‘Ang Pag-uusig’ to Rerun in 2023
Update, 1/4/2023: The show has been moved to February 17 – March 12.
Ang Pag-uusig, Tangalang Pilipino’s Filipino translation of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, will be returning to the stage in April 2023 as the company’s 36th Theater Season finale. It is written by Jerry Respeto and directed by Dennis Marasigan.
Set in 1692, teenage girls are discovered “trying to conjure spirits,” drawing fear and widespread hysteria from the villagers of Salem, Massachusetts. The play was first staged in 2017 and had a succeeding rerun in 2018.
The 2017 cast featured JV Ibesate as John Proctor, Antonette Go as Abigail Williams, Marco Viaña as Rev. Samuel Parris, Blanche Buhia as Betty Parris, Joshua Tayco as Rev. John Hale, Rhodora Dayao as Elizabeth Proctor, Monique Nellas and Ybes Bagadiong as Ann and Thomas Putnam, Lhorvie Nuevo as Rebecca Nurse/ Mary Warren, Jonathan Tadioan as Deputy Gov. Danforth, Daniel Gregorio as Judge Hathorne, Erick Sindol as Ezekiel Cheever, Aldo Vencilao as Giles Corey, and Eunice Pacia as Mercy Lewis.
There were shifts in casting in the 2018 run– Lhorvie Nuevo alternated with Antonette Go as Abigail Williams, Marco Viaña alternated with JV Ibesate as John Proctor, Jonathan Tadioan alternated with Viaña as Rev. Samuel Parris, Aldo Vencilao alternated with Joshua Tayco as Rev. John Hale, Monique Nellas alternated with Rhodora Dayao as Elizabeth Proctor and Tituba, Doray Dayao and Daniel Gregorio alternated with Monique Nellas and Ybes Bagadiong as Ann and Thomas Putnam, Eunice Pacia alternated with Lhorie Nuevo as Mary Warren/ Rebecca Nurse, JV Ibesate alternated with Jonathan Tadioan as Deputy Gov. Danforth, Ybes Bagadiong alternated with Aldo Vencilao as Giles Corey, Aggy Mago alternated with Eunice Pacia as Mercy Lewis, and Victor Deseo alternated with Daniel Gregorio as Judge Hathorne.
Dennis Marasigan shared back in 2018, “It was clear to me that when Miller wrote this play, he used the Salem witch-hunt to express his sentiments about McCarthyism (the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence) which was prevalent during his time. It is probably a testament to continuing relevance of the work that it is considered the most produced among Miller’s plays. According to him, one can tell whether a country has just come out of or about to fall under a dictatorship because a production of The Crucible serves as a reminder or a
warning.”
Marasigan continued, “Nevertheless, it is not the despots that Miller focuses on in the play, but how a community composed of people with the same beliefs, who know each other and are friends, neighbors and relations, can be slowly destroyed and set apart through accusations that are truly unbelievable, but which remained and became widespread due to apathy at first and then fear afterwards. Many lives had to be sacrificed before the majority had the courage to oppose and put an end to the persecution and killings.”
Casting as well as other information for the upcoming 2023 run have yet to be announced.
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