Lui CarungayTanghalang Pilipino Shines Again As it Stages Shakespeare’s Coriolano
Utak. Puso. Bayan. (Mind. Heart. Country) always guided by these three words, Tanghalang Pilipino has never failed the people in staging only the most powerful and substantial theater productions. Now on its third production of the season, Tanghalang Pilipino captivates us once more, in Coriolano: Bayani o Berdugo.
Coriolano in the present times
Bayani o berdugo? (a hero or an executioner?) nowadays, with the political state in the country cast into chaos, it is extremely hard to determine whether or not a politician is sincere or insincere, if he’d fulfill what he’s promised the time he was only running for office. People believe what they want to believe, and sometimes sugarcoated words almost always become successful in their sole goal of deceiving people. Coriolano definitely mirrors and magnifies our present society: the ill- tempered Marcio Coriolano, who’s harsh words, and firm disregard in using a filter, which we know all too well from the personality of a high ranking politician; and Aufidio of Corioli, Marcio’s mortal enemy, who seems like your regular happy- go- lucky guy, but is actually cruel and unforgiving.
So when asked about what what inspired him to stage Coriolano, director, Carlos Suiguion- Reyna said:
“ It’s a rarely produced Shakespeare play, as far as I know, this is the first time it’s been produced dito in the Philippines. But what actually urged me is that it resonates the present times, kasi dito nakikita natin yung dalawang opposing political forces, yung democratic forces and yung fascist forces. And we see them both for what they are. Yung kanilang mga idealism, yung kanilang strength, at saka yung kanilang moral corruption and weaknesses. So both of them have it, so I feel that it’s very topical. The play is very similar to what’s happening today, so it resonates. And if there’s anything to take away from this show, gusto ko na suriin natin ng maiigi ang ating leaders.”
(It’s a rarely produced Shakespeare play, as far as I know, this is the first time it’s been produced here in the Philippines. But what actually urged me is that it resonates the present times, here we see two opposing political forces, democratic forces and fascist forces. And we see them both for what they are – their idealism, their strength, and their moral corruption and weaknesses. So both of them have it, so I feel that it’s very topical. The play is very similar to what’s happening today, so it resonates. And if there’s anything to take away from this show, I’d want the people to be carefully choose our leaders.)
The challenges of staging a Shakespeare play
Staging a Shakespeare play is never easy, since old English words still have to be translated into present day English and then translated into Filipino. Coriolano is especially hard, because of its length, it’s intense sword fighting scenes and its elaborate stage design and stage costumes. According to director, Carlos Suiguion- Reyna, these are the challenges they have faced in facing Coriolano:
“The most challenging part for me is that we only had four weeks to really rehearse it. The main challenge is, well, it’s a long play. The translation by Guelan Luarca was excellent, but, hindi siya madali, it’s challenging, kasi he’s following the original Shakespeare structure, yung dialogue structure, even the sentences. Masalimuot talaga yung language. Piniga nila (Tanghalang Pilipino Actors) talaga sarili nila to play multiple roles, so nag s-swing sila from one, to several roles.”
(The most challenging part for me is that we only had four weeks to really rehearse it. The main challenge is, well, it’s a long play. The translation by Guelan Luarca was excellent, but it’s not easy, it’s challenging, because he’s following the original Shakespeare structure, the dialogue structure, even the sentences. The language was deep. They really pushed their selves (Tanghalang Pilipino Actors) to the limit to play multiple roles, so they swung from one, to several roles.)
Coriolano runs from February 22, 2019 to March 17, 2019 at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino, Cultural Center of the Philippines.
