Of Mothers and Daughters

I saw the film way back and have yet to read the book so I was excited to watch Repertory Philippines’ staging of Amy Tan’s best-selling novel The Joy Luck Club when I first learned about it early last month in a partnership meeting with Rep. I know that it was an intricate story of four Chinese women who migrated to the United States and their relationship with their four American-born daughters but I wondered how the play would unfold their individual stories complete with flashbacks of their lives in China.

When I arrived at the Greenbelt OnStage theater, I saw a square platform in the center of the stage with several smaller wooden blocks. The platform I recognized as the same one from Equus but the rest of the pieces intrigued me. Soon enough, the platform became a house, then a dinning table then a mah jong table…talk about multitasking. The smaller wooden blocks became chairs that were moved around, depending on the required set and then was later used as the mah jong tiles towards the end. But am already jumping in my story.

When the play started and as the story progressed, I went down memory lane and was refreshed of the tale of these four Chinese women who bonded over playing mah jong thus forming The Joy Luck Club. The portrayals of Rebecca Chuaunsu, Jay Glorioso, Frances Makil Ignacio and Pinky Marquez as the mothers; and Ana Abad Santos, Lily Chu, Jenny Jamora and Cris Villonco as the daughters were equally brilliant and they established the right emotions to depict the complexity of their situations. Each tandem got their spotlight and the flashbacks were smoothly weaved into the storyline, with the mothers portraying their own younger selves. The audience laughed at the light, funny scenes and got teary-eyed at sad and endearing moments.

Each pair of mother and daughter illustrated how we, as children, can sometimes be so engrossed with our own lives that we do not take the time to really know who our mothers were, the women they once were, before we were born. This is the reason why most often than not, mothers and daughters (and sons, too) clash and us children would always think that they just want to push us around and do what they want. This realization got me thinking…even I never took the time to ask my mom how she was when she was little, how she was as a student, and what her hobbies were, among others.

Okay, enough of my musings. Just go and watch The Joy Luck Club, Repertory Philippines’ initial offering for 2011. It doesn’t hurt, too, that it coincides with the Chinese New Year season. Directed by Anton Juan, the show runs from February 4 to 20, 2011 at OnStage, Greenbelt. For ticket inquiries and other information, call Repertory Philippines at 571-6926 and 571-4941 or email info@repertory-philippines.com. Tickets also available at Ticketworld at 891-9999 or www.ticketworld.com.ph.

Photos from Repertory Philippines