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Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati

Totel V. De Jesus

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1755320527181b0eb3fa3-238c-4050-8f42-1220bbd23403.jpeg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="The cast of &#x27;Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalmahati’ led by Delphine Buencamino as Candida (center) and Gab Pangilinan as Paula take a bow. Totel V. de Jesus"/>The cast of &#x27;Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalmahati’ led by Delphine Buencamino as Candida (center) and Gab Pangilinan as Paula take a bow.  Totel V. de Jesus</div>In “Dahling Nick,” a documentary by Sari Dalena about the life and works of National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, there’s an interview with professor Elena Roco, one of Joaquin’s friends, wherein she asked Joaquin: “Over the years, don’t you ever get tired of watching repeated stagings of your ‘Portrait [of the Artist as Filipino’]?”Joaquin, as recounted by Roco, apparently answered, “Dahling, don’t you ever get tired of watching the sunset?”<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/life/11/02/20/docu-drama-on-national-artist-nick-joaquin-streams-again-at-this-years-ppp">READ: Docu-drama on National Artist Nick Joaquin streams again at this year’s PPP</a></div>I am reminded of this after watching “Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati” at Hyundai Hall of Arete in Ateneo de Manila University. The play, which is ongoing on a limited run until August 17, is a Filipino translation by Jerry Respeto of Joaquin’s “A Portrait of an Artist as Filipino,” which was then adapted and directed by Guelan Luarca. Joaquin’s “Portrait” begins with a long monologue of Bitoy Camacho, journalist and narrator, describing the ruins in Intramuros after World War II.  He focuses on what’s left of the house of Don Lorenzo Marasigan, world-renowned visual artist, and his two spinster daughters who lived there, Candida and Paula.“The atmosphere of the house suggested another age -- an age of lamplight and gaslight, of harps and whiskers and fine carriages; an age of manners and melodrama, of religion and revolution,” he says.As recollection, Bitoy ushers us on what happened during his visit to the Marasigan house one afternoon sometime in October, 1941, two months before World War II was felt in Manila and the whole country. It is a flashback but some audience members would know, except for Bitoy, that we are seeing ghosts reenacting what happened. Joaquin’s original story is an elegy in three acts, lasting for a little more than two hours. Luarca told ABS-CBN News how from Respeto’s “faithful translation of “Portrait” into Filipino,” he played with the text and turned it into an hour-and-half play. The result was the deconstruction of the original Joaquin text. And what a better, ever brilliant way to depict the ghosts of Intramuros than introducing a more classic touch.“Some of the lines of Bitoy Camacho (played by Omar Uddin), I turned into a Greek chorus. The adaptation principle is a structure of a Greek play,” Luarca said. The result is a more engaging material, more haunting than nostalgic. At some point, we wonder if we’re watching a Joaquin play or a new original Luarca piece, in the same vein with his “3 Upuan” or “Nagkatuwaan sa Tahanang Ito”. I won’t delve much on the actors. I’d let the credible critics and reviewers to expound on that. A second viewing would be best to see their merits. Then again, it’s a given that Delphine Buencamino playing Candida and Gab Pangilinan as Paula are both consistently giving the best performances of their lives. Same with Brian Sy as Don Perico and as part of the chorus. I just wonder why he wasn’t given as alternate for Bitoy Camacho or the seducer-opportunist Tony Javier, here alternately played by John Sanchez and Vino Mabalot.At some point, it seemed there are no lead actors but everyone’s part of an ensemble. The Marasigan sisters Candida and Paula with lodger Tony Javier are one with Jethro Tenorio as Manolo, Meyanne Plamenio-Cortezano as Doña Upeng, Brian Sy as Don Perico the poet turned senator and the rest of the chorus members Roldin Ebrada, Chantei Cortez, Rafael Jimenez, JJ Igancio, Maita Ponce (Pepang), and Mikaela Regis.Veteran actor Rolando Inocencio, who I watched with on the same night, has an interesting point of view. He said, “They are all ghosts, except for Candida, Paula, Tony and Bitoy. It’s genius for Guelan to use a Greek chorus because the portrait itself has reference to Aeneas carrying his father from Troy.” True enough, some characters are portrayed like that, some kind of ghostly apparitions for the audience to imagine. There’s also the skillful use of silhouettes in some scenes and framed Capiz shells on walls and windows that later in the play would move as if they’re crumbling towards the audience. It’s like being inside an old Hispanic house and we’re all going to perish in the bombing. Kudos to Matthew Chang’s sparse yet appropriate background music as well as the works of lighting designer Jethro Nibaten and set-property designer D Cortezano.After so many versions and stagings of what is considered the greatest play ever written by a Filipino, Luarca’s fresh approach, more than anything, “is to celebrate on why Nick Joaquin is a genius.” Luarca earlier directed a devised version of “Kisapmata” for Tanghalang Pilipino, an adaptation of Joaquin’s reportage “The House on Zapote Street” and Mike de Leon’s 1981 film of the same title. We asked Luarca if he has plans on adapting other works by Joaquin.“Surprisingly [after doing ‘Kisapmata’] when I was adapting ‘Portrait,” nakita ko it is the same writer. &#x27;Yung images, &#x27;yung language. Nakita mo talagang si Nick Joaquin, may distinct touch talaga siya. Of course, it’s always been a dream. [Probably] his short stories like ‘Summer Solstice’,” he said.“With ‘Quomodo Desolata Es? I put everything about the war, the genocide, partisan politics, the fading Filipino past, our cultural identity, naka-set siya sa isang bahay, lahat &#x27;yun, na-dump ko sa text na ito,” he added.“This is what I like to do now, more introspective plays. I like the comfort of doing shorter narratives.”Had Nick Joaquin lived long to see this recent iteration, he might have fallen on his seat praising how impressive this version of “sunset” has become. Whenever he’s invited to watch, Joaquin was reportedly known to prefer sitting on the front seats, expectedly with a bottle of beer. With his loud, booming voice, he’d make on-the-spot comments as if what’s happening was a technical dress rehearsal.With “Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati,” Luarca and Respeto have set a new standard in adapting plays by Joaquin and his contemporaries. The great old Nick might have been raising a bottle of beer in his grave.<div> </div><div>“Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati” runs at the Hyundai Hall oif Arete in Ateneo de Manila University until August 17. </div>

“Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati” at Hyundai Hall of Arete in Ateneo de Manila University, is a Filipino translation by Jerry Respeto of Nick Joaquin’s “A Portrait of an Artist as Filipino,” which was then adapted and directed by Guelan Luarca.

“Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati” at Hyundai Hall of Arete in Ateneo de Manila University, is a Filipino translation by Jerry Respeto of Nick Joaquin’s “A Portrait of an Artist as Filipino,” which was then adapted and directed by Guelan Luarca.

Guelan Luarca deconstructs Nick Joaquin’s classic play into a brilliant new version

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Guelan Luarca deconstructs Nick Joaquin’s classic play into a brilliant new version

Totel V. De Jesus

Published Aug 16, 2025 01:05 PM PHT

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Quomodo Desolata Es Isang Dalamhati

Nick Joaquin

Guelan Luarca

Arete

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