The poetry that is ‘The Nutcracker’

While the ballet is not based on a poem, it is poetic nevertheless. It is, in fact, a loose adaptation of E. T. A. Hoffmann’s 1816 story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. First performed at St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre in December 1892, The Nutcracker has become a Christmas classic over the years, transporting audiences …

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Notes on Hamilton: An American Musical #HamilFilm

What does it mean to watch Hamilton in a country with an immensely challenged sense of democracy? This is the question I was left asking after watching the world streaming premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s cultural juggernaut last 3rd July. It was over two hours of singing about freedom, legacy, and independence. And while watching a …

Macbeth in the Time of Quarantine

Shakespeare On-Demand It has been over two weeks since enhanced community quarantine was enforced here in Manila to combat the spread and increasing number of COVID-19 cases. There are 2,311 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Philippines as of this writing, with 96 deaths and just 50 recovered patients. The entire globe has become a …

Cats, Now and Forever

During the intermission of the Manila production of Cats, I overheard a couple arguing about the plot of the show. They had to check their souvenir programme a couple of times and read the synopsis just to see if they are missing anything. Such confusion is not new, especially for neophytes. Cats is often referred …