Laughter & prejudice in 'Arlegui' book
MANILA, Philippines – Milflores Publishing, Inc. has released Our Lady of Arlegui: Isang Yugtong Dula by Chris Martinez.
This comedy won first prize for the one-act play in Filipino at the 2007 Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. It revolves around a chance encounter between a young Christian film geek and a Muslim seller of pirated DVDs and CDs in Arlegui, Quiapo, while a raid of the Optical Media Board takes place outside the store. The hilarious dialogue makes the reader laugh while it painlessly explores the stereotypes and prejudices between Filipino Christians and Muslims that have hindered understanding and peaceful co-existence through the centuries. The edgy bantering over their mutual biases and intolerance ultimately lead the Christian and Muslim protagonists to discover their common humanity.
Chris Martinez is a noted playwright, scriptwriter, and film and stage director who has won a number of writing awards from Palanca, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, PETA, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). In 2008, he won the Best Director, Best Screenplay, and the Audience Choice awards for his movie 100 at the Cinemalaya Film Festival. He wrote the screenplays for the critically-acclaimed films Bridal Shower and Bikini Open and the award-winning plays Welcome to Intelstar and Last Order sa Penguin. He also did the stage adaptation of the cult graphic novel, Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah.
Elbert Or designed the cover of the book and Zenaida N. Ebalan did the layout.
Our Lady of Arlegui is available at all National Book Store and PowerBooks branches, U.P. Press Book Store, Solidaridad, Popular, and other major book stores at P95.00 per copy.
