Understanding Shakespeare in William

MANILA, Philippines - There is no kid in high school who doesn’t know of William Shakespeare. But there is also no kid who completely  knows and understands him. He is simply this bloke who lived in olden times, spoke a weird kind of English, and yet is strangely famous even in our times. Since the study of Shakespeare is part of the high school curriculum, Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA)  president CB Garrucho decided to dedicate one whole season to Shakespeare with two plays — William and Haring Lear.

Originally, Maribel Legarda, PETA artistic director had planned to start with William to introduce Shakespeare’s famous monologues, followed by Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s Sonnets set to music by Pinoy composers, and finally King Lear. This cumulative exposure would have been ideal but limited funds couldn’t support it.

We went to watch William at the PETA theater attracted by the fact that it was a musical. The bard not only in a musical but also using hip-hop and rap? How cute, how today, we thought. Just like the recent serving of Rizal’s Noli with Ryan Cayabyab’s music, and screening of a Japanese silent movie with music from the Razorback rock band. It seems to be the trend of the season: The past fast-forwarded!

In the song William, Ikaw Na, the students rap — “Sino ba si William, Ba‘t ang hirap niyang basahin, Para lang pumasa, Mga dula’y lamunin. O William please lang, magpakilala ka sa ‘min.”

As has been the mission-vision of PETA since 1967 with Cecile Guidote, Anding Roces, Ramon del Rosario, Doroy Valencia, Orlando Nadres and Lino Brocka, PETA has always believed in the youth as the future of the nation. Through such plays like William called “informances” or advocacy plays, an avenue linking theater arts with education addresses the youth of the land.

Among its many productions we have watched, William appears to be the bravest, the most experimental ó breaking ground, stepping into sacred territory. The choice of Ron Capinding as playwright was perfect with his experience as high school teacher, actor, director, with background from the classics to contemporary vernacular theater. He brings to William his passion for Shakespeare and belief in the Filipino.

Maribel Legarda with involvement in more than 80 PETA productions admits to curating a season around Shakespeare as both a risk and a challenge. Through both the language and today’s music of hip-hop and rap dubbed “ang bagong balagtasan,” her ultimate goal is to make pareng William as familiar as a helpful neighbor instead of someone to fear. Jeff Hernandez wrote the music with lyrics by Rody Vera, Anj Heruela and Rico del Rosario. 

The play opens to a typical riotous high school classroom with everyone speaking at the same time. We meet TJ the class bully; Sophia the romantic one who believes in love; Stella the nerd; Richard the closet gay; and Erwin the tukmol, shy and useless. They sing Nosebleed asking one another why they had to study Shakespeare.

The answer comes from their teacher Mrs. Martinez, strict but loving in her own way, and passionate about Shakespeare. She transmits this to the kids as they begin to appreciate this playwright of long ago who had the barefoot poor and jologs as his audience. Eventually, through his plays they find similarities with their own lives; they find that Shakespeare is not all that difficult to read.

How did the PETA audience react to William? Meann Espinosa of PETA’s marketing and PR, who’s playing Ms. Martinez in the production, says, “With the students’ reactions, we know that they are listening.”

From the student audience, Eunice Bles of Ramon Magsaysay High, writes, “William makes you feel like one of the characters in the story.” John Emmanoel Moran who plays the closet gay Richard in William thinks the play would appeal not only to the gays but to all who are discriminated on, quoting Shylock’s monologue from Merchant of Venice: “If you prick us do we not bleed, if you tickle us do we not laugh, if you poison us do we not die, and if you wrong us shall we not revenge?”

William introduces other famous monologues like Hamlet’s musings on life and death in “To be or not to be” and “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” from Romeo and Juliet as the romantic Sophia relates Juliet’s predicament to her own.

“I meet these TJs every day, in the public high school where I work, where some of my male students experience the same, sometimes even worse,” shares Norbs Portales who plays the bully TJ. “Most of them are neglected by their parents, or have no parents. They all want attention, love and an ear to hear their sentiments.”

Persian Maglinte, Theater Arts graduate of PUP, rated the play for effectiveness in five areas of script, acting, choreography, songs, and direction on a scale from 1 to 10. Three areas got a perfect 10 rating while two got 9. As one familiar with PETA productions from high school to college, she affirms, “As always, the directors of PETA are among the best in theater at this time.” She rates direction as well as the script with a 10, praising the incorporation of dialects while warning the actors to be wary of occasional lapses in accents.

William appears to be the perfect play for touring which PETA hopes to do soon. The company’s record as a touring company is admirable with the children’s plays Lola Basyang and Batang Rizal still touring for the past six years and giving over 200 performances. Other tour successes are Noli at Fili Dekada Dos Mil, Si Juan Tamad at ang Limang Milyong Boto, and Rated:PG. Two other plays Hans Christian Andersen and Dreamweavers have been staged in Holland, Hong Kong and Japan. 

Meantime, those associated with PETA while joining mainstream entertainment continue to support the company in acting, directing as well as sponsorship like Mario O’Hara, Soxie Topacio and Joel Lamangan. 

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