UPLB Samahan sa Sining (SAMASINING), the laboratory arm of the Department of Humanities, and Theatre Communication classes have, for the years, taken the lead in producing plays of high quality that enhance the students’ study of and appreciation for the arts and the humanities. In continuing this artistic tradition, we would like invite you to be part of staging John Millington Synge’s “Riders to the Sea/Sa Sinapupunan ng Laot: A Transcultural Performance,” a two-part adaptation by Prof. Emmanuel V. Dumlao, and under the direction of Prof. Dennis D. Gupa.
“Riders to the Sea/Sa Sinapupunan ng Laot: A Transcultural Performance” showcases a twin presentation of two different cultures-- Irish and Filipino, back to back in one show. The Irish version is set in an isolated island in Ireland, while the Filipino version is set in Alabat, Quezon. The play revolves on a living mystery, a family’s tragedy, and the faith and strength of a mother and of a woman despite desolate situation.
Experience theater in UPLB! Catch the show on September 16 and 17, 7pm; September 18, 3pm and 7pm; September 19, 10am and 3pm; and September 21, 10 am at the DL Umali Hall, UPLB. Tickets are at 200php each. For ticket reservations you may contact Ms. Camille Custodio at 09179789018.
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Woman, Womb, and Waves
For the past years, the University of the Philippines Los Baños, through the Department of Humanities, had already produced a number of quality theater productions which not only earned favorable feedback from the public, but also contributed greatly to the theatrical culture in the university. Continuing this tradition, the Department of Humanities’ Theatre Communication Class (THEA 107) and its theater laboratory arm, Samahan sa Sining (SAMASINING) will stage another play that will not only celebrate theatre as a practice, but also as an art that transforms people.
Sailing on stage this September would be the play Riders to the Sea by the Irish dramatist John Millington Synge. This story shows the strength of a mother against unrelenting forces of nature- the big waves of the sea that claim lives, and the loss of the sons a woman bore in her womb and cared for all her life. Set in the Aran Islands in Ireland, Synge was able to mirror in his text every bit of the peasant way of life, their language, and their daily struggles to survive. Now that the waves brought the play to the UPLB shore, a so-called transcultural performance is about to rise from this production. With the direction of Prof. Dennis Gupa, director of well-acclaimed productions such as Pagbulas ng Sibol and Bagong Cristo, Riders to the Sea will be performed back to back with its Filipino adaptation entitled Sa Sinapupunan ng Laot. This Filipino version of the play was written by Emmanuel Dumlao, a Palanca Awardee and a professor in the Filipino Division of the Department of Humanities. With the concept of transculturality, the goal of this play is to present the uniqueness and similarities of the cultures involved and connect them using the stories of loss and struggle against nature.
Some of the noticeable differences in the two versions would be the locations, the names of the characters, and the languages used. From the original setting, Aran Islands, Ireland, the play was brought to the environment of Alabat Island, Quezon, Philippines. And from the 19th century birth of Riders to the Sea, its Filipino version, on the other hand, was set in the contemporary times. The sisters Cathleen and Nora became Rosa and Rebecca in Sa Sinapupunan ng Laot. The distinct language of the Aran people was also transformed into the language used by the people of Alabat.
Nonetheless, this play would serve as a window to the culture of the Aran people who, during the 19th century lived in a very isolated and primitive land in the Western part of the world. It would also make the audience more appreciative of the culture of our countrymen in the remote islands of Alabat, Quezon. But more than each culture’s distinction from each other, the play would celebrate the commonalities they possess especially when it comes to faith in God in spite of cruel circumstances, and great loss.
As Synge’s immersion to Aran Islands had become his foundation for writing Riders to the Sea, the production and the artistic staff of this play deemed it necessary to also have an immersion in the Alabat Islands. This led the production and the artistic staff, particularly the actors, to further understand the play and its adaptation through a firsthand experience of an island-life. The culture and lives of the Aran people were studied through research done on the Aran Islands. Among them were Synge’s own book entitled Aran Islands and the classic documentary film Man of Aran (1934) by Robert J. Flaherty, which was shown to the actors and staff at the early part of the process and is also to be shown during the play. But more than the knowledge of the play’s background, exposure and insights gained from real experiences of island-living proved to be very useful in portraying the characters in the story, above all at the adaptation.
During this three-day immersion in the Alabat Island, the actors were exposed to the locals’ way of living. They had an opportunity to converse with different families who depend primarily on the sea for their source of income. Moreover, they also interviewed some fishermen, visited their fishing boats, and learned from them the life of a seafarer. The actors gained insights from the fishermen’s perception of their work, their aspirations in life and fears of the sea, and their experiences in it especially during the typhoon Milenyo. The actors and the artistic staff talked to the women whose husbands or sons have sailed almost all their lives with the sea. They also shared their hardships in dealing with loss and the faith in God that kept them going for the sake of their familiesas some of them spoke of their loved ones’ death during Milenyo.
These stories of the women in Alabat resonate those of the women in Aran when it comes to struggling with the island’s harsh nature. This shows how cultures and people from the opposite parts of the world can still share similarities, thus, making the concept of transculturality in this play very relevant. >From this immersion came the understanding of the human character as displayed by the women. Maurya in Riders to the Sea portrays the character of the women in Aran, while Dolor in Sa Sinapupunan na Laot represents the character of the women in Alabat. These women characters both show how they face struggles in their lives and in their families. This kind of strength and power, as long as mothers exist, will never be wiped out in the face of humanity. And surely, it will continue to nourish and guide generations to come.
This September, with a story already born and two cultures meeting together as if dancing waves from different parts of the ocean, the oneness of the bodies of water will be affirmed and the universalism of a mother’s love and a woman’s power will be exalted. DL Umali Hall will be filled with the songs of the human character’s triumph over the forces of nature. Sail with us as we go deeper and discover the waves that burden a mother and seek to drown her hope.
