Playwright Bienvenido M. Noriega, Jr. was a 13-time winner of the Palanca Awards including many first prize winning plays. One of them was “Deuterium”, a full length play that won first prize in 1990.
The author in his comedy, playfully explored “O Ano ang ginawa ng Pinoy nang ang kanyang pinakamamahal na Pilipinas ay naging pinakamayamang bansa sa buong daigdig dahil sa Deuterium”
Dean Rogelio Sicat, UP in his book review of Deuterium in 1995 wrote:
“I have observed the Philippine literary scene for over three decades as a practicing writer, a U.P. professor. Literary historian and critic, and as juror in all of the country’s most prestigious literary contests including the Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature (eight times), and the CCP. Without any reservation, I consider Bienvenido M. Noriega, Jr. as the best Filipino playwright today as evidenced by his output, books published, national awards, stagings in prestigious venues (including presentations abroad) and consistent recognition by peers and critics.
In Noriega, Filipino playwriting finally hurdled being tentative to become the full-blown and lively genre that it is now. He broke new ground between stereotyped tradition-bound Tagalog plays. The dominant playwright from the seventies to the present, Noriega who writes in everyday Filipino has a wide-ranging repertoire , from the personal to the social, from the comic to the tragic.”
Deuterium was staged by Dramatis Personae and directed by Lito Casaje in 1992
Comments