Review: Floy Quintos’ last obra 'Grace' gives voice to Fiipina nuns of Lipa

MANILA, Philippines — Seven-time Palanca winner Floy Quintos’ swansong “Grace” is based on the true story of the Discalced Carmelites of the reported apparitions in Lipa, Batangas that captivated the country and the international press in the late 1940s.

Taking centerstage is the postulant Teresita “Teresing” Castillo (Stella Cañete-Mendoza) to whom the Virgin Mary allegedly appeared, accompanied by a shower of healing petals materializing out of nowhere and bearing holy images, witnessed by her congregation, the bishop Alfedo Obviar (Jojo Cayabyab), and thousands of pilgrims. Now the nuns’ story and the interplays of power and obedience, prevailing West-centric clericalism, nuances of misogyny, acrimony among dioceses, and an Inquisitorial process leading to Rome’s negative judgment, have been retold under the direction of Dexter Santos.

The play, with dialogues set against a minimalist set, runs for two and half hours, and sums up the complicated narrative with strong delivery of stances from all personas. The real characters and news archives are being projected to contextualize the acts. The acting is impeccable, compelling, and speaks to the disempowered who only have silence and obedience as ways to resist. Whose truth is served in denying one’s experiences? What are the vulnerabilities of a life of servitude deprived of rights, representation, and due process?

The choice for the banished Mother Prioress Cecilia of Jesus (Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino), accused of sexual abuse and reduced to a kitchen maid, is to write a forced recantation under threat of damnation and excommunication from the church that meant everything to her. Could the penalty had been less foul if she were a man — a priest or a bishop, or a foreigner, and not a Filipina nun?

Comical relief is provided by Sister Agatha (Frances Makil-Ignacio) with her Batangueña accent, who could only chuckle at the allegations that the sisters employed gigantic blowers without electricity in the monastery where the shower of petals took place. She asked the interrogators to check every nook and cranny of the convent. The petals fell on a straight vertical trajectory unaffected by the direction of the