Dogeaters: History repeats itself

One of the great things about good literature is that whether a novel, a play, short story or poem, there are universal themes and catharsis that can be created and felt, regardless of the setting and/or time frame of the literary work. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in some snow-capped Arctic village, some humid tropical isle, in the Victorian era, or in the middle of the swinging ’60s of mod London. Literature is Literature, and when it hums and buzzes, there’s something anyone can enjoy, relate to, and apply to one’s life experience. Dogeaters was such a novel. Back in the early ’90s, it gave me a moment of excitement to see a Filipina published in the US, and be critically acclaimed. Author Jessica Hagedorn considers theater as one of her real “homes,” so it was no surprise to find her adapting her novel for the stage and that it finally reaches our shores. Directed by Bobby Garcia, the stage drama runs until Dec. 2 at the RCBC’s CPR Auditorium, and is a must-watch.

While the novel shifted between the ’50s and the ’80s with dizzying and delicious abandon, the stage play has been given a more linear narrative, and steadfastly revolves around the period when the Film Center was built and inaugurated, with a film festival that was supposed to put Cannes to shame. While the stage play is an absorbing collage of a revolving set of characters, there are sentiments, observations and vignettes that we know can slyly apply to today as well as the temporal setting of the play. Despite the very specific time frame around which the drama ensues, there is something very Filipino and universal about the themes taken up and explored. Corruption in high places, our fascination with celebrities and beauty contests, the mismatch of Love, the allure of power, our obsession with natural, man-made and personal disasters, and the seamier side of our traits of hospitality and the warm, welcoming heart — they’re all on display, like a cracked mirror held up so that we see ourselves, warts and all.

The cast is a stunning ensemble, a heady mix of stage actors and those that traverse between the stage and our silver screen. To name a few, there’s Joel Torre, Gina Alajar, Michael de Mesa, Chari Arespacochaga, Leo Rialp, commercial model turned thespian Teresa Herrera, Rez Cortez, Ana Abad Santos. To single anyone out would be an injustice as the real “star” of the night is the play. At times, it may seem disjointed or lack sustained dramatic impact given how stories flit in and out; but given that this is the chosen manner of presenting the material, one has admire how tightly wound the performance is. Bobby Garcia has them going through their paces with a veneer of spontaneity and recklessness that belies the discipline and split-second timing needed to pull this off!

Even the set has to be remarked upon. The Claudio Bravo portrait of Imelda, the concentration camp barbed wires, the chandelier and disco globe that hangs from the rafters, the Santo Niño and Blessed Mary statues, the golf set; they all point to the very Filipino cocktail of mixing the sacred and the profane, of mixing High Society with the dregs of society, and how business, politics and the military all intersect in that greatest of meeting halls — the golf course.

When I spoke to Bobby and Jessica, they made mention of how some of the material at the end of the play had been adapted to make the play more contemporary and pass comment on what has transpired in our nation since the novel first came out. Again, this is a fine example of how a stage drama can be a living, breathing thing and not just words on paper brought to life. In another time and place, much of what goes on in Dogeaters would have been considered incendiary; that it can still provoke, tease, and titillate is what makes it such fascinating theater, It’s also a sober, yet hilarious, reminder of who we are. We may not necessarily agree, we may not approve, but we’re all transfixed as the drama unfolds! Jessica is presently working on a novel, and her latest play takes the Versace slaying and Andrew Cunanan as it’s take-off point. Titled Most Wanted, I hope we’ll get to see it staged here in Manila soon. In the meantime, rush to the RCBC Theater and catch Dogeaters.