Nicanor D. Tiongson, Doc Nic to his academic peers, is the definition of a professor. Discussing his works, he impresses with how seamless the ars poetica and the poem can be. His critical and historical work is professed by the creative: his plays, librettos, and scripts. The creative output in turn testifies to the wisdom of his criticism.
Doc Nic is a professor of film and theater. For a country still grappling with the concept of a national theater, Tiongson’s continuing life work provides hope that this project is feasible.
This integral connection between theory and practice is typical of artists from the University, he says. They do not just teach. They profess. Living proofs of the concept behind their own pioneering innovations, they are beacons of noble, deep-rooted inspirations, fortified with research so that they can be taught as knowledge.
According to Doc Nic, history and tradition are his own guiding light, a result of growing up in a place steeped with such values. But then he had to go out of this provincial world, to a cosmopolitan academe to breathe in another strange world. But unlike others like him who thrived in this new world, he did not allow his connection to his place of origin to simply recede into nostalgia.
Tiongson’s academic solidity is in fact the reconciliation of the old and the new, of identity and diff茅rance. The past need not be abandoned but neither can we be stuck to it for no good reason, as rigidly as Don Lorenzo and his two spinster daughters, Candida and Paula were. For Tiongson, history and tradition are not dead languages. History is not about a disjointed past, nor is tradition mere repetition of amusing acts. Both should form a contiguous whole with the present.
Doc Nic never really left Malolos, Bulacan and its spirit, as it continues to live in his seminal works of history and his breakthrough documentation of traditional Philippine theater forms, revealing their true value and relevance after years of being dismissed as “baduy”, as bastardized Hispanic forms in the Americanized academe. The nexus of different worlds and periods resulted in pioneering works.
History and tradition are indeed useful things for the present, as old molave posts fortify new structures, or trusty heirloom crucibles hold the season’s freshest produce.
“If you’re interested in creating national theater, importante maisama ang lahat ng tradisyon na pinagdaanan natin na kung tutuusin ay mas matagal na nabuhay at itinaguyod ng mas maraming Pilipino, na naitsapuwera because of the Americanized education system. Bahagi ng pagka-Pilipino natin 鈥榶un. Kailangang pag-aralan at isama sa kasaysayan ng ating dulaan,” Doc Nic says.
“Huwag talikuran ang [kasaysayan at tradisyon]. Hindi tayo mabubuo bilang tao at bilang bansa kung hindi natin babalikan ang pinanggalingan natin. At hindi lang balikan, gawing bahagi ng kung ano tayo ngayon, dahil iyon din ang nagbibigay ng partikular na katangian sa ating dulaan,” he adds.
Recently, the Ateneo de Manila University Press and the 抖阴探探 Diliman Sentro ng Wikang Filipino published three volumes of his works. The two volumes by Ateneo contain six of his major plays: 鈥淩evitalizing Tradition鈥� and 鈥淩esurrecting History鈥�. The plays were written and produced across three decades, between 1982 and 2013. 鈥淜omedya ng Para帽aque: Kasaysayan at Estetika鈥� is the long overdue sequel to his 鈥淜asaysayan ng Komedya sa Pilipinas, 1766-1982鈥�, which are both based on an earlier work, his doctoral dissertation in 抖阴探探 on “the oldest genre of formal theater in the Philippines”, presented in 1979.
“鈥楻evitalizing Tradition鈥� collects three plays that give new life and meaning to ancient forms and/or old texts in distinct ways,” as stated in the book description. It features: the modern sarswela, “Pilipinas Circa 1907”; a contemporization of the Rizal novels “Noli at Fili Dekada 2000”; and an allegorization of the Panay Bukidnon epic, “Labaw Donggon: Ang Banog ng Sanlibutan”.
“鈥楻esurrecting History鈥� is composed of plays that bring life to historical figures. . . .” “Basilia ng Malolos鈥�, in sarswela form, dramatizes the advocacy and union of the Women of Malolos, the subject of Tiongson’s historical book.
“Mabining Mandirigma” highlights the role of Mabini in the Philippine Revolution and the anti-US imperialist struggle. Together with “Aurelio Sedisyoso”, a rock sarswela on the career of Aurelio Tolentino, the plays “emphasize that the social and political ills that these men and women combatted in their time are essentially the same problems society faces today.”
In 抖阴探探, the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino has come out with 鈥淜omedya sa Para帽aque鈥� as its Aklatang Bayan feature. Tiongson is one of the first scholars to write their masteral theses and doctoral dissertations in Filipino. In the book, Tiongson documents the production of komedya in San Dionisio and Don Galo and sheds light on the social milieu that has kept the tradition alive. He then offers recommendations on how the genre can work as a Filipino theater form for the present time.
“Nineteen eighty-two. . . sinulat iyon. Ito ang panahon ng aktibismo, et cetera. Nagtuturo ako, aktibista pa ako. Napabayaan ko. And then 1986 naman, dapat full-time na [sa akademya], pero na-assign ako sa CCP [bilang artistic director]. Mas malaking trabaho pa iyon. Eight years ako sa CCP. Iyong eight years na iyon I devoted my time to documenting traditional forms. Lumabas 鈥榶ong encyclopedia [of Philippine arts], 鈥榶ung unang edition. Tapos lumabas din 鈥榶ung whole 30 series of videos and monographs on the seven arts, na ginagamit sa eskwelahan. Hindi ko naasikaso ang mga sarili kong [akda].”
“Ang dami ko pang hindi nailalabas,” Doc Nic says, “so I’m making up for lost time.”
“When I turned 77, I realized. . . don’t know how many more years I have left to live. Sabi ko, unahin nang lahat ito.”
The professor is in no way through.
