5th Thought: Nagtataka Ka Na Ba? Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo Review

*Writer's note/s
Title: "Nagtataka ka na ba?" means "Are you wondering?" or "Are you getting curious?"


A E I O U! Tatay mong kalbu!

This is what I remembered when our professor required us to watch the play Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo performed by Teatre Phileo (pronounced as /te-ya-tro fi-le-yo/)
. My silly classmates back in grade school hit this rhyme as a pun whenever we have our Speech subject. Then I suddenly got curious on why does the play have that title and what is it all about. After watching it with my friends last October 10, 2015, 1:00 PM at Multipurpose Hall 1, Asia Pacific College (APC), I had no heartaches on our professor requiring us to watch it. 

Warning: May give ideas of what the play is about.

Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo is an absurd play in which it has no specific plot and the dialogues are repeating, making it nonsense. It is a translation of an English play, The Bald Soprano. The play is humorous, thus, is enjoyable to watch. There was never a dull moment in the play. The play is said to be nonsense, but it occurred to me that it has a deeper meaning.

In my opinion, the play depicted some Filipino ideas and attitudes. At the first part, I saw the Filipino attitude of being proud of themselves if they are in a rich or well-known family. I also noticed that it depicted the Filipino idea in which the parents derive their child’s name from the child’s grandparents’ names. Another was the typical “simple disagreement becomes a big argument” characteristic of a Filipino couple. I do not mean to offend, but I usually see it in the said nationality. In contrast to that negative (yet sometimes cute) characteristic, there is the sweet act of asking forgiveness which can most likely be seen among Filipinos. It is what we call paglalambing. Then there is the downside attitude of women (Peace, women in the world!) which we Filipinos call pakipot. This is when a woman acts like, “I don’t need your sorry. Do something else to have my forgiveness,” whenever someone, especially her partner, asks for her forgiveness. 

Now I’m done with the somehow distinctly Filipino. Now, I’ll move on to the general ideas and concepts I learned from the play. First is the habit of men and women in which when a couple argues, both parties generalize the opposite sex being all the same. It goes by this line, “Pare-pareho kayong mga lalaki (babae)!” or this, “You men (women) are all the same!” Another idea I noticed is this: couples or lovers sometimes forget that they are as such (probably because they are used to being together) and then realize it after some time. Another concept is what I call “acting ambiguous.” Pasimple in Filipino terms. For example, I hate some girl who keeps on flirting my boyfriend. I will make her grossed out whenever we’re together with my boyfriend or hurt her not obviously intentional just to have revenge. I learned in the play that people can be pretenders (pakitang tao or plastikan). Please readers, avoid this attitude. Lastly, there was a very distinct part in the play that I remember: forbidden love. It is when you have found someone of the opposite sex to love but your parents don’t want that person for you.Pretty much true in real life, am I right?

The play was a very meaningful one. It made me realize many things that actually happens in real life. It's more like our life put together in one 2-hour play. Despite its meaning being deeply hidden in the play as if one would need to dig a hundred meters down, anyone will enjoy the play with its humor and the superb acting of the cast. The actors and actresses are some local APC students from the drama organization of APC namely Teatro Phileo but they fit well in their characters and executed their roles smoothly. I could say that they have the potential to be real-life actors and actresses in the field of drama. Ate Marsha as Mrs. Santos and Kuya Je (I'm not sure LOL) as Mr. Reyes for our batch are my favorites. Please correct me if I'm wrong about the actor for Mr. Reyes. Mr. Reyes for our showing time (Mr. and Mrs. Reyes have two actors and actresses each) looked like my Research teacher back in senior year as if he's his long lost brother (*slapped*). Ate Marsha really suited the role of Mrs. Santos because she portrayed the attitude and personality of Mrs. Santos as if those are her qualities.

"Umm... Ate Lane, akin naman si Mr. Reyes! May Hepe ka na eh. Haha!"

Cast and production team of Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo

I want to congratulate the cast and production team of Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo for a successful play. You deserve my only available cash (that time) of 20 pesos as my blank ticket instead of spending that for my snacks. At least I was able to help you instead of adding some more fats in my body, right? If only I had more cash in my wallet, I would give you more. You deserve it! Thank you for the unforgettable memory.