American Colonial Period:

SARSWELA/ZARZUELA

Zarzuela / Sarswela• THE FATHER OF OF DRAMA• A MUSICAL COMEDY OR

MELODRAMA THREE ACTS WHICH DEATH AND MEN’S PASSION AND EMOTIONS LIKE LOVE, HATE, REVENGE, CRUELTY, AVARICE, OR SOME POLITICAL PROBLEM

Historical Background• TREATY OF PARIS OF 1898 - SPAIN CEDED THE

PHILIPPINES FOR 20 MILLION DOLLARS TO THE UNITED STATES.

• THE YEAR TURNED, THE PHILIPPINE REVOLUTION AGAINST SPAIN BECAME THE PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN WAR. BY 1901, THE AMERICANS HAD DEFEATED THE FILIPINOS.

• AMERICA INTRODUCED MAJOR CHANGES IN THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, EDUCATIONAL, AND CULTURAL SECTORS.

Historical Background• THE COMPANIES OF RATIA AND CARVAJAL CONTINUED

TO DRAW CROWDS TO THE SPANISH ZARZUELA, WHILE TROUPES LED BY HERMOGENES ILAGAN, SEVERINO REYES, AND FLORENTINO BALLECER PACKED MANILA THEATERS WITH THEIR ORIGINAL SARSWELA. MEANWHILE, THE SARSWELA FLOURISHED IN THE ILOCANO, BICOL, ILONGO, AND CEBUANO REGIONS. LIKE THE COMEDIA OR MORO-MORO THAT LIVED ON WITH ITS COMBAT DANCE OR BATALLA BETWEEN CHRISTIANS AND MUSLIMS, THE SARSWELA TOOK ON MORE COMBATIVE AND SUBVERSIVE FORMS DURING THE AMERICAN AND JAPANESE PERIODS.

Sarwela during American Colonial Period was characterized by:• NATIONALISM• FREEDOM OF SPEECH• EXPERIENCE

DESIRE FOR FREEDOM• LOVE OF COUNTRY • FIGHT AGAINST COLONIALISM AND

IMPERIALISM

Examples of Sarwela during American Colonial Period:• PAG-IBIG SA TINUBUANG LUPA

– PASCUAL POBLETE

• TANIKALANG GINTO – JUAN ABAD

Examples of Sarwela during American Colonial Period:

• MALAYA – TOMAS REMIGIO

• KAHAPON, NGAYON AT BUKAS – AURELIO TOLENTINO

• WALANG SUGAT – SEVERINO REYES