Tanghalang Batingaw, the theatre organization of Lyceum of the Philippines University-Manila, has just concluded their 48th Season with an original play. Written by Rowell Camat and directed by Kate Arbby Manahan, Sa Dulo Ng Apitong St. is an affecting meditation on change and community. 

Found on almost every street in the Philippines, a sari-sari store provides daily necessities in small quantities to working-class Filipinos who live on a day-to-day basis. Because a sari-sari store is an ubiquitous presence in the Philippines, it also functions as a cornerstone of community. This establishes such stores as places where neighbors often gather to share stories or participate in gossip. 

Camat’s play is centered around Mang Bik (played by Vince Ramos) and his sari-sari store, as it faces forces much bigger than his humble abode. 

Clash of values

While it is often framed as development for the betterment of society, gentrification tends to come at the disadvantage of long-time residents. Gentrification is the process that occurs when wealthier individuals, or businesses, move into lower-income places. In the case of this play, Jenny (played by Elisha Vistan; alternated by Angel Anino) brings upheaval that threatens Mang Bik and his sari-sari store.

Jenny, who promises a hefty sum for the demolition of Mang Bik’s sari-sari store, is the personification of gentrification and its transactional nature. To her, the store is just a plot of land with immense commercial potential. For Mang Bik, it is a store that holds a lifetime of memories. Where Jenny sees figures, Mang Bik seeks faces. 

Ramos embodies Mang Bik well, allowing audiences to feel the weight of decades lived and losses endured without saying much. Vistan, as Jenny, reminds you of agents who put up a facade of friendliness; she shines as Jenny. The other actors are commendable as well. Persistent rain and occasional thunder in the outside world were present during the performance, which led to a sudden blackout at the university’s JPL Hall of Freedom. This blackout was not planned, yet a certain actor remarked on it in a way that made the said blackout seem like a part of Camat’s script.

Community and inescapable noise

Manahan begins the play with a calm, dialogue-free presentation of a day in the life of Mang Bik and his family. This stillness, accompanied by an elegiac score from Jeo Barlomento, draws the audience into the intimacy and comfort of routine. The gentle pacing lulls the viewer into a sense of comfort, making Manahan’s willingness to lean into the devastation of Typhoon Yolanda more harrowing.

When Yolanda struck, the noise it brought was inescapable. Manahan makes sure this noise remains etched in our memory of Yolanda, through a mix of screams and pleas in the play’s surreal climax. By truly grounding the audience in the rhythms of a mundane life, both playwright Camat and director Manahan successfully work together in ensuring that its collapse feels deeply personal. 

The play’s transition from gentrification to Typhoon Yolanda did not prove as jarring as expected. Both forces, though different in form, still tore at the lives of ordinary people. In this juxtaposition, the play draws a poignant parallel between slow erasure and sudden devastation. 

When disaster strikes, a sari-sari store can help sustain neighborhoods when larger systems falter. And in a world where both progress and disaster threaten to uproot lives, Sa Dulo ng Apitong St. reminds us that community endures through presence, memory, and the courage to stay.

Stay connected for more articles and updates by following us on Facebook, Instagram, andTikTok or visiting our website at hellomnl.com.