(Photo op with Mr. Santos; one of the main characters in the play)
"Ang Tatay Mong Kalbo" is a play translation by Isagani Cruz that originated from "The Bald Soprano" by Eugéne Ionesco.
It is an absurd play, that means nonsensical or meaningless.
At the beginning of the play, Mr. and Mrs. Santos just had their dinner done at nine o' clock in the evening. Also, they were discussing senseless thoughts about the food that they had for dinner and about a family of the Gene San Juan's.
On that particular scenario, in the sense of realism, it is really absurd to agitate about folly matter; about food and about people is a clear sense of nothing, it wont even help to make us grow as a better human being.
The absurdity of this play really made us think, what will happen next? Are we going to understand and conclude what is really up with this nonsensical play?
The play's stage have a grandfather clock that's not moving, but it has an exact time where it began and where it ended — its nine o' clock in the evening.
In many ways, the clock becomes just as much of a character as any of the human beings prancing around onstage. All this wacky behavior from the clock seems to symbolize the wackiness of time itself in the play. At many points, it seems as if time doesn't even exist. Though it is a clear sense of "wasting time" on nothing.
When Mrs. Santos was asked by the Hepe, "Anong ginagawa ng tatay mong kalbo?", Mrs. Santos replied, "Ayun, nag susuklay pa rin."
This scene shows that we always fill our days with nonsensical things even though we knew that it'll only lead us to nowhere.
All the characters in the play can be seen as symbolic. Their endless, meaningless conversations and repetitive lives represent in many ways the absurdist view of human existence. The Santos', the Reyes', the Hepe, and Maria, the maid, can all be said to represent all of humanity.
The real point of humanity is misused, we genuinely love talebearing pointless talks.
Photo by Me
