The Chikkaness

Staging the Living Archive: How Dulaang UP Reclaims Collective Memory for Its 49th Season

What does it mean to remember our history with deliberate, radical care in an age dominated by distortion and cultural amnesia?

For its 49th Theatre Season, Dulaang Unibersidad Pilipinas (DUP) confronts this very dilemma with its central theme: “Paano Umalala nang may Pag-alaga?” Marking the 130th anniversary of Dr. José Rizal’s martyrdom, DUP transforms the stage into an active, breathing archive by mounting back-to-back reinterpretations of the national hero’s twin masterpieces, Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo.

Honoring the artistic tradition established by founding artistic director Tony Mabesa, this milestone season takes 19th-century texts out of static academic curricula and situates them directly within contemporary struggles.

Echoes of the Past in the Modern Republic

Rizal’s narratives endure because the structural afflictions he documented remain painfully familiar. The colonial administrators and abusive friars of San Diego find direct modern counterparts in corrupt dynasties, institutional graft, and self-serving political figures. While the faces of power have shifted across generations, the broader public still struggles against pervasive inequality, institutional decay, and civic indifference.

Through the ideological journey from Crisostomo Ibarra to Simoun, Rizal presented an enduring dialectic on nation-building:

  • The Path of Reform: Ibarra’s pursuit of public education and institutional critique highlights the vital necessity of factual literacy, critical thought, and free inquiry.
  • The Brink of Revolution: Simoun’s radical, violent disillusionment stands as a stark reminder of what happens when peaceful avenues for systemic reform are systematically crushed.

The Productions

1. Fiestas y Muertos A Reimagination of Noli Me Tángere

  • Director: José Estrella
  • Text: Based on National Artist Virgilio S. Almario’s Filipino translation
  • Run: October 23 – November 15, 2026

Opening the season, Fiestas y Muertos explores the stark juxtaposition between the manufactured euphoria of public festivities and the grim undercurrents of societal decay. Moving beyond traditional period staging, Estrella frames the piece as a ritualistic exploration of how ruling powers deploy spectacle and celebration to mask systemic exploitation, poverty, and collective trauma.

2. Nitrogliserina An Alternate Exploration of El Filibusterismo

  • Playwright: Guelan Varela-Luarca
  • Director: Dexter M. Santos
  • Run: February – March 2027

Where El Filibusterismo leaves the fate of violent insurrection unresolved, Nitrogliserina ventures into the alternate possibilities of revolutionary fallout. The production interrogates the cost of dismantling corrupt structures, challenging the audience to reconsider the boundaries of reform, the nature of systemic violence, and the burden of building an equitable nation from the ground up.

Performance Venue & Season Details

  • Venue: IBG-KAL Theatre, UP Diliman, Quezon City
  • Season Lineup:
    • Fiestas y Muertos (October 23 – November 15, 2026)
    • Nitrogliserina (February – March 2027)

By pairing veteran theatre practitioners with emerging student artists, DUP continues to create a vital forum where performance serves as active civic engagement—reminding us that preserving truth is an urgent, collective responsibility.

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