Krystal's New Project - "Marisol"

What in the world is Krystal up to now?:

Marisol by José Rivera
Filipino adaptation by Rody Vera
Directed by Krystal Banzon

May 14-17, 2008
Teatro Hermogenes Ylagan

In collaboration with the University of the Philippines – Diliman Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts, Dulaang Laborytoryo, the J. William Fulbright Program, and the Philippine-American Educational Foundation (Philippine Fulbright Commission)


How is this connected to her Fulbright research?:

The scope of my Fulbright research in the Philippines is to examine contemporary Filipino theatre and examine and identify the ways that theatre is used to strengthen Filipino cultural production and address, pinpoint, and communicate contemporary Philippine issues. During the opportunities I’ve had to watch and participate in theatre during my time here, I’ve seen that current issues affecting the Philippines – the Diaspora, globalization, political and religious extremism – seep into Filipino theatre, in the same way that any art form reflects the life, culture, and context it is surrounded by and created within.

Since my research deals with questions and themes surrounding contemporary Filipino theatre, I thought one of the strongest ways to pinpoint exactly what contemporary Filipino theatre is (what it could be made of, what it would address, how certain issues translate and transform in Filipino culture today) would be to create a piece of it.


What is Marisol about?:

Marisol depicts a surreal world of violence and contradiction, religious and political revolution, and the disintegration of deeply held beliefs. The play revolves around the character of Marisol, a Puerto Rican woman whose guardian angel leaves her because God is becoming too old and senile to take care of the world.

Marisol’s guardian angel comes to her in the middle of the night saying, “The Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels and Angels… are going to kill the King of Heaven and restore the vitality of the universe with His blood. And I’m going to lead them”. The Angel then leaves Marisol to survive in a world that is dangerous and falling apart, without the protection of her faith. Throughout the play, Marisol journeys through an apocalyptic urban landscape searching for her lost friend, June.


And what exactly is Krystal doing with this American play in the Philippines? Why Marisol? Why not a Filipino play?:

Originally in English by Puerto Rican playwright José Rivera, and set in pre-9/11 Manhattan, I will be collaborating with award-winning Filipino playwright Rody Vera to translate it into Filipino and adapt the setting to present-day Manila. I approached Rody last year about whether or not he could see Marisol adapted to the contemporary Philippines. After he read it, he said yes and I saw that we shared the same vision for the reimagination of Marisol – and so here we are!

Several themes allow me to believe that this transformation/ reimagination of José Rivera’s volatile and lush, though incredibly specific text is possible: the similar colonial subjectivity of Puerto Rico and the Philippines which allows for many literary, as well as religious symbols to be shared between the respective cultures, the motifs of poverty, violence, and urban disintegration that is entangled in the themes of revolution, politics, extremism, terrorism, and religion.

I believe that Marisol has very relevant themes that tie to both Philippine history and present day, and that the power of theatre as a collaborative art will allow these themes to be shared, explored, and examined. This sort of project allows for a dialogue between the cast and artistic team, who are of different cultures, to discuss the issues that are important and pressing in Filipino society today, within a framework that forces us to embody these discussions and topics on the stage and communicate them to our audience.


What will the adaptation look like?:

I read Marisol a few years ago. This text seems to be a story that I keep returning to – and after reading more of José Rivera’s plays I think I’ll always be returning to his incredible and phenomenal work. It is important to me that I stay true to Mr. Rivera’s vision and message for Marisol because I deeply respect his work and the specificity of his choices. I love the story. I want to stage his story, with his characters, and his vision and ideas, just reimagined in another country and cultural context.

Rody and I have discussed adjusting certain themes because the cultural context has changed. One of the themes that does not have a direct translation and will be significantly adapted is the idea of race, since race in an American context does not exist in the same way here. There is no direct parallel in Filipino culture for the racial dynamics of Puerto Ricans/African Americans/White Americans/Nazi skinheads. The idea must still be integrated into the text since it is such a major and specific theme in the play, but the context must change. One idea we have is to focus it on the concept of “cleansing” – in the same way that the Nazi skinhead is trying to racially and ethnically cleanse by burning to death homeless people of color in New York City, “police goons” are increasingly burning down squatter settlements in Metro Manila to make way for malls, condos, or just to “clean” areas of the impoverished.

We also want to examine the roles and relationships between the extremist, the church, and the poor. The image of the Angel and an angelic violent revolution brings up the complexity of the extremist as both “bad” and “good” at the same time. The “extremist” may advocate violence, but she also urges people to question deeply held beliefs and challenge entrenched institutions. This wanting of systemic change that is felt to be impossible is so relevant to the Philippines, a whole country that is gearing up for a revolution that right now is played out only in dreams. The Philippines is so connected to Marisol, a story about an angelic revolution that is a nightmare. I think in the same way that the first time reading Marisol was frightening and deeply moving for me, these topics will be frightening and jarring for a Filipino audience, but also incredibly exciting, meaningful and relevant.


My Vision for Marisol in the Philippines:

Being able to work and collaborate in adapting such a volatile script to another culture and country’s social realities will push me to examine and understand better Filipino society, help me pinpoint the links in how theatre is used to communicate socially relevant themes, as well as interact and share with artists who have lived in the Philippines all their lives and understand it on a level that I will never know. One way to learn is to do and create. This adaptation of Marisol is attempting to be a transnational work, reflective of contemporary Filipino sensibility.

Ultimately, this is what I hope for my production of Marisol – a growth and deeper understanding of Filipino culture, history, and reality for myself, my artistic team, as well as for an audience that is living in a current Philippine reality that is always shifting, richly complex and contradictory.


How you can help.

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