CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews /17 September) — The epic play on a pre-colonial seafaring people caps the first day of the September 18-19 Butuan Balangay International Conference.
Lawig Balanghai 2 is a restaging of the story of the Lapacnons (Butuanon people) as they engaged as a community with the circumnavigating Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. It was first staged in Davao City in 1987 under the directorial genius of Nestor Horfilla of the evolving Mindanao Community Theatre Network (MCTN).
Playwright Fe Remotigue, creator of the young and restless warrior Banog character, immersed him to bear the brunt of the subtle enticements of the Frailes as well as the flesh penetrating espadas of soldados, up until he became the baptized Benito to be used as tip of the spear against his own people. Bitterly realizing the depth of his folly, Benito offered his life in restitution while his community painstakingly struggled to exorcise from him the spirit of Benito and restore back Banog when they, too, fell into the hands of the colonialists in their defiance.
What is setting apart Lawig Balanghai 2 (LB2) is the unique employ of the vaunted Kambayoka Theatre Form (KTF) of the internationally known Sining Kambayoka of Mindanao State University (MSU Marawi), where a chorus line of 25 performers narrates and moves the story to the beat and tune of Popong Landero’s ethnic inspired music as performed by an eight-man music ensemble.
The KTF likewise, through the directorial guidance of Thalassa Torres Alaba, herself a Sining Kambayoka mainstay in the 1980s, cuts and connects scenes, oftentimes punctuated by well-choreographed fight movements.
As the epic play is restaged on Thursday night (Sept. 18), the visual presence of a boat will once again concretely attest that the pre-colonial Butuanons used to sail the high seas of Southeast Asia, China, and India. (Merpu Roa / MindaNews)
0 Comments