Repertory Philippines debutant and congressman Toff de Venecia puts a contemporary twist on a 20th-century classic
Inevitably, a lot of classic musicals were made a generation ago, and its original viewers are in the twilight of their lives now, to say the least. Stage setups, costumes, and songs are the ones that survive the test of time to be relevant among a younger audience. The same goes for Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. First premiered in 1945, it was once lauded as the best musical of the 20th century by an American news magazine.
Following several revivals on Broadway and adaptations through different mediums, Carousel was most recently picked up by Repertory Philippines, one of the country’s two original theater organizations.
And under the direction of congressman and theater practitioner Toff de Venecia, Repertory Philippines’ Carousel opts for a road less traveled. As shocked as he was getting the call with his contemporary background, he is now at the core of a postmodern Carousel.
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Zeroing in
Upon reading the play’s script, de Venecia admitted to being triggered by its contents. Regardless, this allowed him to pay attention to the play’s “deep genre,” which meant focusing on themes beyond the piece’s surface level.
“I really saw this really, really strong emphasis or focus on violence against women and children, misogyny, gender politics. So I immediately gravitated toward a political reading of the show,” said de Venecia, who also noted the social “undercurrents” in Rogers and Hammerstein’s works.
“There’s so much wrong in this text. And if we just allow it to happen, if we just romanticize it, which is exactly what the text does to issues of violence against women and children and misogyny, then the consumers of this creative output or the audience becomes complicit as opposed to doing something about it,” he added.
He then proceeded to single out scenes and production numbers reflective of these themes. One such example was a near-ending scene that relayed a “basta mahal mo” justification for physical abuse.
Naturally, going in for a less rosy take meant that de Venecia and company had to prepare for conservative patrons and generational gaps, on top of the pressure brought about by carrying the Repertory Philippines name.
A positive setback
What many might not know is that de Venecia’s Carousel is on its 2022 iteration. Originally due for 2020, the pandemic gave the production team another opportunity to make changes to the final output.
Both retain their emphasis on social issues, but this version is performed on a more intimate, black box theater rather than the grander and regular, proscenium stage. According to de Venecia, orchestration was reduced to just two pianos, and the actors themselves became the primary view.
“Pwede naman pala eh. Pwede naman pala mag R and H na, alam mo ‘yon, historically is done in a big stage, with massive audiences. Pwede naman pala siya sa isang black box, and some people actually prefer it that way,” he said, with the changes being born out of the lockdown and his sensibilities as a producer.
If anything, the pandemic-induced setup has paid off. Asked about the new setup, de Venecia was adamant about its compatibility with his vision.
“It challenges audiences to think about the themes and it happens so up close. There’s so much gold that can be mined from the whole experience, and so we’ve gotten really powerful feedback from audiences about how the show forced them about those issues that are embedded in the text.”
The verdict?
As of writing, the play is counting down the days before its curtain call. If you’ll ask him, de Venecia sees everything as a success so far.
“The show has really resonated with the target market and audiences that we wanted to sort of resonate with and introduce Rogers and Hammerstein to, especially this musical, Carousel, which isn’t populist, which isn’t very known to Filipino audiences,” he said.
And then there were also his creative choices resonating with the audiences–choices that again, could have met backlash from conservative patrons.
“I’m very much interested in the future. With my work in government as a congressman and as someone who really champions the creative industry and, you know, I have this tagline: ‘the future is creative,’ that’s very much invested in the future,” de Venecia adds, citing once more, the contemporary take on Carousel as his example.
Repertory Philippines’ Carousel is set to stage its final showings up until December 18 at the CCP Tanghalang Ignacio Gomez. Tickets are available on TicketWorld, SM Tickets, and the CCP Box Office.
Photos from REPERTORY PHILIPPINES
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Toff de Venecia, Carousel and the Art of Smashing Rose-Colored Lenses
Source: Insta News Pinoy
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