Dahling Nick and Plays

Tropical Baroque: Four Manileño Theatricals by Nick Joaquín
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I bought this book because I cannot locate my old book that contained the Short story titled Summer Solstice. In preparation for the PRPB Book Talakayan with Nick Joaquin, this collection of plays titled Tropical Baroque has the play named "Tatarin", and I was tasked to read an excerpt of Lupe and Guido's moments.

What struck me in these four plays are the portayal of women and how they were genuine and empowered in their time, and how significant the transformation of the realities around them. Set in old Manila, “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino” revolves around two spinster sisters, Paula and Candida Marasigan, as they struggle but remain determined to fight for all the things precious to their family. In “Tatarin,” Doña Lupe's participation in the ritual gives her the opportunity to dominate her man, Don Paeng. In “Fathers and Sons,” Bessie fights back against the shadows cast by her past as an abandoned child sold and bought into the life of a prostitute. And finally, “The Beatas” illustrates the leadership of modern views and actions of Antonia Ezguerra and Sebastiana de Santa Maria, and how the hermanas fought the challenge of shutting down the first beaterio in Manila.

Plot-wise, I liked the Fathers and Sons the most. One quote has struck me in awe:

"Character is not something we inherit, it is something we create."

This play uncovers a traumatic history and how it has shaped the characters and how they were unconsciously caught in the loop that seemingly cannot get out of. When Bessie came into the frame, she became the sign of change and a sign of freedom; a figure that sometimes misinterpreted as a wrong item, but truly the right thing all along.

Of couse the most sensual play was Tatarin, because of the idea of its rituals and the opportunity to dominate men, nevermind that last scene when Paeng kneels and crawls across the yard!!! Haha, made me want to want the movie adaptation again.

Other two plays are runner-ups for me for it has a clear landscape of its setting from the old days. Maybe I was too contemporary to appreciate its storylines but these do not discount the overall collective tone of feminism in this collection.

Dahling Nick, thank you again for letting my spirits soar with all these plays. You do weave the stories and its narratives so clearly and so beautifully.

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