REVIEW: ‘Yemaya’ is a magical odyssey that does not conceal its bleak reality
“9 Works Theatrical’s first straight play transports the audience into a beautifully realized world while never letting them forget the darkness lurking behind the fantasy.”
Yemaya is 9 Works Theatrical’s first foray into producing a straight play and the result is a fantastic but also surprisingly somber depiction of a young man’s coming of age and his dreams for a better future.
This is a Filipino translation of Yemaya’s Belly, the first play of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes who is most known for writing the book of the Tony Award-winning musical, In the Heights. Eljay Castro Deldoc’s translation of Hudes’ script maintains the delicate balance between the naturalistic dialogue of the island-dwellers and their occasional poetic declarations. Director Ed Lacson Jr. paints a vivid portrait of island life with elements of magical realism, never shying away from showing the bleak realities faced by the characters even as they chase their fantasies.
The play follows the adventures of Jesus (Tommy Alejandrino), a young boy living in the village of Magdalena on an unnamed island in Cuba. He has big dreams of going to America and meeting that country’s president one day.
He constantly pesters his loving mother (Bituin Escalante) and hangs around the local coconut merchant, Tico (Herbie Go). After winning a game of domino with his uncle Jelin (Anthony Falcon), Jesus takes the bus to town and sees a world bigger than his tiny village. They encounter a mysterious and enchanting street performer (also played by Escalante). Jesus also meets the enterprising Lila (Sheenly Gener), who runs her own business and gives him his first taste of Coca-Cola. A fire breaks out in their village and in a moment, Jesus’s world shatters around him. He becomes even more determined to seek a better life on the shores of America. He meets Maya (Ness Roque) who might just be able to take him there.
Shared history, familiar imagery
The play never explicitly mentions that it is set in Cuba, which makes it easy to imagine it set in any Latin American country or tropical island. Scenes of splitting a coconut to get its juice or valuing one’s harvest of rice need not be translated for a Filipino audience. Spanish names and terminologies likewise do not sound foreign to our ears. But the cultural similarities between the Philippines and Cuba in this play extend beyond the aesthetic. They are more deeply rooted: the shared trauma from being colonized by Spain, the oppressive daily lives under a dictator, and the hope that better lives await those who reach the shores of America. This is also essentially an immigrant’s story and therefore, a painfully familiar one to many.
Sheenly Gener and Tommy Alejandrino; Photo Credit: Adrian Begonia Photography
Lacson Jr. transforms the stage into the island itself with wooden beams flanking the four corners of the stage while the center is filled with sand. Hanging precariously but with impressive stability from the ceiling are various signages, pieces of furniture, and other props that are lowered or raised according to each change of scene. Tico’s cart of coconuts appears when he argues with young Jesus. During Jesus and Jelin’s excursion into town, signages indicating several different business establishments are lowered to effectively convey the hustle-bustle of city life. And when Jesus visits Lila’s grocery store during a pivotal moment, a whole pridyider with bottles of Coca-Cola descends from the ceiling.
Magical moments
Complementing the intricate set design are Jethro Nibaten’s lights which truly elevate certain moments in the play, plunging the audience into utter darkness in order to truly spotlight specific characters. One such moment that still lives in this writer’s mind rent-free is when Jesus tastes Coca-Cola for the first time and Alejandrino, bathed in red light against pitch black, experiences something akin to religious ecstasy.
Two other notable moments, that are accentuated not just by striking lights but also by urgent rhythms and choreography (music and sound design by Teresa Barrozo, movement direction by JM Cabling), are the games of dominos played by various characters, each one varied in stakes, but no less compelling to watch.
Alejandrino is the heart of this show, playing Jesus (who later changes his name to Mulo) with childlike wonder and innocence that is painfully shattered by the tragic events of life. His energy never falters, however, and his determination to seek a greater destiny keeps the audience rooting for him until the bitter end.
Escalante has little to do as his mother but is perfectly cast as the titular celestial being, the ocean goddess of Santería, an African diaspora religion that developed in Cuba. A pivotal moment of the play makes use of Escalante’s musical talents as she enchants Jesus and Tico with an otherworldly song and dance. Her ethereal presence is always palpable even when she lingers on the edges of a scene.
Bituin Escalante; Photo Credit: Adrian Begonia Photography
Go’s Tico is a delightful storyteller, brash and hilarious at moments, but also capable of moving one to tears. When he mourns his wife’s death as he cradles a coconut husk filled with grains of rice, it’s an image that is hard to forget. The other adults who care for Jesus are also distinct personalities from Falcon’s roguish uncle Jelin and the tough and pragmatic Lila (Gener). This small but stellar ensemble cast is another highlight of this production.
Isolated and adrift
Perhaps, the most impressive set piece of them all is the boat that is meant to transport Jesus and his new friend, Maya to the greener pastures of America. This becomes the setting for the latter half of the play and through this production team’s technical wizardry, the audience witnesses a truly dangerous voyage through seemingly endless, unforgiving waters.
Alejandrino and Roque spend most of the second act together, eating from cans of Spam and sipping Coke, while sharing their stories. Roque is well-matched with Alejandrino as the more experienced Maya, who regales her new friend with tales of the wonders of America and of the mysteries of her own mother. Alejandrino and Roque have an easy chemistry with each other that makes their bond believable even as they endure calamities, tedium, and a sex scene that feels shoehorned in. It is at this point that the cracks begin to show in Hudes’ script as this whole voyage seems to drag on interminably.
In the end, as magical as the journey has been, Yemaya abruptly reminds its audience of the brutal reality that faces countless immigrants who attempt the perilous journey to other, seemingly more prosperous lands. As Mulo and Maya sink into the depths of the ocean goddess’s embrace, they succumb to the inevitable, tragic fate of so many dreamers who have gone before them.
This reviewer watched the 8PM, June 12 preview show.
Tickets: P2,200-2,900
Show Dates: June 13 to July 5 2026
Venue: The Black Box, The Proscenium Theater, Estrella, Rockwell Center, Makati City.
Running Time: approx. 2 hours (with a 15-minute intermission)
Producer: 9 Works Theatrical
Creatives: Quiara Alegría Hudes (playwright), Ed Lacson Jr. (director and set designer), Eljay Castro Deldoc (Filipino translator), Teresa Barrozo (music and sound designer), Wika Nadera (assistant set designer and art director), JM Cabling (movement director), Ericson Navarro (costume and prop designer), Jethro Nibaten (lighting designer), Sheik Completado (technical director), Elliza Aurelio (hair and makeup designer), and Lee Morale (photographer).
Cast: Bituin Escalante, Benedix Ramos, Tommy Alejandrino, Sheena Belarmino, Ness Roque, Herbie Go, Sheenly Gener, Anthony Falcon, Wenah Nagales, and Onyl Torres
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