Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Three plays by B. Paul Dumol, Rene Villanueva, and Malou Jacob; each one tackling
the question of Heroism from a different point of view. From the perspective of tyranny
and cruelty in the case of Rizal, conduct and conscience in regard to Antonio Luna, and
within the context of nobility and the flowering of the Filipino spirit as exemplified by the
actions and thoughts of Apolinario Mabini, the ‘brains’ of the revolution.
SYNOPSES
TONYO
By Rene O. Villanueva
He returned to the country in 1898, when Filipinos were facing their new opponent; the
United States. He offered his services to General Emilio Aguinaldo, but even then, he
was not trusted by the subjects surrounding the president. They were always suspicious
of Luna because they did not share the same principles with him in 1896 and because
he is not a Caviteño. Aside from these, Luna was stern and harsh, so his open and
hidden enemies increased in number.
PEPE
By Malou Jacob
Rizal also shares the Hamlet in artists. Like Shakespeare’s hero, Rizal’s tragic flaw was
his vacillation, his indecision - making him all the more human, all the more like you and
me.
PULE
By Paul Dumol
REVIEWS
“This dramatic trio from Tanghalang Pilipino was from all counts well-written, well-acted
and well-directed. Superlative portrayals were rendered by the actors. Like reading our
Joaquin’s Question of Heroes on stage, Tonyo, Pepe at Pule was mostly a provocative
and near-perfect performance.”
“A beautiful show that’s very much worth the time I spent in watching it. I can write
endlessly about the merits of production, but it would be better to let the audience see it
for themselves.”
“We commend Padilla for seeing the interconnections in the lives of three heroes and
whipping up the unrelated scripts into a visually teasing theater-of-the-mind. We are
also thrilled at how Ms. Jacob and Mr. Villanueva shave skillfully woven history and
insight to enlighten and perturb us.”
Mozart A.T. Pastrano. Visual Theater-of-the-mind; Daily Globe; February 11, 1990
“The spareness of the structure plus the eschewing of the non-essentials, makes for full
and strong focus on each character as he takes centerstage and views the Philippines
of yeaterday, and that of today. If Director Nonon Padilla willfully and knowingly set out
to reign in and rise, from the deliberate excesses in the tragico-comico Pepe and the
theatrical horror of Tonyo into the sublime constraints and subtle shadings of Pule, he
succeeded remarkably.”
Leonor Orosa Goquingco. Our Burning Need for Heroes, The Philippine Star. February
19, 1990.