To celebrate the birthday of my good friend Melissa, we decided to be nationalistic and cultured at the same time. Repertory Philippines was running a Nick Joaquin play " A Portrait Of The Artist As Filipino" so we went our way to OnStage Greenbelt, Makati to watch it.
Synopsis from www.repertory-philippines.com
A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino is considered the most important Filipino play in English.
Set in Manila in October 1941, it tells the tale of two of Don Lorenzo's daughters, Candida and Paula Marasigan to whom Don Lorenzo has given the portrait and the many different forces want the painting. The daughters resist the temptation to sell their father's self-portrait, which could fetch a small fortune, and ignore their siblings' coercion to dispose of the family house. Imminent war, practice blackouts, and sleazy figures from Manila’s nightlife make a colorful context.
''Portrait of the Artist'' is an engaging, well-plotted metaphor for the passing of Old Manila. It focuses on family conflicts in which old cultural models are reconciled with modern values and the influences of Western values on Filipino identity.
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