Hinanay, Grace Anne Nicole R.

HUMALIT EE1

Fish-Hair Woman

Last November, DLSU Harlequin Theatre Guild staged the acclaimed

novel “Fish-Hair Woman” by Merlinda Bobis. It was adopted for the stage by
Rody Vera and directed by Raffy R. Tejada. The theatre organization was also
behind the famous Tonying: Ang Mahiwagang Aklat ng Kasaysayan, a play about
Philippine history with a twist of fantasy which made it stand out, and The Sky
Over Dimas, a story about how powerful family secrets are. But what
differentiates Fish-Hair Woman from their two other plays is, it is presented in a
round format stage. The audience can watch the every move of the actors, the
set and props were all visible and the audience feels involved and connected to
the play itself. DLSU Harlequin Theatre Guild’s Fish-Hair Woman is the tale of an
ordinary girl named Stella who was changed by the conflict between the
Philippine Government and the New People’s Army in 1980.

The play is about the horrors of the civil unrest in 1987 and how it
damaged the lives of the villagers in Iraya. This implies the importance of power,
how it can build and destroy lives and the quest for justice. The story focused on
Estrella and her family. The title speaks for the fact that she uses her 12-meter
long hair like a net to retrieve the dead from the water. She is the one who
remembers and suffers. Later on from being Estrella, she was called ‘Stella’ and
it was revealed in the latter part of the play that she doesn’t know the line
between reality and imagination anymore because she was taking drugs. Pilar,
her older sister joined the communist insurgents; there is also the story of
Bolodoy, a boy who used to plants sweet potatoes who turned into an aggressive
soldier for the Anghel dela Guardia.
 The character that struck me the most is Pilar, which was enacted by
Blanche Buhia. From being an innocent young girl to a brave woman, the
audience witnessed how political turmoil can affect the development of a person.
The turning point for Pilar, and perhaps her most powerful scene was when men
who took advantage of their authority raped her. After the rape scene, Pilar got
up and sang in her most weakest state yet the facial reaction of the actress was
so powerful you could see weakness yet determination “Kapag ginahasa,
bumangon at maligo” then everything about her changed. She was never the
same. The actress managed to establish a strong emotional connection with the
audience through her facial reactions and the way she used her voice to sing
those simple lyrics in the most heart breaking way.

The play had two acts. The first act is longer while the second act
happened way too fast. Both parts were equally powerful. I admire the opening of
the first act, which was opened by a song sung by Stella and the villagers. It was
called “Ang Lambat na Itomitom” and it was powerful, it gives a dark aura into it
because the song talked about the dead people in the river. The song
immediately sets the mood of the audience and clearly establishes the mood of
the play. Since the stage is round, the plot happens all over. There are scenes in
front; people enter the sides of the audience area and flashback happen from the
mounted stage. The direction was good for managing the play to work despite
the possibilities of the plot happening anywhere and the risk of having the
audience near the whole set.

I enjoyed watching Fish-Hair Woman because it talks about the ills of our
society and how civilians are affected by an individual’s greed for power.
Harlequin Theatre Guild opened the audience to these ills of our society. It is not
simply a play done to entertain us, but it bears a secret message about power
and justice, which we can apply in our society today.