Tanghalang Pilipino’s ‘Balete’ brings to life F Sionil Jose’s ‘Tree’ from the Rosales saga

With Don Espiridion being the right-hand of the more powerful and influential Don Vicente Asperri, Balete highlights the genealogical debt of Kiko’s family and the workers around them to an invisible yet domineering figure. Like the branches of a balete tree, writhing upwards and killing its host in the centre to become a humongous tree, the memories of Kiko’s past haunt and endear him to a suffocating encounter with himself and his life ahead.

Harnessing the fluidity of energy in confined spaces and the physicality of interpreting text through emotions to convey memories of people and particular objects, the ensemble powerfully portrays multiple characters, sometimes switching in the middle of scenes. Under Chris Millado’s direction, Balete fleshes out Kiko’s relationship with the characters, especially with his father, and his role in society—veering away from the autobiographical treatment of the novel.

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“The 2024 production draws from Jose’s Tree and Promdi (his autobiography), delicately interweaving and transforming scenes from Rody Vera’s 2002 script,” says Millado. “At this adaptation’s core is the exploration of guilt and atonement within a socio-political landscape shaped by a feudal cacique system—a milieu where power rests with a handful of landlords while multitudes of tenant-farmers remain landless. This context propels an inquiry into the social psyche engendered by a feudal system and how past actions and events might create personal and communal trauma across generations.”

The devising process, led by Delphine Buencamino with the dramaturgical guidance of Sabrina Basilio, included improvisation sessions where the actors delved into scenarios inspired by the novel, transcending dialogue to discover theatrical expressions of internal struggles and vibrant environments suggested by the chapters.

“This extensive process fostered genuine connections with their characters, enlivening the physical and emotional geography while plumbing the theme of seeking redemption for past misdeeds,” Millado says.

The production also uses video projection on tattered katsa surrounding the circular stage. Hanging in midair with four safety harnesses is the butaka chair of Don Espiridion, used by Buencamino in scenes where he portrays the intimidating landlord and often symbolising as anyone in power whenever the peasants set their eyes on the sky.

“Set, costume, lighting, projection, and sound design were conceived to intertwine with themes of enlightenment and revelation,” Millado adds. “Images of a scarred cartwheel and tangled branches symbolise the burden of inherited guilt and the complex path to atonement. Costume design attempts to tell the story of power and powerlessness through silhouette and clothing while allowing for swift and meaningful transformations required by the eight actors playing multiple roles. Soundscapes, layered with echoes of the past, integrate cultural and historical resonances, evoking a shared understanding of heritage that hopefully spikes the visceral engagement of contemporary audiences.”

Balete sheds light on the issues concerning farmers that still resonate today—the vicious cycle of debts and loans paid by more work, the loss of confidence in owning the lands they have been tilling for generations, and the twisted dynamics of the ruling class that brush the welfare of the masses to the sidelines.

“We have been living in a culture that pretends it can disappear waste, only for it to return to our bodies on microplastics and disease. We have built an industry out of locking away the undesirables of society. We mistake pathologising illness for repairing community, and shaming individual missteps for upholding systemic justice,” Basilio says.

The devising process, the dramaturg shares, led to the company’s immersion at Mariwaska Integrated Farm and a search for answers to the questions they raised with curiosity and humility.

“What could the revolution look like beyond this vicious legacy of atomising, demarcating, and eradicating what doesn’t suit the script? Can we extend our nationalist pride for brazen bannermen towards pride for the quite and more irregular ways we are unlearning violence at home—especially towards our own? How can we, like the protagonist Kiko, take on the challenge to investigate the deep wounds of our history and restore the precious moments of who we aspire to be?”

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