MANILA, Philippines – Dulaang UP (University of the Philippines) launches its 34th season on July 1 with a clutch of classic and contemporary plays, original Filipino and foreign, and in two languages.

It is billed as “a season on the edge of reason, identity, transformation and power.”

Can we also say that Dulaang UP as an institution is on the edge of something or other?

“Well, we have been accused of being on the edge,” remarked Alexander Cortez, Dulaang UP’s artistic director, during the recent press conference to announce the forthcoming season.
(The press launch, held at Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater in Palma Hall, UP Diliman, was the first in the drama company’s history.)

“We are challenged by issues, by innovation,” Cortez said. “We want to wander... but it’s the first time we put it [on the edge] in print.”

German Romanticism

The emphasis for the season will be on German plays, and on recent Filipino plays.

“For the first time we are emphasizing German Romanticism,” noted director Tony Mabesa, who founded the company in 1976. “German plays are very difficult. They are not saleable. It is easy to sell Shakespeare, the Greeks, even Nick Joaquin, but not the Germans.”

The season opens on July 1-12 with a restaging of Floy Quintos’ “Atang: Dulang may Musika,” which was produced last year with great success, with Shamaine Centenera and Frances Makil-Ignacio giving startling performances.

“Atang” presents the Kundiman Queen in her twilight years, as she tries to orient a pert young actress who will play her on film. Cortez directs.

Also in July, the UP Playwrights Theater will present two one-act plays: Anton Juan’s adaptation of “Dead Stars,” the groundbreaking 1925 short story by Paz Marquez-Benitez; and Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio’s “Sepang Loca” (July 14-18, 21-25). These will be staged at Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan, Bulwagang Rizal, UP Diliman.

Intense lines

On Aug.5-23, the Deutsche theater begins with Frank Wedekind’s “Lulu,” which deals with the complexities of transsexual seduction, passion and the resulting anger. During the press con, young actors Tuxqs Rutaquio and Andoy Ranay read intense, angst-ridden lines from the play as Jeffrey Hernandez wildly interpreted these in dance. Dexter Santos directs.

“This is all about sex, drama,” said Mabesa, chuckling. “We are trying to sell sex.”

Heinrich von Kleist’s “Amphityron” (Sept. 9-22), to be directed by Jose Estrella, is a moral fable that challenges deeply rooted beliefs about love, infidelity and identity.

Also something to look forward to is Freidrich von Schiller’s “Mary Stuart” (in English) and “Maria Stuarda” (in Filipino), pitting Mary Stuart against Queen Elizabeth I.
Actresses Shamaine Centenera and Anna Abad Santos, during the press launch, delivered riveting excerpts from the play, with Centenera all ice and Abad Santos all fire. Mabesa directs.

The season closes with a Filipino adaptation, to be directed by Cortez, of Bertolt Brecht’s “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” with a reading by Eduardo “Teroy” Guzman during the launch. This is a timely critique of modern politics with, no doubt, lessons to be drawn for our tainted politicos.