There are more than 160 Filipino organisations that in their own unique ways bring together a majority of the 200,000 plus Filipinos in Qatar through various community platforms. The Tanghalang Overseas Pinoy is one such body that stands out for its passion and perseverance in promoting Filipino culture through theatre and performing art while offering alternative entertainment to Filipinos.
Based in Doha, the non-profit Filipino organisation believes in empowering OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers) as “active ambassadors of Philippine arts and culture”. From developing the talents of its members through a variety of workshops to staging shows showcasing the theatrical talents of fellow Filipinos, Tanghalang Overseas Pinoy is at the forefront of Filipino community theatre in Qatar.
Community caught up with Jonathan Gaela, Vice President- External, Tanghalang Overseas Pinoy, to know all about this important group and how its work spurs on the Filipino community.
From where does the name Tanghalang Overseas Pinoy originate?
Tanghalang Overseas Pinoy (Tanghalang O.Pi) is an organisation that was born from dust. That is a pun, an allusion to the first theatrical project Tanghalang O.Pi members had been involved with — Alikabok, a Filipino word which translates to “dust” in English. Around 11 years ago, on June 17, 2005, curtains rose to usher in the birth of theatre arts in the Filipino community in Qatar with the debut of Tanghalang O.Pi.
How did Tanghalang O.Pi get formed here in Doha? Take us through the backstory.
Our organisation came into being thanks to the firm resolve of a few people who believe that Filipino artistry is strong-willed and dauntless, ingenious and boundless. Of these people, in the frontline was Richard Lapada, Alikabok’s principal director and overall in-charge of production. It was he who, despite the lack of formal training in theatre arts but with flair and great interest in theatre, toiled endlessly to realise this project. Through the patronage of the Philippine embassy in Qatar, the play was produced not by a theatre guild but under the banner of the Filipino cultural group Banyuhay, whose main focus was dance and music. Noting this, after the staging of the play and while the camaraderie established within the cast and production staff had never been stronger, Joseph Francisco, who assisted Richard in directing the play, conceived the idea of organising a theatre guild exclusively composed of OFWs in Qatar and discussed it with Richard.
Was it soon after this that Tanghalang O.Pi sprung into an entity?
Yes. They then presented their abstract to the cast and crew who became instantly enthusiastic about founding a theatre guild. They started drafting the by-laws, and on August 5, 2005, they gathered again, not for a performance but for establishing the organisation that would promote Filipino theatre in Qatar, and advance and protect their interests as theatre performers. After deliberating and drafting the organisation’s by-laws, a week later, the by-laws were ratified and officers were elected. Tanghalang O.Pi, an Overseas Filipino Theater Group, was thus born. The name Tanghalang O.Pi is defined by its members, the OFWs who take great interest in theatre arts. Tanghalan is the Filipino word for theatre. O.Pi is the Overseas Pinoy (Overseas Filipino Worker), an appellation popular in the Philippines and among Filipinos everywhere to mean a Filipino working abroad. The dot in the “O.Pi” is allegorical of the initial composition of the group: 27 relatively young, dynamic and modern people of the dot.com generation.
What is special about Filipino theatre and musicals?
Filipinos love arts. We take it seriously. If you watch our performances, there is one common trait: you can feel it. This is because we are born to be passionate, and this is what we do.
How responsive and encouraging has the Filipino community of Qatar been to Tanghalang O.Pi’s shows?
The response from the Filipino community is not bad at all. But I’d rather say it’s very challenging. That is the reason we are working hard to maintain our standards.
When is the next Tanghalang O.Pi show in Doha?
We will be holding a Doobidoo Concert at 7pm on July 22 to a small audience at Eve’s Catering and Restaurant in Matar Qadeem. This will serve as part of our promotion for Alikabok and our group. We are also inviting auditionees during the show. The repertoire is adapted from the Filipino movie of the same name. The songs are from a popular group in the Philippines called APO Hiking Society.
What is your famous production of Alikabook all about?
We will be staging Alikabok on October 14 at the Qatar National Theater. Long story short, Juan Luna’s classic painting entitled La Bulaqueña, hanging in Malacañang, was the inspiration for Alikabok. It is said that the young girl in baro’t saya (the unofficial national dress of the Philippines) so delicately depicted by Luna was in truth a Katipunera (a female member of the Katipunan, a Philippine revolutionary society in 1890s whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution) who lived in Bulacan.
Alikabok relives the story of Bising Vallejo who lived with her widowed father in their ancestral home in San Rafael, Bulacan in 1895. She moved out of their home amid the splendour, gentility and political drama of the Philippines in the 1890s. Her story tells of her evolution into a brave and valiant revolutionary fighting for the country’s independence against her father’s wishes; of her love for Ignacio and their love child. All this, was discovered by Greg, her great grandson, and his wife Anna, who find her diary in the now rundown and dilapidated Vallejo house. Alikabok is an experience to enjoy with Bising throughout this one-and-a-half hour-long love story.
In what way does Alikabok hold significance to Filipinos?
In many ways. When someone asked a critic what the play was all about, he said: “It has laughter and regret from some slapstick and sentimental memories. There’s a bit of everything for every type of viewer.” Yes it does, and of everything fervent like the call of duty and allegiance to the country, of nationalism, of imaginary battlefields and injured Katipuneros (Filipino freedom fighters), and Filipina women sewing the Philippine flag with powerful red, black and white lights dramatising the heroic scenes through the expertise of light design and excellent music and sounds depicting the Philippine independence.
Alikabok is also a story of prohibition and demanding of good behaviour for “old women”, of 18 years and older that is. In the 19th century, if a dalaga (young woman) wasn’t married at 17, she was a spinster. Bising, the leading lady, obeys her father, Don Simeon, and succumbs, so it seems, to his choice of a matrimonial partner. Tony Espejo, the then well-known director of Alikabok, says this drama is supportive of women who carry the cudgels for others by encouraging them to make their own choice and this “precept remains true no matter what time we are in.”
What are some of the big shows Tanghalang O.Pi has put out over the years?
For the past 10 years, we have showcased various Filipino acts, musicals, drama and concerts such as: Alikabok (Dust) in 2005; Domestic Helper in 2005; Kenkoy Loves Rosing in 2006; Rhythms of Broadway in 2007; Trumpets — Little Mermaid in 2008; Rhythms of Broadway Returns in 2013; and Katy! The Musical in 2015.
What keeps you at Tanghalang O.Pi going, year after year? Is it the passion, or just the thrill of performing?
It’s both passion and the thrill of performing. Despite the stress at our workplace, all of us are always excited about the next practice session. Being together like a family — yes, truly as family — we forget how lonely our life as an OFW is and also momentarily forget being away from our families back in the Philippines. The fact that we treat each other like family is what keeps us folks at Tanghalang O.Pi going, and growing.
Will you continue to nurture the Filipino community theatre dynamic?
Yes. We believe that the talents of the OFWs should not be manacled by their desire to establish better lives for their families left behind in the Philippines. Tanghalang O.Pi members are unstoppable in their mission to showcase the theatrical talents of the Filipinos by staging relevant productions and engaging in activities that touch and inspire the Overseas Pinoy.
CANDID: ‘We believe that the talents of the OFWs should not be manacled by their desire to establish better lives for their families left behind in the Philippines,’ says Jonathan Gaela.
