IN THE SHADOWS OF HISTORY
Jake Atienza
Published November 2017
LISTEN: Andrew Cruz (Anino Shadowplay Collective, Manila) performs the show’s opening monologue.
In the darkness of Carriageworks, This Here. Land reveals characters whose lives intertwine in President Rodrigo Duterte’s tumultuous Philippines. Premiered at Liveworks 2017, this new theatre-piece investigates the role of collective memory in shaping reality.
Watch rehearsals take place ahead of This Here. Land’s premiere at Liveworks 2017:
LISTEN: Valerie Berry explains how This Here. Land is an exercise in tackling issues in the Philippines.
This Here. Land is explicit in tackling issues of the day; extra-judicial killings, martial law and the walls that these build in the Philippines.
Each issue is attached to a personal narrative written and performed by the artists. The resulting scenes depict a contemplative mother-to-be, a discussion at a food stall, a 40-something reminiscing on his past and a Filipino migrant in Australia, which all culminate at a crime scene that leaves the audience in a dazed state.
A vigil for a casualty of President Duterte’s “war on drugs” turns into a karaoke-shadow-dancing spectacle.
LISTEN: Teta Tulay (Anino Shadowplay Collective, Manila) shares the collaborative process of creating the visuals for this work.
Described as a performance protest, it is a collaboration between Performance Space and LabAnino – a collective of Filipino and Australian artists.
LISTEN: Kenneth Moraleda discusses the centrality of collective memory.
Biographies
Jake Atienza was born in the Philippines to a Dutch mother and Filipino father and has lived and worked in the Netherlands and the Philippines. He is currently based in Sydney, Australia. Through journalism and art, Atienza aims to gain a better understanding of physical and social spaces.