Young Filipinos shine in ‘Ugoy’ musical

ConGen Catalla poses with Teatro Filipino members in Chai Wan (Photo by Wendell Jacinto of OneSnap Photography Hong Kong)

MORE than 400 people watched the musical about Philippine culture, traditions, and history performed by Hong Kongborn and -based Filipino youths.

Teatro Filipino, a project under the Philippine Consulate General’s Sentro Rizal, staged the musical “Ang Ugoy ng Duyan” at the Y Theatre in Chai Wan on July 3.

The two-act play had songs, dances, drama, comedy, and even the fiesta vibe, moving some members of the audience to tears, and others to their feet and applauding the performers. Several of the musical pieces were composed by Hong Kong-based renowned Filipino musician Nobel Gabasan.

After the performance, Consul General Bernardita Catalla was overheard telling the performers that they made her cry.

“This is the hope of the Filipino nation,” an emotional Cathe Tating-Marsden, Teatro Filipino director, said as she presented the performers.

The musical told of a story of a young Barry, a Hong Kong-born and -raised Filipino on his first trip to the Philippines to visit his relatives in Calamba, Laguna – also the hometown of Philippine national hero Jose Rizal.

During his trip, he got a taste of a Filipino fiesta–complete with dances and a harana–while meeting characters such as “Maria Clara”, “Leonor Rivera” and Rizal himself.

With the help of Rivera, Rizal’s first love, Barry traveled back in time and learned about Philippine history, ultimately meeting Rizal a day before the hero was set to be executed on December 30, 1896.

Rizal told Barry that he had resided in Hong Kong for six months, specifically in the Mid-Levels, and practised medicine in the city. Hong Kong was also where Rizal met his wife – Josephine Bracken.

Rizal recounted to the youngster a story told by his mother, Teodora Alonza, about a young moth that was attracted by the flame and ended up burning its wings and dying, foreshadowing how the hero would be condemned to death for his “subversive” writings.

The musical included a video recording of interviews with Filipino youths in Hong Kong, who mostly said they were unsure of what role to play in the Philippines’ nation- building.

The play though ended on a hopeful note with the young Filipino performers affirming their cultural affinity with the Philippines by singing a song about them being Filipinos “who are godly, and humane.”

“These kids are just like Rizal. They are educated outside the Philippines, and they could use this education to help their countrymen,” Tating-Marsden added.