Tech problems mar opening of PETA's Yolanda-set 'Tempest'

MANILA — Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) artistic director Maribel Legarda gave an emotional apology after the theater’s lighting system failed during the opening night of its latest production “The Tempest Reimagined” at the PETA Center on Friday.

The performance had to be temporarily stopped after a power surge affected the lighting system. Unable to fix the problem, the performance resumed but using only the house lights and without the original lighting design created by Japanese Tsuguo Izumi.

After the play, a collaboration between PETA, the British Council and the Japan Foundation, Legarda apologized to Izumi and the special guests, led by British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad. She then tearfully noted that after typhoon Yolanda struck the Philippines in 2013, Leyte was also without light.

The opening of “The Tempest Reimagined” came just days after last Tuesday’s third anniversary of the super typhoon, which claimed the lives of an estimated 6,000 people and affected millions.

The idea of weaving the real-life tales of Yolanda survivors into William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” whose story is also centered on a powerful storm, started in 2014 after Royal Academy of Dramatic Art associate director Nona Sheppard came to Manila to give an acting workshop. She eventually found herself visiting PETA’s partner communities in Palo, Leyte where she was able to immerse herself and meet with survivors of the typhoon.

Her experiences led to this re-imagining of “The Tempest,” which was later translated by resident PETA playwright Liza Magtoto, who also wrote the phenomenal hit “Rak of Aegis” about a flooded community.

“By telling the stories of Yolanda survivors, I hope that you the audience will not forget and that we somehow touch people’s hearts so that they continue to do what they need to do in order the sustain the lives of survivors,” Magtoto said in a speech before the play started.

While “Rak of Aegis” also delved on similar themes like resilience and unity, “The Tempest Reimagined” has a more serious tone and harks back to PETA’s key advocacy of educational theater. Sheppard and Magtoto do not just make Shakespeare more accessible and relevant to younger Filipinos — students are expected to be the main audience for this play — as they are also interested in promoting disaster risk reduction.

To achieve this twin goals, Sheppard introduced a new character, a young fisherman from Leyte who acts as narrator to bridge the two stories. Sheppard, who also directed the play, seamlessly shifts the action between the two worlds, particularly in the early scenes with the two story lines unfolding separately.

By the time the two stories fuse, the audience already has a clear grasp of the proceedings and an insight into the universality of Shakespeare’s work and why “The Tempest”, with its themes of loss, forgiveness, usurpation of power and freedom, resonate within the context of Yolanda.

Sheppard acknowledged that the Yolanda stories form “the emotional heart of the play.”

“It is impossible to overestimate the position that Yolanda has in the hearts and minds of the people here,” she said in a speech.

Indeed the authenticity and the enormity of the real-life drama came across emotionally even without the full stage magic.

“Please watch the play with your hearts and without borders in mind,” Magtoto urged the audience at the start.

The heart of “The Tempest Reimagined” still shone brightly.

“The Tempest Reimagined” runs at the PETA Centre in Quezon City until December 4.