Teatro Pinas Review : Heavy and painful, yet liberating and empowering. The review of Rody Vera’s “Nana Rosa”

Most of the sexually abused individuals tend to hide or keep things that happened in secret because of the fear of being judged by the people around them and the society as a whole. 

In any angle or perspective, the gravity of the offence doesn’t end on the violence itself but the aftermath of the trauma and the fear of the victim to face tomorrow. No one is safe when it comes to sexual abuse both men and women could be a victim, from school, work and other places everything might happen.

The biggest problem when it comes to sexual harassment is that, the society tend to normalise it. Victims hardly expressed themselves for the fear of being judged by others. They are afraid to fight because they feel that no one will support them. Sometimes, because of the conservative mind of the parents or members of the family they just want to hide it and not seek justice for the victim. It’s quite painful to know that some people are more concerned about what people might say or think, rather than fighting for the victim.

The toxic Filipino culture of “nakakahiya sa ibang tao” or the being scared of judgment from people is not fair at all. It affects the peace of mind, self-esteem and the self-worth of an individual. This is how the story ‘Nana Rosa’ was told. We are the monsters in our own society for being insensitive about what happened to the victim. We are the monsters of our own society as we deny the fact that it was not the victim’s fault. We are the monsters of our own as we confine our mind inside a box and school of thought that no one will be harassed or violated if you would not provoke someone. Everyone deserves equality and respect no matter how they look and no matter how they feel about themselves.

Moving on to the artistic aspect of the Rody Vera’s “Nana Rosa,” the truth of the story gave me stomach ache. The narrative and the weight of each line were very strong that it struck my heart, my soul and my awareness as an individual. It has been done with perfection that it consumed my energy as I give my sympathy to the Rosa (Peewee O’Hara). Who would not cry to those agonizing scenes? This is the second stage play that made me cry this 2019, but “Nana Rosa” did not let me stop until the end of the show. Peewee O’Hara (Nana Rosa) delivered every single line and emotions with full conviction. Her heart speaks to the audience, her passion to portray the role was very distinct and remarkable. Her team up with Krystle Valentino (Dalagang Rosa) was exquisitely done specially on the confrontation scene, were Nana Rosa recollects the memories of her past.

The direction was very intricate specially that, there were two different scenes happening on stage at the same time. The direction of José Estrella was organized and clear. The discipline of the company as whole was completely highlighted during the show. The choreography has been carefully done. The staging of the rape scenes does not gave any malicious intentions but rather to tell and show people how bad rape is. Jonathan Ivan Rivera’s (Tanaka) acting was very expressive, sometimes he doesn’t need to say a line to deliver his message. His strong facial expressions and eye contacts to his co-actors made the scenes simple and yet it made a great impact. He’s too effective for his character that you would want to go to the stage and hurt him (that was just how I feel as an audience about him being an effective actor). Moving on to Victor Sy who played two roles, as Don Pepe (Rosa’s Father) he delivered well that his lies shows in his eyes and as the Colonel he perfectly showed how ruthless the Japanese soldiers that time towards the Filipinos as a whole.

Rody Vera’s narration was extremely detailed and very powerful. He organized everything so well that sent me to a nightmare that I would want to finish and wake up, although I don’t have a choice but to finish it. The truth of the story was very heavy and painful. It was very immersive in way that it could be the similar story that happened to you or someone that you know. A story that’s easy to relate as everyone experienced being suppressed in every single way. The narration was a wake up call to you, to everyone that you should speak up and face the world no matter how big the road block is. The play was very heavy and painful, yet very liberating and empowering.

Every aspect of the stage play, Nana Rosa has been carefully and exquisitely done. Everything was just clean, polished and perfect. The ingenuity of the set design of Charles Yee was minimalist and yet very functional. It goes well with the projections , the lights and the costume design of Carlo V. Pagunaling. The careful selection of the fabric and its designs were all accurate according to its period. It tells a lot of stories about the each characters.

To be quite honest, a single article would not be enough to highlight the good points of the play. The mastery and the artistry of it is world class. This is a kind of masterpiece that you would want to watch again and again. To the whole production of Nana Rosa, congratulations! Mabuhay kayong lahat!

Review : JC Salud