, mainly showing clash of values between two people from different generations. The story's nothing new: the haughty son who made it big and now imposes on his equally impertinent mom. (It does not help that the performance of the actor portraying the son was robotic at best.) Several times I nearly dozed off. To keep me awake, I eavesdropped on my seatmates who were incessantly gasping over the long, gray hair of the actress.

The second piece Looking for Darna took a peek at the life of three generations of Filipinas (the lola, mom, and daughter) living in the US. The grandmother was fast slipping into dementia and she had recurring nightmares of her harrowing experience with rape during the war. The rebellious daughter, on the other hand, was undergoing some sexual awakening of her own and was raped (or was she?) by her boyfriend in the process. (Meanwhile, the mom shrieks the entire time.) Although they did not exactly know how their experiences mirror each other, the lola and the granddaughter (who each gave engaging performances, btw), created an extraordinary bond between them. I loved this piece over the others for its originality and inventiveness.

To cap the evening's lineup was a comedy titled Teroristang Labandera. This one is about a Filipino-Chinese family whose lives seem to be dominated by a chain-smoking labandera. It's like an inverted war of the classes, albeit rowdier, which was actually the best way to perk up the audience after a couple of relatively depressing pieces. I did not like all the squealing at first (add to that the fact that I don't like comedies to begin with). But I realized that the story's more about the materialism that gnaws the family. Ironically, their collective materialism served as their bond. However, the same was used by the labandera to take a firmer hold on them.

After several years, it was exciting to watch plays once again. I love the intimacy theater affords to the audience and the actors. I'm also thrilled about the outlandish stories that only theater dares to tell. I definitely want some more.