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REVIEW: The Bitter Fruits of Belonging in I Topi Non Avevano Nipoti
“Per fare tutto ci vuole un fiore” (to do anything you need a flower). So recites the matriarchal figure of I Topi Non Avevano Nipoti (The Mice Had No Grandchildren) in an extended funeral sequence mourning her son, who she seems to have smothered to death with her overbearing presence. She references a poem by Gianni Rodari, later put to music by Sergio Endrigo and transformed into one of the most famous Italian nursery rhymes. The absurd sequence captures a core contradiction explored in the play: how family norms can both create and constrict life, planting its seeds and containing its flourishing.
REVIEW: Aswang’s Shape-Shifting Brilliance and Feminist Core
Ricardo Magno’s monodramatic adaptation of Rody Vera’s Palanca award winning play delivers a visceral and harrowing theatrical experience. Presented by Divergent Theatre Collective as the Filipino offering for La Mama’s inauguaral Festival of Mother Tongues, Aswang takes Philippine folklore to deliver confrontational truths about innocence corrupted by the patriarchy’s violent nature.