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Mabini in Steampunk: A Review of Mabining Mandirgma: A Steampunk Musical

The ticking of the clock. Moving cogwheels and gears. As smoke rises, we are transported back in time, counting down to the historic events of distant past--the Philippine Revolution of 1896, Rizal’s execution, and then the Proclamation of Philippine Independence. The clock becomes a door swung open, and out jumps a woman, dressed as a man in camisa de chino, as she is dressed up and put on a hammock to be revealed as the greatest mind behind the First Philippine Republic. She, or he, was a cripple. The name of her character was none other than Apolinario Mabini. And this world we are introduced in have Filipinos wearing Victorian steampunk costume, where people have selfie sticks for photos, and where leaders of importance sing their arguments and dialogues. It is, after all, a steampunk musical. If the past was strange to us, then it is stranger still in steampunk. And yet, more than anything, it laid bare the similarities of the generation then and now.

The musical I’m describing is none other than Nicanor Tiongson’s Mabining Mandirigma: A Steampunk Musical, a production by the award-winning Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater group of the @culturalcenterphils. I was privileged to catch its last show on December 18 last year, and made time for it almost as an afterthought. It had its first run way back in 2014, and I was given the opportunity to watch it then. Unfortunately, I had to decline due to more pressing commitments. But as I sat there last December at the Little Theater of CCP, my only regret was watching it only then. 

*An excerpt of Mabining Mandirigma at Pasinaya 2016

As a riveting performance about Apolinario Mabini and the First Philippine Republic, I won’t exaggerate. It’s the best Filipino musical I’ve seen in recent years. I have watched a lot of Filipino musicals in the past, and many of them were really good. But Mabining Mandirigma was something else altogether. It upped the ante for Filipino musicals in such a way that the viewer is swept into the intrigues of the powers in Malolos at the turn of the century, with great libretto and storyline. I was at the edge of my seat, seeing the musical brought together steampunk elements in design and costume, as well as the dark and foreboding doom seen in the petty disagreements of the Malolos Congress against Mabini.

The production was itself high end. The playwright is the acclaimed Nicanor Tiongson, with Chris Millado as Director and Nanding Josef as Artistic Director. Its musical director was Joed Balsamo (I’m a fan of his work at Ballet Philippines). The set designer was Toym Imao, the son of the late National Artist and a great artist himself. Imao’s set design made this paradoxical world on stage both more alien and strangely more contemporary. The script and the libretto brought tears to my eyes, as Mabini, even when sitting on a wheel chair, loomed larger than life on stage. The production is, after all, a musical, and great musicals have a way of conjuring great emotion in the audience.

But perhaps the most interesting innovation in this rendition of Mabini were the actors themselves. Look at the ingenuity wordplay on the title. “Mabining Mandirigma”, which is “A Gentle Warrior” in English, but hints also of Mabini’s surname. The word is also akin to “Binibini,” a Tagalog honorific to a young lady. Mabini portrayed by a female actor (Leisl Batucan and Delphine Buencamino) was unprecedented. It brought new dimensions into the historical figure’s character, that as a historian pouring into Mabini’s letters, gave me new insights. Batucan’s portrayal did not make the Mabini character weaker, but rather more powerful. Indeed, the director Chris Millado noted that he wanted to emphasize Mabini’s “otherness” from the rest, therefore making the character’s voice distinct from others. The same effect was achieved with other female actors who portrayed male characters--the anti-imperialist American author, Mark Twain (Queen Mia), General W.H. Taft (Hazel Maranan), Gen. James Franklin Bell (Sigrid Balbas), and father of Douglas MacArthur, Gen. Arthur MacArthur (EJ Pepito).

The theatrical production not only painted a strange steampunk world where Mabini was on wheelchair, or on a hammock with torches and carried by bronze cherubs, with Malolos congressmen (Karl Jingo as Gregorio Araneta, Alfritz Blanche as Benito Legarda, Jonathan Tadioan as Felipe Buencamino, and JV Ibesate as Pedro Paterno) wearing flamboyant steampunk costumes that fit their character. More than anything, it highlighted the pettiness of leaders who tried to make a new fledgling government work despite the ongoing war with the Americans, and despite clear differences in their ranks. It was clear from the get go that Mabini was different. The Malolos congressmen for example, were portrayed in a comical way, especially when they arranged for a lavish French meal in the opening of Congress. 

*From Mabining Mandirigma: “Nosotros ojos ilustrados”

While not in the historical record, Mabini’s probable reaction to the outrageously extravagant meals served was shown in the musical. Mabini’s fictional helper, Pepe, representing the common folk in the musical whom Mabini kept close as confidant and follower, revealed the pretentiousness of these landed gentry. When Pepe, who seemed enamored by the French cuisine presented at the opening of Congress, tried to read the French dishes one by one to Mabini, Mabini chidingly translated it in the common folk. 

Pepe: Saumon Hollaindais? 

Mabini: Relyenong bangus!

*Aldo Vencilao as Pepe

The musical also featured Mabini and the congressmen’s fierce and juicy debates (with creative license in the part of the production, of course) that we could only deduce from a few records yielded by history. 

*Mabini, portrayed by Delphine Buencamino, debates with the members of Congress in the presence of Aguinaldo, in a steampunk world.

The play’s highlights however was Mabini and Aguinaldo’s own heated arguments as it blended in dialogue and song. In the backdrop of the Philippine-American War, Mabini tried so hard to persuade President Emilio Aguinaldo (Arman Ferrer) to discipline his men under his command, to no avail. Aguinaldo’s choice of sitting in the fence, is contrasted by Mabini’s resolutness in insisting fairness. Aguinaldo, able to stand physically, couldn’t stand on what should be done, while Mabini, maimed as he was, stood for justice, come what may.

The tension between Mabini and Aguinaldo was already on a fever pitch when Mabini heard of Antonio Luna’s assassination. In one of the most heart-breaking songs in the play, the song “Mahirap bang mag-isip bilang Pilipino?” sang by Batucan indirectly relates to the depressing cycle of patronage and corruption in Filipino politics from Mabini’s time to the present.

The argument between Mabini and Aguinaldo would reach the climax that led finally to Mabini’s eventual resignation, and as the Americans defeated the Filipino forces battle after battle, the musical shifts to Mabini’s imprisonment and exile to Guam, where he was portrayed as strong in resolve not to swear allegiance to the American flag, but at the same time weakly in frame. 

And it seems that at the very end of the musical, Mabini’s apotheosis came about in his death, as he was given steampunk wings, signifying that his dream and idealism, his intellectual contributions and hard work, were not all in vain. His wings were his dreams for his countrymen, able to take a life of its own, able to take flight, imbued by the energy and optimism of the next generation of Filipinos, who saw him for who he was--not a paralytic, but a hero and a true warrior for freedom.

I was literally in tears from beginning to end. 

At the end of the play, Mabini reappears, still in a hammock, but the hammock is transformed into a chariot of sorts, carried by numerous crystallized torches (a true Toym Imao trademark), as if to say, Mabini’s cripple was not a disadvantage at all but his pedestal, as his torch lights up the new Republic’s future. 

*Delphine Buencamino in the rehearsal, on Mabini hammock transformed into a metallic carriage of torches, designed by Toym Imao. Courtesy of Erickson Dela Cruz, photographer.

The last song the entire cast sang before and after the casting call, still gives me goosebumps. (Click the audio on the hyperlink below)

Mahalin mo ang Pilipinas

Nang higit sa’yong sarili

Pamana siya ni Bathala

Pag-asa ng iyong lahi.

While singing the song, the picture of the thousands of protesting Millenials last November 25, 2016 when they lighted up the Quirino Grandstand to stand against the Marcos tyranny of the past was shown on screen. It was awesome.

*Photo courtesy of Philippine Daily Inquirer. Were you in this crowd? I was. 

Minsan nakakapagod mahalin ang Pilipinas. With all the trolls online, the misinformation a.k.a. “alternative facts/creative imagination” and all. But I came out of the theater with renewed energy and inspiration. Mabini was portrayed in the musical as a tireless advocate for a Republic that he saw was doomed to fail. And yet one could see why he never gave up to the end of his days. It was all for his people. It was all for the Filipino nation. The musical was able to portray the tragedy of the past and and also point to a future full of hope. It encouraged me, as a historian, deeply and profoundly.

With that, I sincerely congratulate the cast and the production crew. This musical was pure love for our kababayan. Many would skirt away the uglyness of our history but you didnt. And that made it all the more poignant and relevant. You have made an awesome Filipino musical with a timeless message, one that I would highly recommend to Filipinos everywhere. 

I give it a 5 over 5 stars. If there’s another rerun of the musical, please--DON’T. MISS. IT.