Twenty-five years of Teatrong Mulat’s Papet Pasyon

One more reason to celebrate with the Grand Dame of Philippine Puppetry

When Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio penned her Papet Pasyon, she wanted to bring together a Filipino cultural tradition and an art that was not homegrown. The result was a play that opened the eyes of children, not only to the art of Asian puppetry but also to the beauty of their own cultural heritage.

An hour and a ten minutes long, the full-length puppet play has been entrancing countless children and their parents every year since 1985. Now on its 25^th year, Papet Pasyon still continues to bring the story of Christ’s Passion to life with its cast of brown-skinned, flat-nosed and round-faced puppets.

Lapeña-Bonifacio, recently awarded the title ‘Mother of Puppetry in the Philippines’ by the U.P. Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts, believes that, by borrowing and adopting puppetry techniques from neighboring Asian countries (such as the bunraku of Japan and the wayang golek of Indonesia), one can bring to Filipino children a knowledge and awareness of their cultural roots—not only as Filipino children, but as Asians.

“I was apprehensive to stage ‘Papet Pasyon’ because the play challenges orthodoxy, starting from the Filipino face, quite far from the tall noses and fair skin. Also, National Artist Lucrecia Kasilag, then president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, suggested the Little Theater (now the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino) as the venue for its premiere,” shares Lapeña-Bonifacio, who is fondly called “Lola Amel” by all the kids (and the adults) who have watched the puppet plays. “What I did not know then was how enthusiastic the reception would be to the changes. A German director commented, ‘I don’t know why you want to see the Passion Play at Oberammergau, when you have puppets like these. Just look at that face (referring to the Virgin Mary puppet)!’”

The Papet Pasyon of Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas will have its 25^th annual run this Palm Sunday, the 28^th of March 2010, 3pm and 5:30pm, at the Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Teatro Papet Museo, 64 Mapagkawanggawa St., Teachers Village West, Quezon City. ADMISSION IS FREE. For more information, call the Teatrong Mulat office at 929.0895, call/text 0918.9032040, or email mulatpuppets77@yahoo.com.

      “PAPET ASEAN 2010: Celebrating ASEAN Puppet Traditions” is a 3-day celebration of artistry, solidarity, and life as distinguished puppet artists and experts/scholars meet, perform and discuss the rich tradition of puppetry in the ASEAN.

     Puppets come alive on Feb. 24 (Festival Opening) and Feb. 25-26 (10 am & 2:30 pm shows @ the Abelardo Hall Auditorium). The festival  will feature Mascots and Puppets Specialists (Singapore), Pak Yusoff Mamat  (Malaysia), 2 Indonesian dalangs, Anino Shadowplay Collective (Philippines), Ony Carcamo (Philippines), Roppets Edutainment (Philippines), and Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (Philippines). A seminar on puppetry-in-education is scheduled on Feb. 25.

     PAPET ASEAN 2010 coincides with the celebration of the National Arts Month, the U.P. Diliman Month and the U.P. Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts 50^th Anniversary.

     Festival Organizer Samahan ng mga Papetir ng Pilipinas acknowledges the invaluable support of the ASEAN Foundation, ASEAN Puppetry Association, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, UNESCO, the Quezon City Government,  PAGCOR, Theater Lighting Technology, Royal Embassy of Cambodia, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the University of the Philippines (Office of the President, Office of the Chancellor, Office for Initiatives in Culture and Arts, College of Arts & Letters, and the College of Music Department of Musicology).

     Mark your calendar for Papet ASEAN 2010—February 24-26, 2010–and get ready for this magical puppetry event!

     For inquiries, call/text 0918.903.2040, 439.1471   or email papetir@gmail.com.

Senakulong pambata ni

Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio

Abril 5, 2009

Linggo ng Palaspas

3 ng hapon at 5:30 ng hapon

Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Teatro Papet Museo

64 Mapagkawanggawa St.

Teachers Village, Quezon City

(malapit sa Holy Family School/Maginhawa St.)

Location: Cultural Center of the Philippines

Description: The God Vishnu reincarnates himself as Prince Rama, the first son of King Dashrata, to stop King Ravana from continuing his evil reign. Young Prince Rama grows up to be a strong man and by his strength he wins the love of Princess Sita. Before King Dashrata is able to bestow the throne to Rama, his second wife, Kaikeyi, requests that he fulfill the two wishes he granted her in return for having saved his life during the war. Her first wish was to make her son Bharata the crowned king and second, to banish Rama in the forest for fourteen years. To honor his father’s word, Rama consents and goes to the forest with Sita and his brother Laksmana. While Rama was in exile, the ogress, Surpanakha, falls in love with him but he denies her. While they drive her away, Laksmana cuts Surpanakha’s nose. Furious of being insulted and hurt, Surpanakha demands her brother, King Rava, to avenge her. King Ravana, having heard of the beauty of Princess Sita, wants her to make her his wife and so, King Ravana seeks revenge for his sister by kidnapping Princess Sita. Prince Rama and Prince Laksmana team up with the monkey king, Sugriva, and the monkey general, Hanuman. Together with the army of monkeys, Prince Rama and Prince Laksmana face the dangers that await them in King Ravana’s kingdom. They save Princess Sita and return home on the 14th year of their exile. Prince Rama becomes King and leads the kingdom with Queen Sita by his side.

Performance Schedule

February 20 (Friday)           10 am & 3 pm

February 21 (Saturday)        3 pm & 7 pm

Venue          

Tanghalang Batute

Cultural Center of the Philippines , Roxas Blvd., Pasay City

Ticket Price   Regular price @ PhP 300 each; avail of discounts for group sales.

Contact Teatrong Mulat

921-9773, 0918-9032040 or e-mail mulatpuppets77@yahoo.com

Tita Amel surrounded by puppets of “Papet Pasyon” — the Cripple Boy Narrator, Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ. Premiered in 1985 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, “Papet Pasyon” is presented annually during the lenten season.

“Ang Pagong at an Tssonggo” (The Monkey and the Turtle) premiered as a puppet play in 1980 for the Joint Japan-Philippine Puppetry Festival as hosted by the Ohanashi Caravan in Tokyo. It was first presented as a live show on the steps of Palma Hall of the University of the Philippines, written and directed by Tita Amel, Music by Christian Ramilo who also played the native kulintang(gamelan) and led a small band of four members playing traditional Philippine bamboo and brass instruments.

Amihan is a puppeteer for snake while Tita Amel is puppeteer for jumping frogs in “And Mga Pipit at an Ahas” (The Pipit Birds and the Snake), and Indonesian folk tale. Written and directed by Tita Amel, puppets by Dan Tayona and Tita Amel and music by Professor Edru Abraham of the U.P. College of Arts and Letters. It was premiered in Jakarta during the 4th International Workshop on Living Children’s Theater in Asia.

Entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday with puppets Jesus Christ riding a puppet pony and being welcomed by dancing puppet townspeople waving palm leaves (palaspas) and puppet birds flying in the air.

A 15-seater URVAN donated by NISSAN-ROREN Federation of All Nissan and General Workers Union from Tokyo, Japan first brought Mulat to the lahar (mud flows from Pinatubo) affected areas in Luzon in 1992.