Tanghalang Pilipino's Coriolano: The relevance of Shakespeare in the current political climate

The cast of Coriolano

Tanghalang Pilipino hits a home run with Coriolano, striking a chord as political tension in the country runs high ahead of the polls in less than three months' time.

This Filipino translation by Guelan Varela-Luarca of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus, has never been mounted in the country before until now being this play among the writer's less popular works. Instead of debuting this work with a more contemporary and hip staging to appeal to the young millennial set, director Carlos Siguion-Reyna went with a straightforward, traditional treatment like he did with his most recent stint with company, another Filipino translation of a Shakespeare work, Pangarap sa Isang Gabi ng Gitnang Tag-Araw/A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The cast and creative team of Coriolano

Despite the unfamiliar material, the text remarkably remains relevant even after 400 years since this was written. The current political climate, the upcoming national elections, the blind idolatry of the masses, the most earnest of intentions being not enough to attain lofty goals, and the overall ambiguity of everyone all add up to the spine tingling experience in watching this timely production. For once, I was relieved that this was staged at the 400+ seater Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentinto (CCP Little Theater), allowing me to have more distance from the stage. If this had been at the smaller and more intimate Tanghalang Huseng Batute, I would've felt very antsy being so close to the action like I did with their past production Ang Pag-Uusig.

With Coriolano, Marco Viaña finally gets to headline after all these years with the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company. While he has had some notable lead and supporting performances throughout the years, he has never top billed before until Coriolano came along. I even thought at one point that he was being sidelined since he hasn't appeared onstage in all of Tanghalang Pilipino's productions during the past couple of seasons. Little did I know that it was actually leading up to this.

Marco Viaña

As the titular character Coriolano/Cayo Marcio, Marco showed sturdiness as the hardened Roman soldier suddenly thrust into the political arena which he is totally unsuited for. But it was far from a one note portrayal as Marco let hints of cracks and vulnerabilities surface that were immediately suppressed for they constitute as weaknesses.

Coriolano's main antagonist (especially on the battlefield), Tulo Aufidio, portrayed by Brian Sy, was more than just a foil for Coriolano. In his meatiest role that I've seen from him so far, Brian, showed humanity and honor in Aufidio that belie his gruff exterior. He made me take note that I wanted to scrutinize the original text more or better yet see this play once again to grasp fully his lines to better understand the complexity and subtleties of his Aufidio.

The most senior actor in the cast, Sherry Lara, as Coriolano's mother Volumnia, almost stole the show. Her presence onstage, the delivery and clarity of her lines were absolutely first rate. Actors Company members Jonathan Tadioan (Menenio Agripa), JV Ibesate (Sicinio Veluto), and Doray Dayao (Junio Bruto) proved themselves well as the puppeteers who used Coriolano for their own ends. As high ranking Roman soldiers, Aldo Vencilao (Cominio) and Joshua Tayco (Tito Larcio) lacked the physical stature and rather looked more like boys especially when compared to Marco and Brian.

Overall, Tanghalang Pilipino has consistently shown their best when staging local Shakespeare adaptations. As this was the first time for me to see one mounted at the CCP Little Theater, it took me a while to dig into the play as it was difficult to make out the lines initially with the slurred words and consonants not as enunciated. But once I got the hang of it and the tone of the language, it was smooth sailing then for me.

I commend the basic set by Ohm David, playing more on the textures that were effectively lighted by Dennis Marasigan. Clever changes in lighting and blocking effectively conveyed scene changes from exterior to interior and vice versa. Costumes by Bonsai Cielo made it easy to figure out who's who. It may not be wholly authentic period clothing, but it clearly evoked an era long past that suits the story pretty well.

Tanghalang Pilipino's production of Guelan Luarca's Coriolano runs on weekends at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino until March 17, 2019.