The Pull of Totoy Tulak

Normally, when a theater aficionado enters an auditorium to see a play, his/her watchful eyes are focused on the pictorial composition of the stage, scrutinizing the hues that bathe the set. This was not the case with the audience that came to see the premiere of Layeta Bucoy’s play “Totoy Tulak”at gymnasium-cum-theater of Pamantasan ng Cabuyao.

After passing through the opening of an improvised shanty at the entrance of the auditorium, the audience sees the stunning chaotic proxemics created by monoblocks turned upside down and the hanging clothes that provide balance to the chaos below. Amid this visual experience, the theatergoers become captive listeners to the intoxicated incantations of videoke belters. Soon, they settle in their seats and wonder perhaps, “Why all of these?”

And the play starts.

“Totoy Tulak” depicts life among the poor that live along the railroad tracks. Totoy, the pivotal character, betrays his blood relations – he makes sexual advances on his own niece (Mary Ann), kills his only cousin (Vangie), stabs his own nephew (Bon Bon) — to serve his desires. His self-serving outlook makes him suck up to Danny, the drug lord who also runs the gambling operations in the area. For Totoy, Danny is the master of the game of survival, who must be obeyed.

“Totoy Tulak” weaves various “threads of life” amid the upturned chairs, hanging overused clothes and the videoke that are the detritus of Totoy’s existence. In the same token, the balut vendor, the juetengero, the card players including the womanizer being chased by his wife an itak effectively provides a rough texture for the dialogue and acting.

The power of bucoy’s text resides not in the violent rape and murder of a very innocent girl, but from its ability to make the audiences feel empathy for the characters, who are unquestionably amoral. It’s clear that circumstances play a large part in driving Totoy’s and Vangie’s actions. It is not inherent in their nature to always make a pact with the devil. This is not to argue that both Totoy and Vangie are faultless; they’re wont to make errors in judgment. Totoy and Vangie to survive, both must share whatever resources they have. When one becomes greedy, one has to kill and the other must die.

“Totoy Tulak” is a delicate play that is compatible only with a realistic style of staging. Rufo’s directing has molded the text into its most powerful form. His use of the space brings to the audiences the marginalized world of the characters. He reduces the acting to its barest essentials, which is most congenial to the text as characters are devoid of the ornaments of the upper class. The texture of the set creates a barren atmosphere on stage suggesting poverty and depression. Rufo extends the stage into the audience area, making the play invade the audience.

“Totoy Tulak”is performed and presented by Dulaang Batingaw of Pamantasan ng Cabuyao, a promising theater group in the outskirts of the city. It can stand on its own among established theater productions anywhere in the metropolis.