Quest for the Elusive Self: The Role of Contemporary Philippine Theatre in the Formation of Cultural Identity

Abstract

Ensconced in a spacious office among the dimly lit halls of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in Manila, Nicanor Tiongson, the artistic director of the center, explained the dilemma of contemporary Filipino theatre. Refuting the common compliment that Filipino actors are so versatile they can perform in major productions all over the world, he said that instead he envied Indonesian performers their strong, unbroken classical tradition: whichever new idea or movement Indonesian performers encountered, their tradition effected and assimilated it into their own stylistic structure and ideology.' Therefore, everything the Indonesians came in contact with became identifiably their own, in contrast to the chameleon mutability of the Philippine performer whose talent lay in the unconscious imitation of the original. This very talent, according to Tiongson, reveals the Filipino's own lack of cultural identity and the culture's lack of a core tradition (1994). This situation does not follow a typical postcolonial model in which dramatists must choose between an indigenous but antiquated tradition and a modem but foreign implantation. The lack of a formalized classical tradition is also the reason Western scholars have taken little notice of the Philippines' unique theatrical developments. In spite of this, most current Philippine performances are part of a conscious culture-building project to establish a national identity within the theatrical context.