Virgilio Lorenzo Jr

The cast of Tanghalang Pilipino's 'Sandosenang Sapatos' at curtain call. Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Jervis Manahan

ABS-CBN News

<div>(NOTE: There are spoilers in this article)</div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1732418785544New Project (3).jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The cast of Tanghalang Pilipino&#x27;s &#x27;Sandosenang Sapatos&#x27; at curtain call. Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News"/>The cast of Tanghalang Pilipino&#x27;s &#x27;Sandosenang Sapatos&#x27; at curtain call. Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News </div>The premise of &quot;Sandosenang Sapatos&quot; is fairly simple: a young girl who was born without her feet yearns to realize her shoemaker father&#x27;s dreams of having a ballerina daughter.Yet the story, in its pure sincerity and simplicity, captivates the audience in one hour and 20 minutes of performance, half in the reality of Susie&#x27;s loving family, and half in her dream sequences, where she interacts with a dozen shoes turned friends.One year since its last staging, and more than a decade since its original run, &quot;Sandosenang Sapatos&quot; has retained its magical charm -- it feels like watching &#x27;Wansapanataym&#x27; in the flesh.But what makes &quot;Sandosenang Sapatos&quot; probably one of the best productions of acclaimed company Tanghalang Pilipino?One would argue the beauty of the songs and their lyrics. It opens with a dreamy and pensive tone:<div>&quot;Sa panaginip, sa panaginip lang, ako minamahal/ Sa panaginip, sa panaginip lang, lahat ay magagawa/ Sa panaginip, natutupad ang kahit anong pangarap/ Sa panaginip kahit sino ay napapasaya.&quot;</div>This sets the overall tenor of the story -- that at a young age, Susie has submitted to her circumstances.Here is an 11-year-old girl, who&#x27;s out to get the world but restrained by her physical differences, resorting to her lucid dreams -- where her fantasies become real. Her shoe friends give Susie comfort in a world she doesn&#x27;t even want to escape. In that world, Susie can walk, run, and dance. And in that world, she can make her father&#x27;s dreams come true.It was clear in the onset that Susie makes her father&#x27;s dreams her own, even if the father himself has not been explicit in wanting a ballerina daughter.There is complexity in the familiarity of the narrative. In the typical Filipino family, dreams are not to be owned by one person alone. Dreams are shared within the family. One&#x27;s success is everyone&#x27;s success. One&#x27;s failure feels like everyone&#x27;s failure. And despite her physical differences, Susie gives herself the internal pressure.This leads us to the next factor: &quot;Sandosenang Sapatos: stands out because of its relatability. All of us have dreams that did not come true. At the back of our heads, however grateful we are of our lives and the good things that we have received, we all have dreams that no amount of hardwork can realize. Susie is all of us.But what&#x27;s more painful is not achieving the dreams others have of us. It pains us to fall short, it pains us to see ourselves helpless in realizing our family&#x27;s goals. This pain of Susie transcends to the heart of their audiences. There&#x27;s frustration, sorrow, and feeling of inadequacy and helplessness from the box of your circumstances.This is just a one-act play but the emotional journey of Susie is quite expansive: from sadness and despair, she clings to the hope of having feet from the Diwata ng Sapatos. Along the line, she reveals that her dream of having feet is also a desire for her father&#x27;s approval.<div>&quot;Ang mahal binibigyan ng sapatos.&quot;</div>Susie is yearning for her father&#x27;s love, and the father&#x27;s ultimate show of love is making shoes for the people he loves. Despite her father&#x27;s constant show of care for his family, it&#x27;s not enough for Susie. She has attached love into a representation, and unless she reaches this peak, she cannot be truly happy.And while the father&#x27;s character is integral throughout the story, it&#x27;s the characters of the mother and sister who patch Susie&#x27;s childhood wounds. These characters balm the pain of Susie&#x27;s unrealized dreams. The sister pacifies Susie&#x27;s frustrations, while the mother reassures that the father&#x27;s happiness is not hinged on Susie&#x27;s becoming a ballerina.At its denouement, the musical presents an antidote to all the pain of unrealized dreams: Love.<div>&quot;Tinatawid ng pagmamahal ang panaginip/ Sa mga sandaling akala mundo ay naiidlip/ May isang pusong hindi napapakali/ Upang pangarap ng minamahal ay tuparin&quot;</div>This is perhaps the best lyrics from a song in Philippine musical theater.Love realizes the impossible. Love bridges dreams and reality. Love makes all our dreams come true.&quot;Sandosenang Sapatos&quot; is a tale of many families in the country, it&#x27;s a story of love despite not reaching our biggest ambitions in life. It&#x27;s a musical that is laced with songs that has the best words, in a story relatable to us all.And that is why this show will linger in your heart long after watching it.<div> </div>

One year since its last staging, and more than a decade since its original run, 'Sandosenang Sapatos' has retained its magical charm.

One year since its last staging, and more than a decade since its original run, 'Sandosenang Sapatos' has retained its magical charm.

Theater review: ‘Sandosenang Sapatos’ an ode to our dreams that aren't coming true

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Theater review: ‘Sandosenang Sapatos’ an ode to our dreams that aren't coming true

Jervis Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published November 24, 2024 11:26 AM PHT

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theater review

Sandosenang Sapatos

Tanghalang Pilipino

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