A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS FILIPINO is a play written by Nick Joaquin
in 1952 which is having its premiere performance in the U.S. by the
Ma-Yi theatre company. its set right before the onset of WWII, and has
the kind of drama and intensity of George Bernard Shaw's HEARTBREAK
HOUSE (set right at the onset of WWI). if you haven't seen the show,
it may seem strange to compare it to a canonized Western text like
that, but the play itself deals with the western influences on
Filipino identity. the portrait referred to in the show's title is a
painting by a never-seen but always present character in the play
named Don Lorenzo "El Magnifico" Marasigan. the portrait depicts the
artist as both a young and old man (the younger carrying the older on
his back) and is set in Ancient Greece as a classical allusion.

but since the portrait is of the artist as FILIPINO, this throws into
question the whole concept of filipino identity and where it comes
from.  the show tells the tale of two of Don Lorenzo's daughters
(played in the Ma-Yi production by four different actresses in various
combinations over three acts). Lorenzo (who won't leave his bedroom
and thus is never on stage) gave the portrait to the two of them--as
punishment or reward, it is never quite clear. many different forces
want the painting, from American tourists willing to pay a sizeable
fortune to the Filipino government who wants it because the
Philippines does not have any of the great artist's work, although his
paintings can be found in all the great museums of the Western world.

i enjoyed the production very much. the four actresses who played the
two lead roles were good overall, and excellent in the case of Ruth
Henry.  on the night i saw the show, the part of Bitoy (a journalist
and friend of the Marasigan family) usually played by Ken Leung was
played by the director, Jorge V. Ledesma who did a more than passable
fill-in. in fact, he was really good, although i still would have
liked to see Leung in the role since i enjoy his acting a lot.

ok. there's my mini review. i know that's probably more than what jen
was expecting (or even wanting!), but i've been meaning to do a write
up of the show to put on my web page, and responding to jen's email
was a good excuse to organize my thoughts about it.

oh, and if you get a chance, come visit my new page (address below). i
just began building it, but eventually i hope it will be a really
great resource on asian american performance (my dissertation topic)
that's both personal (w/ mini-reviews of things i've seen) and
informative.

dan
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Dan Bacalzo                       Hey, I'm now on the Web!
dgb9423@is.nyu.edu           Check out my BRAND NEW Web page at:
New York University      /Broadway/Stage/5817
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