THE REVIVAL OF THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL THEATER — KOMEDYA

Abstract

Komedya, or moro-moro, is a genre of the Philippine national theater that was flourishing from the second half of the 17th century until the second half of the 19th century. The genre formation was a part of catholic missioners propaganda activities. In time, komedya became the most popular dramatic genre in colonial Philippines. The common features of komedya are: 1) the central theme of komedya is fight between Christians and Muslims, where Christians always win; 2) actions described in komedya never take place in the Philippines, but in an exotic country, for instance in Turkey or in Armenia; 3) Spanish missioners played an important role in the formation of the genre; 4) komedya is the national theater; 5) komedya is a secular genre as adventures dominate over the religious motives. In the middle of the 19th century komedya was criticized by the most progressive Filipinos for being extravagant, lacking logic and not touching upon current Philippine problems. By the beginning of the 20th century komedya was not staged anymore almost everywhere in the Philippines. Its place was taken by the other genres. A number of actions to bring komedya back to its former popularity have been undertaken from the 1970s with the great support of the cultural center of the Philippines and University of the Philippines. It is important to mention that the genre is being changed in order to correspond the needs of the modern Philippine society. For example, the Muslim conflict is not the main topic of the modern Philippine national play as it contradicts the national policy of the Philippines.