http://www.admu.edu.ph/index.php?p=120&type=2&sec=40&aid=6257

Ateneo graders stage a new version of Ibong Adarna

by Dr. Fernando Hofileña
2009-01-15

“Adarna at and Alaala ng Kristal,” the 77th production of the Ateneo Children’s Theatre (ACT), is scheduled to open on January 30, 2008 at the Irwin Theatre, Ateneo Loyola Heights campus.

Jonny Salvador, Executive Producer of ACT and Assistant Headmaster for Student Affairs of the Ateneo Grade School explains, “Choosing a Filipino play for 2009 was a deliberate move by the directors in conjunction with the celebration of Ateneo’s 150th year, its Sesquicentennial, in the Philippines. After more than six years of staging Broadway musicals, it is high time for ACT to take a different route, one that will celebrate the beauty of the Filipino language all over again. This, of course, is fueled by the theme of Ateneo’s sesquicentennial year which is nation building.”

Ace Elgar, one of the directors, shares that Khavn dela Cruz, an Ateneo alumnus, volunteered to write the script after he got wind of the fact that ACT was looking for a writer who will give the popular Filipino korido, “Ibong Adarna,” a twist. She also mentions dela Cruz’ enviable credentials: recipient of Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Poetry and Fiction and the Dean’s Award for Literature from his alma mater; an acclaimed composer, songwriter, singer, pianist and writer of several rock operas; and recipient of citations from the Metro Pop Song Festival and the Ateneo Songwriting Fest as well as The John Lennon Songwriting Contest (New Jersey). To top it all off, he is also considered Father of Philippine Digital filmmaking.

Khavn surprised the directors because he did not write about the legendary quest of Don Juan for the Ibong Adarna in order to help his dying father, King Fernando (the first part of the 1,722 stanzas of “Ibong Adarna” which many Filipinos know and love). What he wrote was the last story in this romantic narrative poem – Don Juan’s search for the Reyno de los Kristales (the fourth and fifth part of the entire korido if divided into five parts), because he was driven by the desire to educate the theatre-goers, especially the younger patrons. Unfortunately this part is hitherto unheard of and unseen in this country. Faithful to the korido, Khavn embraced the same lyrical language for the script.

“Adarna at ang Alaala ng Kristal” opens with Don Juan sleeping under a tree, tired from his long journey back to Berbania. The Ibong Adarna awakens him with a song which tells him where he can find true love and about a beautiful lady named Doña Maria Blanca whom he can proudly present to his father. The heroine is the daughter of King Salermo of the Crystal Kingdom.

Though unable to find the Crystal Kingdom in three years of walking, he journeys on. Asking an old man where the kingdom is provides no help for the stranger is clueless.

He goes to a 500-year old hermit upon the advice of the old man but his effort is futile.

An 800-year old hermit whom he meets later consults with the birds and an eagle. To his joy, this eagle knows the location of the kingdom.

So the king of the bird flies to the east with Don Juan riding on its wings. Don Juan finally spots Maria Blanca bathing in a river with two other princesses.

He naughtily hides her clothes that he sees laid on a rock in order to get her attention. Soon after the bath the lady discovers that her clothes are missing and this angers her.

Contrite, Don Juan falls on his knees begging her to pardon him. Overcome with compassion for the man who humbly declares his love for her, she forgives him and warns him about the fate that befalls those who dare ask for her hand in marriage.

King Salermo orders the ardent suitor to perform a series of extremely daunting tasks such as putting the mountain in the middle of the sea and building a castle there. Don Juan does them all creditably, with Maria Blanca’s help. Feeling defeated and sensing the strong bond between his daughter and her lover, the king plans to banish them to England but even this fails because the couple eloped. Dejected, he breathes a curse: “You’ll be forgotten by Don Juan. He will leave you and marry someone else”. Then death claims him.

In the outskirts of Berbania, Don Juan is told by his sweetheart about the curse. Determined, he promises not to allow a woman to approach him. But as fate would have it, Leonora comes near him and he forgets Maria Blanca and he prepares to marry her.

At the celebration, however, a program is held per Maria Blanca’s request. In the drama a female lumad strikes her male partner repeatedly. Each blow inflicts pain on Don Juan, restoring his memory. He then remembers Maria Blanca whom he finally weds.

In this production, dela Cruz teams up with a number of fellow Ateneo alumni giving back to Ateneo that has nourished their creativity and drive toward excellence for the greater glory of God.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 15th, 2009 at 7:09 pm and is filed under EVENTS, MUSIC, WRITINGS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.