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Feb 23, 2024 · In the Philippines, various theatrical forms exist, including Moro-moro, Sarsuwela, and Bodabil. These performances showcase a blend of cultural influences and themes, creating a rich tapestry of storytelling that captivates audiences with its diversity and vibrancy.
- Epic poetry. Epic poetry is considered the highest point of Filipino folk literature, and dates back to the pre-colonial period. These epics, usually of romance or adventure, are commonly presented during festivals and gatherings such as weddings, baptisms, and wakes.
- Duplo. The duplo is a poetic debate presented through song and dance, which originated from indigenous courtship customs. Poets used proverbs and riddles to present their suit to the woman of their choice.
- Moro-moro. For a time, one of the most popular types of theater in the Philippines was the Moros y Cristianos, which is not surprising for a country that was under Spanish rule for 300 years.
- Senakulo. Another performing art stemming from religious custom is the senakulo or Passion Play. This is the dramatization of the life and death of Jesus Christ and is usually presented as a community activity during the Lenten season.
Jul 18, 2020 · In a way, this is true because the theatre (read here as formal theatre), meaning the staged, the costumed, and the scripted, was really introduced by the Spaniards during colonization. First in the list is the comedia or how drama was usually called in Spain at that time.
Jul 20, 2020 · They were the KathNiels or the JaDines or LizKen of the colonial eras or the likes of Katy Perry or Lady Gaga or Calum Scott performing concerts in the nation’s biggest cities – Manila, Cebu, Angeles, and Davao.
- Overview
- The comedia
- Styles from Europe
- Indigenous and animist tradition
Whatever indigenous theatrical forms may have existed in the Philippines, other than tribal epic recitations, were obliterated by the Spanish to facilitate the spread of Christianity.
The earliest known form of organized theatre is the comedia, or moro-moro, created by Spanish priests. In 1637 a play was written to dramatize the recent capture by a Christian Filipino army of an Islamic stronghold. It was so popular that other plays were written and staged as folk dramas in Christianized villages throughout the Philippines. All t...
Dances and dramas from Spain were brought in, some of which took root. The María Clara, a stately minuet, and the Rigodón de Honor, a quadrille, were adopted by local European society for its formal balls. Spain’s sprightly operetta, the zarzuela, became the favourite light entertainment in Manila and other cities. Professional zarzuela troupes continued to flourish in the early decades of the 20th century but had disappeared by World War II. New plays with original music were produced in profusion. A number of them based on topical themes and criticizing American colonial policies were banned.
Western drama is studied and widely performed in both English and Tagalog. There are no professional companies, but amateur university and community groups abound. Western classics and recent popular successes are staged, and in recent years many original plays have been written to celebrate the Filipino heritage.
The first is a complex inheritance of magical and animist art shared by the different tribal peoples of insular and mainland Southeast Asia, where it evolved from Paleolithic origins. Such art gave the peoples who made it a sense of their identity in relation to the forces of their natural environment, to the structure of their society, and to time...
Considering the fact that the Philippine nation still needs to deal with its postcolonial identity, terms, such as “theatre” or “actor”, based on the Western cultural tradition, cannot be easily taken for granted.
- Maria Delimata
- 2013
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The writing of theatre history has been a challenging intellectual commitment in the Philippines. This mode of inquiry and inscription largely manifests more as a strand of general historiography than as a systematized and specialized critical practice in Philippine academe.
