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Nick Joaquin’s ‘Mga Ama, Mga Anak’ returns to the stage
In 1976, the year Nick Joaquin was declared National Artist for Literature, he rewrote his short story “Three Generations” into a three-act play titled “Fathers and Sons.”
A year later, future National Artist Lino Brocka directed the first staging of the play at the Philippine Educational Theater Association’s Dulaang Raha Sulayman, an open-air theater housed in the ruins of Fort Santiago in Intramuros. It had been translated into “Mga Ama, Mga Anak” by Virgilio Almario, another future National Artist, and Pete Lacaba.
In its various performances, “Mga Ama, Mga Anak” featured the talents of Ruben Rubio, Robert Arevalo, Lloyd Samartino, Boots Anson Roa, Hilda Koronel, Alicia Alonso, Butch Aquino, and Joel Lamangan, among others.
On Feb. 21, 2014, both Arevalo and Lamangan, now heavyweights in the local entertainment industry, return on stage for Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Mga Ama, Mga Anak,” almost 37 years after the play's world premiere. Back then, Arevalo played Celo, son of the dying Zacarias Monzon, while Lamangan was one of the boys who smashed the massive table at the end of the play. It was Lamangan’s first appearance on stage.
For its 2014 edition, Arevalo is now Zacarias the family patriarch, while Lamangan directs the play, which closes the 27th season of the Tanghalang Pilipino.
“When [TP artistic director] Nanding Josef told me I would be directing 'Mga Ama, Mga Anak,' I said yes right away. My first acting job was in a play directed by Brocka called 'Mga Ama, Mga Anak'. I was one of the two men who destroyed the big table at the end of the play,” he said in between sips of coffee.
“In today’s crop of seasoned performers, Robert Arevalo and Spanky Manikan are the closest talents a director can tap to play the role of Zacarias, which demands a big stage presence,” Lamangan said of Arevalo and Manikan, who alternates in essaying the lead role.
“I did not make a mistake in choosing them as lead actors,” he added.
Lamangan said while this version of “Mga Ama, Mga Anak” uses the Lacaba-Almario script in Filipino, he decided to tweak it by removing the winding discussion on religion and death.
“'Mga Ama, Mga Anak' is one of the most commercial and accessible of Joaquin’s works. It has all the elements of a family drama. The story is about a dying era, the coming in of new inventions. Joaquin once said cultural expressions and lifestyles are being dictated by what is newly invented. In this story, cars are slowly replacing calesas,” he said.
Lamangan said the play's story is timeless. “The conflict is still universal. The conflict is still power. The conflict is still submission. The conflict is still oppression. Bullying is now the form of oppression most common. The young audience can identify.”
On his return to a CCP stage for Joaquin’s work, Arevalo said: “It is very good to be back on stage. Theater or stage is an actor’s medium. Theater work is a more serious endeavor. Acting on stage again is very satisfying professionally and artistically.”
“Like 'Mga Ama, Mga Anak', the material spells the difference. I do not get roles as meaty as this anymore because of the way show business goes these days. The films and television shows are too youth-oriented and the emphasis is on love teams,” Arevalo said in a separate interview.
Celeste Legaspi, on the other hand, said: “To be back on stage memorizing lines is good for the brain cells. It is a nice challenge. It is my first time to be directed by Joel Lamangan. He is very challenging as a director. He is a very good director.”
Legaspi plays Sofia, Zacarias’ daughter-in-law and wife of Celo. She alternates with Jackielou Blanco.
Cris Villonco, who plays the role of prostitute Bessie, Zacarias' lover, said: “It is very interesting to be working with these veteran talents. As a young kid, I’ve watched them in my Lola’s 'Aawitan Kita' and her other productions, also in the television shows of my mother. Now I get to share a stage with them. I get to act with them. It is an interesting mix of talents in one show. It is also a lot of fun.”
Madeleine Nicolas said “Mga Ama, Mga Anak” deals with the “dynamics and tensions of father-son relationships.” “They always say that a son becomes like his father if he likes him or becomes the opposite if he hates his father.”
Banaue Miclat, meanwhile, said the play also tackles the “universal theme of living in the past and making peace with your past.”
“How do we let go? People can relate to the universal theme of letting go,” she added.
Nicolas and Miclat alternate as Nena, Zacarias' daughter.
Other members of the cast are: Nanding Josef as Celo, Marco Viaña as Zacarias' grandson Chitong, and Peewee O’Hara as Mrs. Paulo. — BM/KG, GMA News
“Mga Ama, Mga Anak” runs from Feb. 21 to March 9, 2014 at the CCP's Little Theater. For details, contact TP marketing manager Cherry Bong Edralin at (0917)750-0107 or at (02) 832-1125 local 1620/1621.
