MEMBERS of the film and theater industries participated in Pinoyspik in English, a reading session of excerpts from Marcelino Agana’s one-act play New Yorker in Tondo last April 5 at Powerbooks, Pasay Road.
In the play, Kikay (Adriana Agcaoili), a girl from Tondo, studies in New York for a year and returns home totally changed. Her attitude, personality, and language have adapted the “New York way.” She now wants to be called by her first name and is bent on breaking off her engagement with her childhood sweetheart Tony (Ricky Davao). However, she does not know that during her absence, he secretly got engaged with another childhood friend, Nena (Alma Concepcion). Discovering this, Kikay realizes that she still loves Tony. As the two get back together, Nena and Totoy (Jacques Borlaza) meanwhile discover their hidden desire for each other. Ces Quesada plays Aling Atang, the confused mother of Kikay.
The performance of the actors made it hard to believe that it was only a reading session. The performers broke the steady and monotonous rhythm of their voices and gave colorful interpretations of the characters they played. With a stage set and without scripts from the actors’ hands, the reading session would have been a complete and wonderful play.
Produced by Bibsy Carballo of SNACK Arts, Pinoyspik emphasized that even our language have evolved, and words have changed their meanings, people are still able to understand each other as long as they make an effort to communicate. Kikay had been immersed in a different culture and language, and when she came back to the Philippines spoke English in a different accent. But in the end, when she chose to be herself, she was able to understand and be understood by the people around her.
