Ang galing ng Pinoy!

A group of friends I know make it a point to catch at least one local cultural event every month – whether it’s film, theatre or a food festival.  I wish I could that.  Watch less TV and go for more art.  Feed the soul, eat out and drink less.  But there’s been a dearth of good Pinoy movies.  There’s more theatre, though, at the Rep, U.P. and the PETA. 

Unexcitedly I drove to faraway Q.C. to catch the final matinee of Caredivas upon the invite of a celebrity-friend who’s been wanting to try out the stage.  I thought it was another drag show.  I’m so glad I took a break from shopping for construction materials.

PETA’s Caredivas is a musical about a man named Chelsea and four other transvestites who work as caregivers by day in Israel in the time of infitada (the violent Israeli-Palestine conflict in 2004-2005), and then don their boa feathers at night in their desperate search for a club gig in Tel-Aviv.   Their struggle in alien land is familiar OFW territory.  It’s financial – the pressure to send money home on gay contract workers is greater than that on straight men (wala ka naming pamilya; baka mapunta lang sa panlalake ang kita mo!).  Emotional – aged Jews dependent on Pinoys for human connection that a sickly Pinoy mother is denied of.  Cultural – orthodox Hebrew views on homosexuality (it’s ok to be gay as long as you don’t act on your gay desires).  Romantic – it’s always complicated; love comes from unexpected places, in a park, with an illegal, homeless Palestinian pretending to be Jewish.

Much of this was told in song.  The music is original, raucous.  Every lyric, genuine and soulful, none of the pretense that’s forced to conform to a pentameter.  The best part was the ensemble.  The actors were so sensational, especially the lead Melvin Lee, Vincent de Jesus and Jerald Napoles, that the audience rushed to embrace all of them after the show.

Kudos to PETA!  You've proved how good the Pinoy artist is.  You've delivered again on your promise ‘to use theatre that is distinctly Filipino as a tool for social change and development’.  Let Caredivas also inspire local cinema to come up with fresh and relevant material.