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Friday, March 29, 2024

A relevant political theater 

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‘Doc Resureccion’ delves into the disturbing underbelly of local politics

The dead come back to life during elections. Not-so-secret vote-buying methods. Blaring political jingles so early in the morning waking you up after a night of burning oil. Politicians promise the impossible just to win and retain power and smear mud on their opponents. People vote for unscrupulous candidates even when there are better choices.

We are all familiar with these scenarios. Same situations, same nuisances, same vicious cycle happening then and now. Things have never changed in the political arena. This is why Doc Resureccion: Gagamutin Ang Bayan, a stage play written by Layeta Bucoy and produced by Tanghalang Pilipino, still resonates these days.

The play follows the story of two cousins who are running for the same position in their hometown in the coming election. One is a doctor who has little experience in running a bureaucracy but has a high chance of winning against the incumbent mayor seeking re-election. The other becomes a nuisance candidate paid by the incumbent mayor to confuse the voters. Things turn nasty when Doc visits Boy Pogi, asking the latter to withdraw his candidacy.

A scene from ‘Doc Resureccion’

TP Actors Company’s Jonathan Tadioan reprises his role as Boy Pogi, while TP associate artistic director Marco Viaña plays Doc. Completing the cast are Lhorvie Nuevo as Boy Pogi’s wife Elsa, Sherry Lara as Boy Pogi’s mother, and TP artistic director Fernando “Tata Nanding” Josef as Boy Pogi’s father.

The political-themed play was first staged in 2009 as part of the Virgin Labfest, the annual theater festival of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. It was restaged a year after as part of the Revisited Set. Tuxqs Rutaquio directed the restaging in 2010.

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This year, the CCP resident theater company decided to restage it for the third time because it is very timely since the presidential election is just around the corner.

‘Doc Resureccion’ is a political-themed play that urges
voters to be critical

If you’ve seen the first two stagings, you’ll notice that nothing much has changed. It’s the same old tale.  

Dennis Marasigan, who will be directing this latest staging, shared that they remain faithful to the material, except for two lines which they changed to mirror the current automated election process.

“I did not think that it had to be different. I focused on the elements and themes that are relevant today. For me, the election is not the only thing that is wrong. On the surface, we might think corruption is the problem because hints of it are always present in the election process. But if you go down deeper, the problems we have is because of ‘othering.’ If you are not with us, you are against us. If you are against us, away tayo.”

We can discern this phenomenon of othering not just during this campaign period, but in our everyday lives. Just on social media alone, see how divided we are.

A scene from ‘Doc Resureccion’ during the press preview

“Sa election, habang umiigting, may kami at sila. Sila ay iba. Kami ay iba. Ideally in a democracy, if we have different political leanings, it is a matter of questions of ideas. Pero ngayon, basta iba ka, wala tayong usapan. Sa dula, bagamat may kaugnayan ang mga karakter sa isa’t isa, kapag nilagay mo sa isip mo na iba ka, ito na ang simula ng away at hidwaan. Walang patutunguhan maganda.”

Doc Resureccion streams until April 30. Tickets are available on Ticket2Me.net.

Originally, the plan was to stage the play live when the pandemic eases up. But Omicron surged and we were on lockdown again. TP wanted the play out before the election; hence, they decided to stream it online instead.

The director shared that they will probably do a stage version (hopefully soon), and they are thinking about a film adaptation.

The cast of ‘Doc Resureccion’

In a time when fake news and misinformation are rampant, this is truly a play worth watching.

“I hope when they watch, they will look at themselves and try to see things – Ganun ba ako? Kilala ko ba itong napapanood ko? Instead of seeing things as simply black or white, the play presents realities that are happening around us. Nothing has changed since 2009. It will make you think, be critical about things, examine things and go beyond the surface. Kaya tayo may fake news kasi we’re not that critical anymore.”

Come May 9, we will all go to the poll precincts and elect who will govern us for the next six years. I won’t tell you who you should vote for, but I’m going to emphasize to be discerning. More than the who, we should choose how we will be governed. Let’s focus on the platforms rather than the personalities.

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