Mga Babae sa Likod ng Tagumpay (at Pagkabigo)

 
Nine
Produksyon: Atlantis Productions
Direksyon: Bobby Garcia
Mandudula: Arthur Kopit (halaw mula sa pelikulang “8 1/2” ni Federico Fellini na unang ginawan ng libretto ni Mario Fratti na may pamagat na “The Italian”)
Libretto at Musika: Maury Yeston
Mga Nagsiganap: Jett Pangan, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Carla Guevara-Laforteza, Jay Valencia-Glorioso, Eula Valdes, Cherie Gil, Ima Castro, atbp.

Kung ilalagay sa lokal na atmospera ang dula, napakahirap nitong maabot. Malaking porsyento sa ating mga film director ay walang kamukhang estado ng pinagdaanan ni Guido Contini (Jett Pangan), isang pamosong Italian filmmaker na nahaharap sa sariling mid-life crisis. Kadalasan na ang kalakaran sa industriyang Pinoy sa ngayon ay nakakadena sa mga nakahain nang konseptong pangpinansiyal ng mga producer o ng line-up para sa mahabang pila ng mga nakakontratang talent nito. Si Guido, 40 taong gulang, ay hindi makabuntis ng ideya para sa susunod n’yang pelikula habang ang mga babae sa kanyang buhay ay nag-uumpisa nang pumarada sa kanyang harapan: ang asawang si Luisa (Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo), ang kanyang namayapang ina (Jay Valencia-Glorioso), ang kanyang kabit na si Carla (Carla Guevara-Laforteza), ang kanyang musa na si Claudia (Eula Valdes), ang kanyang producer (Cherie Gil) at ang prostitute na si Sarraghina (Ima Castro) na nagbukas ng kanyang muwang noong s’ya ay siyam na taong gulang pa lang.

Ang luho ng artistic freedom ni Guido ay hindi naging ganoon kadali. Bagama’t isa itong pandayan ng kung ano pa mang maaaring mailuwal, isang level kung saan malaya ang pagtitimpla o pagbabawas ng mga sangkap sa bagong pelikula, naging sagabal ito upang maiiri ang inaasahan sa kanya bilang artist. Ang mas pamosong tawag dito ay mid-life crisis. Isa itong pader na binuo ng mga agam-agam mula sa mga unang nagawa (sa kaso ni Fellini, ang kanyang walo at kalahating pelikula) at ang kawalan ng kumpiyansa sa mga maaari pang maibigay. At dahil isa nga itong pader na hindi agad-agad matitibag, walang magagawa si Guido kung hindi bumalikwas ng direksyon at harapin ang mga taong bumuo sa kanyang artistry. Hindi lang naging madali ang lahat na ang ilan dito, kabilang ang babaeng kanyang pinakasalan, ay bumalikwas din. Sa dulo, ang kanyang gatilyo upang tumuloy sa pagrolyo ay ang kanyang sarili kung kailan ito puro at walang dungis, ang kanyang siyam na taong sarili.

Malakas makagulat ang stage design ni David Gallo. Halos mula stage floor hanggang kisame ang kinain nito. Isa itong recreation ng isang traditional bath house sa Venice na hinati sa iba’t ibang level na parang ilang hagdan at ang bukal ay nasa pinakaibaba. May kakaibang psyche na ang lugar kung saan nanggagaling ang tubig ay madalas ginagamit para sa blocking ng bidang si Guido at ang kanyang asawa (o ang ikalawa o ikatlong pinamalapit na babae sa buhay ng direktor) samantalang ang ibang mga babae ay nakapuwesto lang sa mga hagdan. Kung tutuusin, kung ang ticket mo sa produksyon na ito ng Atlantis ay nasa balcony, mapapanood mo pa rin ito nang walang panghihinayang.

Nagkaroon lang ako ng maikling argumento sa isa mga staff dahil ang napili kong extra seat sa balcony ay wala na talagang makita dahil kapantay nito ang isang hilera ng mga upuan. Ideal na ang mga ganitong seat ay merong babala mula sa nagbebenta ng ticket at nasa disposisyon na ng manonood kung susugal pa rito o hindi na. Hindi ko nagustuhan ang burgis na paliwanag ng staff (na sa dilim ay nakikita kong sumasabay sa mga pagkanta ng mga nasa stage), na parang gan’un daw talaga. Dahil dito, isinoli ko ang ticket at kumuha ako ng iba kahit na may karagdagang bayad. Naisip ko na lang na sa sobrang pagkaaliw ko sa set, nararapat lamang na mamuhunan dito ng mas malaki.

Unang beses kong napakinggan ang song selection ng musical (hindi ko napanood ang film version ni Daniel Day-Lewis). Madali naman silang maabot lahat. Ang ilan, sa katunayan, ay may bahid ng pagka-radio friendly. Sa mga nagsiganap, pinakagusto ko ang kontrolado at bihasang atake ni Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo bilang Luisa. Nakuha n’ya ang hinihinging pagkabanayad ng isang asawang sumuko na sa masalimuot na machismo ng kanyang kabiyak. Scene stealer naman si Carla Guevara-Laforteza bilang Carla at nakatawid ang kanyang take na mapaglaro at mapangahas na kerida. Mapanuyo rin ang boses ni Jay Valencia-Glorioso at naramdaman ko ang comfort na kayang ibigay ng isang ina. Vocally ay naka-deliver naman si Jett Pangan. Hindi ko lang nakita ‘yung complexity ng isang artist sa kanya na nanunulay sa pagitan ng paghabi ng isang obra at sa mga babaeng nakapaligid sa kanya. Marahil ay wala s’yang masyadong pinaghuhugutan dito o marahil ay masyado palang s’yang bata para sa karakter.

Lumuwag naman ang pakiramdam ko matapos mapanood ang dula. Nang makita ko ulit ang staff na hindi ko nakasundo, parang wala na ito sa akin. Hindi man ako tuluyang naantig (siguro ay dahil mahirap maabot sa aspetong emosyonal ang dilemma ng bida), nakuha naman ako r’un sa bahaging kailangang balikan ang isang bagay na dalisay upang mabigyan ng angkop na pagsisiyasat ang pangkasalukuyang sarili na nagkukumahog sa hilahil.

The Ruth Trip

Exactly a week after the news that my onsite assignment will be cut short, the spring wind blew divergently and decided to keep me for another month or so. Well, as I have mentioned, it’s in the job description and that I am just a consistent, so-so foot soldier. Anyway, part of the cramming that the first announcement has brought me is a trip to visit a dear lunch mate back in Manila office named Ruth. She’s now based here in the Netherlands and it would be a pity not to pay her a visit in Eindhoven in the southern part of the country (she’s pregnant, by the way). Plus, there’s this weekend train ticket, a ride-all-you-can type that I have to use on any given weekend.

Josh, who’s also temporarily based here in Apeldoorn, joined the trip. We met up at the train station on a rainy 7am. There’s a railway repair of sort so we had to endure some extra time to reach Amersfoort by bus (particularly provided by the train company) and just transfer to another train to Utrecht from there. No roadblock whatsoever along the way other than it’s really a long trip (clocked at more than two hours). Ruth, who remains petite on her 6th month of pregnancy, welcomed us at the train station in Eindhoven. I also finally met her husband Horyin and her friend named Maricel (who was sent by her boyfriend to the station). From there and with some sandwiches and bottled water on board the car, off we went to our road trip.

We crossed the Dutch-Belgian border after an hour and some minutes. Though I realized by then that I left my passport at the hotel in Apeldoorn, and thankfully nothing crazy happened along the way, it was fun catching the border signage on camera while the car was speeding. Horyn said that we can be fined if we stop in the emergency road without a valid reason. Usually there’s a sign that bears the EU logo with Belgium (o Belgie) on it announcing that the actual border can be reached in a kilometer (enough distance to ready the gadgets). Someone joked that you can feel the difference that you’re outside the Netherlands already if the road becomes bumpy.



Our first stop is a small town that claims to be the smallest in the world. Wikipedia says otherwise but thanks to this endless dispute on how you can really measure a town (by population, by size or a combination of both?), Durbuy deserves to claim anything. In terms of small roads and turns that we took, it doesn’t seem to be easily accessible by public transport. It is indeed small and it is charming as it is. There’s a big rock formation in one end, there’s a castle in another, then some bars and restaurants, and old houses in between. The first thing that we did was to have lunch at La Brasserie Ardennaise where I had the most sumptuous pasta I have ever tasted (I believe it’s an “a la chef” dish) complimented by a not so hefty serving of a local white beer aptly called Durboyse Blonde. It’s definitely a good start. We spent another hour or two exploring the town, walking past the castle and crossing the bridge over the Ourthe River. I wanted to visit the Topiary Park but the tribe decided to skip it. That’s pretty much about it in Durbuy.



From there, we rode back heading to the direction where we came from and made a full stop at Liege, also in Belgium. Contrary to Durbuy, it’s a giant city and a very busy one. We parked right in the middle of a plaza, opposite the Galeries St. Lambert which houses some ubiquitous shops. That was around 4pm already, I believe. We took a map from the nearby tourism office after visiting a paid toilet in the mall and headed to the historic route. Since our time is limited, as Josh and I still had to go back to Apeldoorn, we didn’t linger much and just chose to conquer Montagne de Bueren which is around 15 minutes from the plaza. I wasn’t very sure why I decided to take the 406-step challenge but it was both tiring and fulfilling for someone who hasn’t done an exercise for a while. It’s quite similar to the grotto in Baguio except that there’s no religious figure whatsoever at the top. In fact, it’s a residential area for those who probably don’t need to enroll in a gym. After that, we headed back to the plaza and merited ourselves with a serving of (Belgian) waffle at Marie’s (a place we just discovered based on the suggestion of two local police officers). I got my waffle with chocolate in it and the muscle pain caused by the surprise climb suddenly disappeared.



The last leg of the road trip was spent in Geldrop back in the Netherlands, around 15 minutes short to our Eindhoven train station. A neighborhood there is a bit infamous for streets named after the characters created by JRR Tolkien. The main one is called Laan van Tolkien for the man himself. From there, you can find street names with the likes of Arwen, Galadriel, Legolas, Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn. There’s even a primary school called De Hobbit and a cemetery can be found along Saruman St. It was slightly raining and Josh and I had to run and catch as many streets as we can. Horyn was kind enough to make a short stop if we find anything novel (pun intended). It’s usually accompanied by a review question pertaining to the Middle Earth.

At 7:30pm-ish, Josh and I had to say goodbye to Ruth and Horyn and Maricel in a spot where we all met for the first time. It was one hell of an emancipating road trip, biblical at some point, a mix of catching up, gossiping and some serious analogy of the IT business in Manila.

The rest of the Durbuy pictures can be found here, Liege here and Laan van Tolkien here.