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ENTERTAINMENT
THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 6 Number 7 | APRIL 2016
Forget me not: ‘Noli’ musical
rekindles nationalist flames
AN Australian playwright
and his long-time musical
collaborator breathe new
life to one of the greatest
Philippine novels of all time,
‘Noli Me Tangere’ (Touch Me
Not)
By Michelle Baltazar
There are plans to
bring a musical adaptation
of the Philippine novel
‘Noli Me Tangere’
(‘Noli’) in Australia and
early signs show it has the
makings of a hit.
Award-winning
Australian playwright
Peter Fleming came
across the novel through
his Filipina wife and
loved it so much he
thought of turning it into
a musical. He pitched
the idea to his long-time
collaborator, composer
Allan McFadden, who
then went on a cultural
tour to the Philippines
before laying down the
music and lyrics for the
play.
The result, based
on the stage reading
held at Kings Cross
Theatre in Sydney last
week, is a compelling
musical adaptation by
the same name that got
the Filipino-Australian
community buzzing.
Fleming and
McFadden just happen
to pick the very novel
that fueled the Philippine
revolution against Spain
in the late 1800s and
was written by the most
admired Filipino of all
time, national hero Jose
Rizal.
In Philippine literary
circles, ‘Noli’ is as epic as
it gets.
The story centres on
the life of Crisostomo
Ibarra, a well-educated
young man; Maria Clara,
his love interest; Father
Damaso, the abusive town
priest; Tasio, Ibarra’s
childhood friend; and
Elias, the leader of a local
rebellion.
It was in the telling of
Ibarra’s life during this
turbulent period that the
universal theme of social
injustice was thoughtfully
explored in front of a
captivated audience.
The first five minutes
of ‘Noli’ was a promising
start. It remained
faithful to the novel’s
opening scene and
Ryan O’ Donnell, in his
principal role as Ibarra,
had the vocal chops to
give the main character
due gravitas under the
spotlight.Sal Sharah, as
Father Damaso, had a
tough gig. In my mind,
Father Damaso was the
The Cast of Noli Me Tangere. First Row (L-R): Pam Picart, Susan Ling Young, Daniel Placido, Ballina Gee. Second Row: Sal Sharah, Gonzalo
Kaempfe, Lena Cruz, Sarah Ampil, Ryan O’Donnell, Susana Downes, Isabel Delgado, Ian Warwick. Third Row: Kido Mariano, David Hooley, Nat
Jobe, Timothy Monley, Kim Beltran. Top: Marcus Rivera. Photo courtesy: Redland Events
poster child of everything
that was wrong about the
Spanish Government and
the Church at the time.
It would be good to see
his depraved character
played to full effect. At
the reading, his cruelty
was largely spoken of, not
acted out.
That said, I recall
humming to the song
‘Bananas, Tinola and
Rice!’ well after the show
ended so it’s credit to
Fleming and McFadden
for kicking off Act One
with this catchy piece (not
to mention the song’s nod
to staple Filipino dishes).
As for the character
‘Maria Clara’, it was
a huge relief to see her
portrayed as a kindhearted but strong-willed
woman. The best line to
show this off was in the
scene where she said: “I
do not require any man’s
arm.” She is, after all, the
Filipina ideal and shows
that even before the term
‘gender equality’ was
coined, Rizal knew what
it meant.
I was also glad to
see that Maria Clara’s
character had plenty of
airtime. Filipina soprano
Sarah Ampil did an
amazing job particularly
in the theme song: ‘Could
I Ever Forget You?’
Meanwhile, Ibarra’s
close friend Tasio was
played brilliantly by Nat
Jobe who, dare I say it,
stole the show during the
‘The Sermon From Hell’
scene. The song ‘Round
and Round’ is one of my
favourites because the
lyrics summed up the
novel very nicely and
the sentiments are still
relevant today.
Mindful that this
was a stage reading, I
limited my observations
to the play’s structure
and lyrics. I paid
little attention to the
physicality, musicality
and acting that came
with the reading of
each character because
they weren’t the focus
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