UPLB Samasining stages Jose Rizal’s Junto al Pasig In celebration of Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary, University of the Philippines Los Banos Samasining, together with the Theatre Communication class of this semester, will stage Eljay Deldoc’s Filipino adaptation of Jose Rizal’s “Junto al Pasig”: “Sa Tabi ng Pasig. ” Synopsis Jose Rizal’s Junto al Pasig is a one-act play which shows a sensitive issue in religion and spirituality – Catholicism versus Paganism. It offers questions pertaining to what we believe in and what we do not believe in.
From a teenager’s perspective in the character of Leonido, the play will portray a different view of the Virgin Mary and Satan as the evident symbols for spirituality. Which of the two is the real savior of mankind? Who is worthy to be worshipped? What doctrines should be followed? Who should we believe? Do you have to believe? In Junto al Pasig, these questions will find its answers while knowing the other side of the national hero Jose Rizal. The play’s provenance During the teenage years of Dr.
Jose Rizal, he wrote Junto al Pasig as a commissioned work for the feast of the patroness of Ateneo, Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. The play was first performed by Rizal’s schoolmates on the 8th of December 1880 at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, with music written by a Spanish Professor, Blas Echegoyen. About the group UPLB Samasining, the laboratory arm of the Department of Humanities, aims to artistically develop faculty members and students by providing a hands-on experience in the literary, visual, and performing arts.
