Tabsing Kolektib Stages Eljay Deldoc’s Kasaray Duma: Mga Supling ng Sigwa
Tabsing Kolektib, an independent theatre guild that is founded by University of the Philippines- Los Banos alumni and students, is now on its fourth year. In continuing its artistic tradition, the group will be staging Kasaray Duma: Mga Supling ng Sigwa, an original stage play written by Eljay Castro Deldoc who has penned acclaimed plays at The Virgin Labfest.
Eljay Castro Deldoc (playwright)
The production is supervised and directed by UPLB professor, Jeremy Dela Cruz, who has done notable choreography for Tanghalang Pilipino and Dulaang UP productions.
Jeremy Dela Cruz (director)
In celebration of the National Indigenous Peoples month this October, Tabsing Kolektib offers this original Filipino play about a fictional tribe in the Philippines.
Synopsis
The play revolves around the struggle of the Kasaray Duma tribe of Sapang Kawayan island as they are being forced by the government to leave their ancestral land so the mayor could turn it into a sanitary landfill. Even more alarming is the division this has caused within the community. The tribal chieftain, Labang Biwas sides with the government with its promise of a relocation site and financial subsistence, while Pinak, one of the tribe’s elders, strongly opposes it because he believes that they are the rightful steward of the land. In the middle of such dispute, Pakawakaw, the forgotten priestess of the tribe, prays tirelessly for her most awaited coming of a storm. Amidst the threat from a coercive government and a possible disunion amongst themselves, will the Kasaray Duma still find within them their innate knowledge and power as the descendants of the storm?
Presented as an advocacy play, Kasaray Duma tackles the political issue of land- grabbing and the aggression of indigenous peoples that it brings about. The play echoes the silenced stories of the Lumads in Mindanao and the Iraya Mangyans in Mindoro, who experienced violation of human rights, exploitation of natural resources, and other forms of oppression in their fight for their ancestral land. Tabsing Kolektib hopes to give awareness about these issues that are prevalent in different parts of the country.
Ale Herrera as Suligan
The playdates are scheduled on October 11, 2016 (4 pm and 7 pm), October 12, 2016 (4 pm and 7 pm), and October 13, 2016 (4 pm and 7 pm). This will be staged at the NCAS Auditorium, UPLB.
Dane Afuang as Pakawakaw
For more information, contact Eljay Deldoc at 0995-977- 7736.
Here’s a video teaser:
About Tabsing Kolektib
Tabsing Kolektib is a Manila and Laguna-based theatre guild that promotes professional, collaborative, and transformative theater by staging original and adapted contemporary Filipino literary pieces.
It has a three-fold mission, which includes:
1. encouraging the production and appreciation of plays, especially those with contemporary Filipino themes
2. nurturing emerging young talents through professionally managed productions and other related endeavors
3. celebrating the artistic expressiveness of Filipino literary and theatre artists under the highest standards of professional theatre productions
For more information about what’s happening in the Manila theater scene, please view our Theater Calendar.
