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Theater review: Flawed, fragmented Filipino families in ‘Mga Ama, Mga Anak’
Nick Joaquin's 'Mga Ama, Mga Anak' closed Tanghalang Pilipino's 2013-2014 season. Photos courtesy of Tanghalang Pilipino
In re-staging “Mga Ama, Mga Anak,” the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Pilipino asserts that Nick Joaquin and his works, despite what his critics say, are still relevant in this day and age.
“Mga Ama,” which closed the company's 2013-2014 season, can be framed as its way of introducing Joaquin to a new generation more knowledgeable about digital technology and social media than Filipino heroes, national artists, and classics.
The college and high school students who watched “Mga Ama” may have missed the message of the play, which is set in the 1970s and punctuated with words that sound archaic in 2014.
If they had only read up on Joaquin and his time with the same zeal they employ in scrutinizing memory specifications before buying a new gadget, they would not have roared with laughter at the many scenes which demanded empathy and introspection.
“Mga Ama,” which closed the company's 2013-2014 season, can be framed as its way of introducing Joaquin to a new generation more knowledgeable about digital technology and social media than Filipino heroes, national artists, and classics.
The college and high school students who watched “Mga Ama” may have missed the message of the play, which is set in the 1970s and punctuated with words that sound archaic in 2014.
If they had only read up on Joaquin and his time with the same zeal they employ in scrutinizing memory specifications before buying a new gadget, they would not have roared with laughter at the many scenes which demanded empathy and introspection.
To begin with, “Mga Ama” is not an easy story to seize. As a psychological play, one does not watch it without a determined focus, and yet expect to attain the entertainment ecstasy aroused by a musical, romantic-comedy, action films, or a soap opera-like plot.
And to be fair with the young audience, among the straight plays mounted by local theater groups in the months of February and March, “Mga Ama” has the most serious theme: a dark, thorny one presented in varying subtle layers and overtones.
The plot of “Mga Ama” centers on the last few days of the 80-year-old Zacarias Monzon, a once-respected and powerful patriarch who amassed his wealth by being the “carretela king.”
His riches are wiped out by the arrival of motorized vehicles in the country. As the wheelchair-bound Zacarias appears on stage for the first time, he is just a ghost of his glorious, hedonistic past.
Zacarias’ numerous women—and his children with them—have estranged him from his only legitimate son Marcelo, “a gentleman and gran señor.” Marcelo in turn has a similar knotty relationship with his own son, Chitong.
Meanwhile Nena, Zacarias' only legitimate daughter of Zacarias, takes care of him, helped by his mistress Bessie, a prostitute. Nena has remained a spinster because no man was brave enough to court her and face her father.
There is one fleeting scene suggesting that relations between father and daughter are more than filial.
Twisted
In “Mga Ama,” Joaquin challenges audiences to investigate the concept of the Filipino family and the values associated with it—and to understand the searing reality that the Filipino family can be psychologically, morally, and culturally problematic and twisted.
And to be fair with the young audience, among the straight plays mounted by local theater groups in the months of February and March, “Mga Ama” has the most serious theme: a dark, thorny one presented in varying subtle layers and overtones.
The plot of “Mga Ama” centers on the last few days of the 80-year-old Zacarias Monzon, a once-respected and powerful patriarch who amassed his wealth by being the “carretela king.”
His riches are wiped out by the arrival of motorized vehicles in the country. As the wheelchair-bound Zacarias appears on stage for the first time, he is just a ghost of his glorious, hedonistic past.
Zacarias’ numerous women—and his children with them—have estranged him from his only legitimate son Marcelo, “a gentleman and gran señor.” Marcelo in turn has a similar knotty relationship with his own son, Chitong.
Meanwhile Nena, Zacarias' only legitimate daughter of Zacarias, takes care of him, helped by his mistress Bessie, a prostitute. Nena has remained a spinster because no man was brave enough to court her and face her father.
There is one fleeting scene suggesting that relations between father and daughter are more than filial.
Twisted
In “Mga Ama,” Joaquin challenges audiences to investigate the concept of the Filipino family and the values associated with it—and to understand the searing reality that the Filipino family can be psychologically, morally, and culturally problematic and twisted.
Joaquin illustrates that behind the veneer of wealth and patina of respectability assumed by a certain family or clan, relations among their members are as oppressive and cruel as in the larger society.
Broadly, Joaquin likewise laments the unhinging of cultural traditions and splintering of Filipino values with the passage of the seasons.
The intelligent choice made by director Joel Lamangan and the TP production and artistic officials to cast the heaviest of the heavyweights of Philippine theater in Filipino in “Mga Ama” is one of the compelling reasons to catch this play.
Patriarch Zacarias Monzon was played alternately by Robert Arevalo and Spanky Manikan. Marcelo, son of Zacarias, was played by TP artistic director Nanding Josef. Celeste Legaspi and Jackie Lou Blanco alternated as Sofia Monzon, Marcelo's wife. Peewee O’Hara played Mrs. Paulo, the retired nurse. Banaue Miclat and Madeleine Nicolas alternated in the role of Nena Monzon, Zacarias' spinster daughter. Marco Luis Viaña played Chitong, son of Marcelo; and Cris Villonco, was both memorable and provocative as Bessie, prostitute-lover of Zacarias.
The confrontation scenes are emotionally draining, notably when Marcelo has to change Zacarias' bathrobe, or when the patriarch has to be force-fed, and when Marcelo whips Chitong to release his anger, bringing back haunting images of a young Marcelo begging his father not to strike him on the face.
Broadly, Joaquin likewise laments the unhinging of cultural traditions and splintering of Filipino values with the passage of the seasons.
The intelligent choice made by director Joel Lamangan and the TP production and artistic officials to cast the heaviest of the heavyweights of Philippine theater in Filipino in “Mga Ama” is one of the compelling reasons to catch this play.
Patriarch Zacarias Monzon was played alternately by Robert Arevalo and Spanky Manikan. Marcelo, son of Zacarias, was played by TP artistic director Nanding Josef. Celeste Legaspi and Jackie Lou Blanco alternated as Sofia Monzon, Marcelo's wife. Peewee O’Hara played Mrs. Paulo, the retired nurse. Banaue Miclat and Madeleine Nicolas alternated in the role of Nena Monzon, Zacarias' spinster daughter. Marco Luis Viaña played Chitong, son of Marcelo; and Cris Villonco, was both memorable and provocative as Bessie, prostitute-lover of Zacarias.
The confrontation scenes are emotionally draining, notably when Marcelo has to change Zacarias' bathrobe, or when the patriarch has to be force-fed, and when Marcelo whips Chitong to release his anger, bringing back haunting images of a young Marcelo begging his father not to strike him on the face.
The leading actors and actress have not acted on stage for years, if not decades. Their names may not be familiar to the young audience, but serious theatergoers probably felt nostalgic about the bygone era when these talents were making their marks, headlining numerous local stage productions many moons and summers ago, before imported musicals invaded CCP's main theater.
The younger members of the cast are also among the most senior in their generation of Filipino stage performers, and matched the acting prowess of their veteran colleagues. Villonco even surpassed all her leading lady roles in her previous stage productions.
The decision by Joel Lamangan, one of the country’s seasoned and bankable film and television directors, to locate the entire 90-minute, non-stop production in one setting, specifically in the sala of the patriarch’s mansion, contributed to the fast pace and sustained energy of the play.
The collaboration between Lamangan and production designer Tuxqs Rutaquio produced a cheerless yet ornate set dominated by an imposing chandelier with low lights, like the dimming of Zacarias’ life, wealth, power, prestige, and influence.
The younger members of the cast are also among the most senior in their generation of Filipino stage performers, and matched the acting prowess of their veteran colleagues. Villonco even surpassed all her leading lady roles in her previous stage productions.
The decision by Joel Lamangan, one of the country’s seasoned and bankable film and television directors, to locate the entire 90-minute, non-stop production in one setting, specifically in the sala of the patriarch’s mansion, contributed to the fast pace and sustained energy of the play.
The collaboration between Lamangan and production designer Tuxqs Rutaquio produced a cheerless yet ornate set dominated by an imposing chandelier with low lights, like the dimming of Zacarias’ life, wealth, power, prestige, and influence.
The dying patriarch’s portrait is set against a high dark-brown wooden asymmetrical wall, with his menacing eyes observing everything in the gloomy hall. The walls also appear to bear down on the mansion’s residents, made vulnerable by the sparse furniture.
The Monzons' celebrated massive table, said to seat 36 persons during the endless breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at the height of Zacarias’ power, is left to the imagination, a device also employed in the staging of Joaquin’s “Larawan” decades ago.
Monino Duque's lighting and TJ Ramos' music and sound design complemented the production, lending it the theatrical effect of “locking up” characters in the once grandiose sala, where time was “stopped” by Zacarias in his attempt to remain the center of power.
“Mga Ama, Mga Anak” must be remounted by TP and toured around the country so that audiences outside Metro Manila could also have their share of Joaquin and enjoy several of the best talents of Philippine theater. — BM, GMA News
“Mga Ama, Mga Anak” ended its run at the CCP's Little Theater on March 9.
A journalist since 1983, Ibarra C. Mateo was an international wire correspondent based in Tokyo covering Asian politics. He returned to Manila after studying Japanese history and Japanese urban sociology at the Sophia University Graduate School. Mateo has no relevant affiliations with any company or organization that would benefit from this review. The views expressed in this article are his own.
The Monzons' celebrated massive table, said to seat 36 persons during the endless breakfasts, lunches, and dinners at the height of Zacarias’ power, is left to the imagination, a device also employed in the staging of Joaquin’s “Larawan” decades ago.
Monino Duque's lighting and TJ Ramos' music and sound design complemented the production, lending it the theatrical effect of “locking up” characters in the once grandiose sala, where time was “stopped” by Zacarias in his attempt to remain the center of power.
“Mga Ama, Mga Anak” must be remounted by TP and toured around the country so that audiences outside Metro Manila could also have their share of Joaquin and enjoy several of the best talents of Philippine theater. — BM, GMA News
“Mga Ama, Mga Anak” ended its run at the CCP's Little Theater on March 9.
A journalist since 1983, Ibarra C. Mateo was an international wire correspondent based in Tokyo covering Asian politics. He returned to Manila after studying Japanese history and Japanese urban sociology at the Sophia University Graduate School. Mateo has no relevant affiliations with any company or organization that would benefit from this review. The views expressed in this article are his own.
