A splash of summer
August 2, 2004 | 12:00am
William Shakespeare’s cheery play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, gets a reprise from the Metropolitan Theater Guild, a new theater group, with direction by Dr. Ricardo Abad. The guild’s board of directors include such Ateneo stalwarts as Salvador Bernal, National Artist for Theater Design, Dr. Abad, director and sociologist, and Fr. Tito Caluag, S.J., vice president for alumni affairs, planning and development.
Their initial salvo is intertextual: Main text by the Great Bard himself, with crystalline translations into Filipino by National Artist for Theater and Literature Rolando S. Tinio. Ateneo High School theater maverick and actor Ronan Capinding also "updated" some of the translations and transported into them the globalized, multicultural 21st century.
Summer is a time of ripeness in the West. It has none of the severity of winter, nor the temperate winds of autumn and spring. The fields are yellow and the forests green. Everything is alive and breathing – even the folk that usually remain unseen. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is bracketed by the characters of Bottom and Puck. One of the meanings of Bottom is "the ground or the earth." Thus, he represents solidity, earthiness, presence. On the other hand, you have Puck, which originally meant pook – a sprite or spirit with a streak of mischief, even wickedness. Therefore, the play hangs between the earth and the air, between reality and, yes, dream.
The production deals with these dualities in a merry way. Paolo Fabregas plays King Oberon with a certain majesty. Miren Alvarez, as I have written before, is one the great young talents of Philippine theater. Her Fairy Queen, Titania, is at turns refreshing and seductive. My problem with one of the two sets of lovers is projection and internalization. The play is supposed to be a comedy, but they rush through their lines, just mouthing them without really understanding them. A good, long session in internalization would, I hope, help them polish their act.
Ronan Capinding, one of the aforementioned translators, is a blast as Nick Bottom. Bottom is Shakespeare’s Everyman – a clown, yes, but a wise one. With his eyes knit in merriment and glee he sees the world for what it is. Only he alone could converse with the fairy folk. He has the gift of insight. And Capinding, bless him, articulates all of these with bravado. He has stance, presence, and voice. He has the gift for comic timing, that voice like sandpaper now and a caressing whisper later. Ariel Diccion as one of the cast members goes to town with their rehearsals for a production of Pyramus and Thisbe. Diccion gives a marvelous depiction of an actor reminiscent of the Beijing Opera. Caterwauling like a cat and fluid of motion, he brings freshness and originality to his reading.
Stunning is the only way to describe the space-age sets done by Bernal. The light strikes the set and bounces off onto the stage, illuminating the play with shadows and subtle tones. Ali Figueroa’s art design complements the set and costumes. The wireworks wizardry of the stunts company Show Tech is also a treat. Puck flies, spins, and does a somersault – this very creature of the air. My only nit to pick with Puck on opening day is that he seemed too frightening, whereas I guess Puck is really more of a sprite than malevolent spirit. The movements are energetic, all right, but these have been done before in similar productions.
Be that as it may, we should applaud the Metropolitan Theater Guild for believing that the Filipino audience deserves more. I look forward to more smart productions from this group. In the end, as salutation, I can only quote what Theseus said in Act 5, Scene 1, of A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
"The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,/ Doth glance from heaven to earth,/ from earth to heaven;/ And as imagination bodies forth/ The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen/ Turns them to shapes,/ and gives to airy nothing/ A local habitation and a name."
The Metropolitan Theater Guild’s production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream runs until Sept. 25, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 9 p.m., Sundays at 3 and 7 p.m., at the RCBC Plaza, Ayala corner Buendia Aves., Makati City. Call TicketWorld at 891-9999 for inquiries.
Comments can be sent to dremoto@ateneo.edu.
Their initial salvo is intertextual: Main text by the Great Bard himself, with crystalline translations into Filipino by National Artist for Theater and Literature Rolando S. Tinio. Ateneo High School theater maverick and actor Ronan Capinding also "updated" some of the translations and transported into them the globalized, multicultural 21st century.
Summer is a time of ripeness in the West. It has none of the severity of winter, nor the temperate winds of autumn and spring. The fields are yellow and the forests green. Everything is alive and breathing – even the folk that usually remain unseen. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is bracketed by the characters of Bottom and Puck. One of the meanings of Bottom is "the ground or the earth." Thus, he represents solidity, earthiness, presence. On the other hand, you have Puck, which originally meant pook – a sprite or spirit with a streak of mischief, even wickedness. Therefore, the play hangs between the earth and the air, between reality and, yes, dream.
The production deals with these dualities in a merry way. Paolo Fabregas plays King Oberon with a certain majesty. Miren Alvarez, as I have written before, is one the great young talents of Philippine theater. Her Fairy Queen, Titania, is at turns refreshing and seductive. My problem with one of the two sets of lovers is projection and internalization. The play is supposed to be a comedy, but they rush through their lines, just mouthing them without really understanding them. A good, long session in internalization would, I hope, help them polish their act.
Ronan Capinding, one of the aforementioned translators, is a blast as Nick Bottom. Bottom is Shakespeare’s Everyman – a clown, yes, but a wise one. With his eyes knit in merriment and glee he sees the world for what it is. Only he alone could converse with the fairy folk. He has the gift of insight. And Capinding, bless him, articulates all of these with bravado. He has stance, presence, and voice. He has the gift for comic timing, that voice like sandpaper now and a caressing whisper later. Ariel Diccion as one of the cast members goes to town with their rehearsals for a production of Pyramus and Thisbe. Diccion gives a marvelous depiction of an actor reminiscent of the Beijing Opera. Caterwauling like a cat and fluid of motion, he brings freshness and originality to his reading.
Stunning is the only way to describe the space-age sets done by Bernal. The light strikes the set and bounces off onto the stage, illuminating the play with shadows and subtle tones. Ali Figueroa’s art design complements the set and costumes. The wireworks wizardry of the stunts company Show Tech is also a treat. Puck flies, spins, and does a somersault – this very creature of the air. My only nit to pick with Puck on opening day is that he seemed too frightening, whereas I guess Puck is really more of a sprite than malevolent spirit. The movements are energetic, all right, but these have been done before in similar productions.
Be that as it may, we should applaud the Metropolitan Theater Guild for believing that the Filipino audience deserves more. I look forward to more smart productions from this group. In the end, as salutation, I can only quote what Theseus said in Act 5, Scene 1, of A Midsummer Night’s Dream:
"The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,/ Doth glance from heaven to earth,/ from earth to heaven;/ And as imagination bodies forth/ The forms of things unknown, the poet’s pen/ Turns them to shapes,/ and gives to airy nothing/ A local habitation and a name."
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