Theater is one of life’s joys. I can’t tell you what play I first saw on stage, or when I fell in love with musical theater, only that I have always loved theater. It’s yet another thing I’m grateful to be rediscovering with our son Lucas.

I particularly love the wit and humor of Filipino theater. I remember riotous laughter from PETA shows, and double entendres from plays I saw when I was studying in the University of the Philippines. I relish the jabs at popular culture, and the subtle (and not-so-subtle!) references to local politics.

We’re so grateful to have received an invitation to watch Dulaang UP‘s newest production, Kung Paano Nanalo sa Karera si Rosang Taba. We saw it just last Saturday, and it made a nice first visit to the IBG-KAL Theater in UP Diliman.

The play is a musical romp is an adaptation of Dean Francis Alfar’s beloved children’s book, by Maynard Manansala and Rody Vera. A summary from the press kit:

A race between Rosa and her oppressors in the fictional world of the Katao ensues with her family’s freedom at stake. Directed by José Estrella, Issa Manalo Lopez and Mark Daniel Dalacat to fierce music and wit, the story of Rosang Taba is a story of how limitations can be overcome when one has the will to fight for their liberty. How does an ordinary Katao beat a menacing commandant in a race? Come and witness Rosa do it!

A play for all ages, Rosang Taba is envisioned to be the race that every Filipino can run.

I knew nothing about the play when we went in, only that it was a musical and it would be in Filipino. I had not read the book by Alfar, and to be completely honest I had not seen a Dulaang UP production in years!

I was prepared to translate for Lucas, and to explain what was happening. I was not prepared for the depth of the story! I was expecting a simple story, perhaps a metaphor for something bigger, and lots of songs and dances to highlight each character. Instead we got a woman standing up for herself and her people. We got a family legend told in song. We got cheeky humor and racial rivalry and the Filipino penchant for tall tales and hyperbole. It was glorious!

Photos by Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

I greatly enjoyed the theater-in-the-round staging, and I explained to Lucas how different this is from a more traditional theater, where you have the stage in front, and the entire audience in rows in front of it. I explained how this forces the actors and the stage design to tell the story from every angle, to make sure that no matter where in the audience you were sitting, you could see and understand what was happening. I pointed out to him the breaks in the seating, where the actors and props would go through, and told him to watch out for those during the show.

Though the dialogue was in Filipino, and I spent most of the hour-and-a-quarter translating for him, he said he really enjoyed the music and the comedy. We loved the hodgepodge of musical styles that filled the show with texture and variety, and he said it reminded him of Hamilton. I think the very animated dancing helped him understand what was going on, and for the scenes with more talking, I explained what was happening. I don’t know how much of the humor he understood, but I saw him laughing more than a few times!

I’m sure it helped that Lucas was sitting beside his friend Maddie, and her parents Shey and CJ, so he had someone to talk to and play with before and after the show. I’d like to bring him to more stage productions in the future, and I hope he gets the same thrill from seeing actors living and breathing and performing right in front of him. And if one day he decides to get up onstage too, I think that would be spectacular.

Catch Kung Paano Nanalo sa Karera si Rosang Taba at the IBG-KAL Theater, University of the Philippines Diliman on the following dates:

• April 19, 26, May 03 (7:30 pm)
• April 20, 27, May 04 (3:30 pm & 7:30 pm)
• April 21, 28, May 05 (10:30 am & 03:30 pm)

Non-UP Student tickets are at PHP 750, PWD/Senior Citizens at PHP 800, and Regular tickets at PHP 1,000 [purchase]. Regular, non-discounted tickets are available via Ticket2Me. Thanks to Dulaang UP for the invitation to the press preview!