Arbol de Fuego: Cherry Orchard transposed to Negros in the 1970s
Go see Arbol de Fuego, PETA’s adaptation of Cherry Orchard, it’s a hoot. (Why not Jardin de los Cerezos? Because there are no cherries in the Philippines.) We’re not sure it’s Chekhovian and it does not seem Russian to us—granted we are partial to anarchists and epileptics, but it’s certainly Pinoy, specifically Negrense, like a companion piece to Oro, Plata, Mata.
Sometimes it veers towards Tennessee Williams-hood, like when Cherie Gil as the matriarch recalls the lover she left in Spain. Jake Macapagal is perfect as the brother, the effete devotee of the Virgin Mary. Leo Rialp as the buffoon who keeps trying to borrow money is heartbreaking in his final scene, and Bembol Roco as the ancient retainer demonstrates how to put on 30 years just by changing the way you walk. Cherie Gil is too youthful and fabulous as the hacendera on the cusp of nouveau poverty—she looks like she’s going to walk out of the estate and straight to the front rows of the Prada spring show. We should be so lucky.
Arbol de Fuego is directed by Loy Arcenas, who also did the production design; the adaptation is by Rody Vera.
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