'Isang Panaginip na Fili' Takes the Stage

Informal Theme #8

Blog #8





After “Orosman at Zafira” and “Shock Value”, Dulaang UP continues its 35th Theatre Season with Isang Panaginip na Fili. This production is Dulaang UP’s prelude to the 150th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal, and is written by Floy Quintos and with original music composed by Ceejay Manuel Javier. Floy Quintos made sure that he chose the right people to play the lead roles in Dulaang UP’s musical, “Isang Panaginip na Fili.” The play was first staged in 2009 and was then well-received by its audiences. Quintos, however, shares that what sets this year’s production apart from the previous one is the inclusion of a truly powerful vocal cast. “More than actors who can sing, I have singers who can act,” says the director.

            Isang Panaginip na Fili is a radical reworking of Rizal’s El Filibusterismo. For one, Jose Rizal himself is a central character in the musical. Set in 1891, Rizal is writing El Filibusterismo in a seedy hotel room in Paris. His roommate is Tunying Ibañez, an Ilustrado who is living a profligate life in the said city. Little by little, Tunying is drawn into the mystery of Rizal’s novel, as well as into Rizal’s haunted dreams. The play is about the idea of transformation: Ibarra’s transformation from reformist to filibustero is the very crux of the novel, and is echoed by Kabesang Tales’ morphing into Matang Lawin, Basilio into a disillusioned rebel, and Juli, from a faithful lass to a sexual plaything. Even Maria Clara transforms from the chaste inamorata to Salvi’s secret whore. The new libretto makes explicitly clear the transformations only hinted at in Rizal’s novel.

            The play absolutely amazed me, and even the people around me. The performers were flowing with talent, whether it be singing, acting or dancing. The actors and actresses were fantastic for they portrayed their characters very well. We also must not forget the props and lights that gave the play a much deserved look from the audience. Dulaang UP, through Isang Panaginip na Fili, brings these questions back to the forefront of our imagination.