‘Putri Anak’ spins a necessary message of unity into the traditional komedya

"Putri Anak, Isang Bagong Komedya" returns to stage in celebration of Buwan ng Wika, the 100th anniversary of the UP College of Music, and the 50th Anniversary of the ASEAN.

First staged in April at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, "Putri Anak" moves away from the traditional "komedya" that typically depicts Moro-Christian conflict. Instead, the play advocates uniting for the common good and coming together to defeat graver threats to society.

"Putri Anak" draws from a Maguindanaoan tale of a celestial maiden who descends from heaven and bathes in a stream with her sister.

Putri Anak (Elizabeth Garcia Arce) gets left behind after she loses her alampay (shawl, which serves as her wings) and finds herself in the middle of a conflict between Rajah Sulaymon (Alexander Dagalea) and Sultan Magnayen (Jude Matthew Servilla).

There's an almost inherent silliness to Sultan Magnayen's refusal to return the alampay to Putri Anak, illustrating the same pettiness that prevents progress in our country...and the world.

The play's music, written by Verne Dela Peña, is a character on its own.

"The Philippine kulintang is used as springboard of the music of the play and references musical styles present in theater forms such as randai, norah, makyong as well as rituals and ceremonies such as cañao, sagayan and sinulog.

The half-sung, half-declaimed rhyming verse of the narrative text is woven into the dialogue, based on the dicho of the San Dionisio Komedya, and interspersed with a few songs," Dela Peña shared in a statement to the press.

The banduria, gamelan, gulintangan, piphat, flute, clarinet, saxophone, and drums create a mesmerizing symphony — transporting the audience somewhere magical.

And that enchanting place is here, Southeast Asia. The costume design, the choreography, and the lyrics are all testament and tribute to our rich culture. What a shame that we are more familiar with European fairy tales than our own folklore.

With luck, more traditional tales will find themselves onstage.

"With its message of unity between erstwhile warring chiefs in the face of a seemingly invincible sun-eating monster, it is a fable whose message strikes a pensive chord in audiences of these our beleaguered times," noted critic Nicanor Tiongson, Professor Emeritus at the University of the Philippines - Diliman, was quoted saying in a statement.

He added, "With its bold melding of Philippine lowland and indigenous traditions in music, dance and theater with Southeast Asian performance styles, it strongly argues that the komedya can best be indigenized by connecting it to older precolonial forms that are at the core of our identity as Filipinos." — LA, GMA News

"Putri Anak" runs from August 23 to 25 at the GT-Toyota Asian Center Auditorium. Contact (02) 981-8500 loc. 2460 or (02) 426-7573 and look for Ms Iyah Lafuente for tickets and other inquiries.