Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)
A new musical about the Philippines explores the effects of colonization on an indigenous culture.
McFadden Music will present Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre in late March/ early April.
Noli Me Tangere is the national novel of the Philippines. It was written by the national Filipino hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal about the long history of Filipino struggle for independence.
It’s about Crisostomo Ibarra, who returns from Europe to the Philippines in the late 1880s and wishes to educate his people out of the slavery of ignorance, under Spanish rule.
Ibarra finds himself in bitter conflict with the priest who denied his father a Christian burial and who is doing everything in his power to stop the romance between Ibarra and his beloved, the angelic Maria Clara de Los Santos.
“The music I’ve composed seeks to capture the beauty and the violence of the Filipino landscape which has everything from volcanoes to the most gorgeous coastal resorts,” the composer and lyricist Alan McFadden said.
Noli Me Tangereis part romance and part political protest against colonization but also becomes an escape story when Ibarra must go on the run with a revolutionary.
“It could be about Aboriginal Australians, or even about the history of my own country Estonia,” said director Aarne Neeme. “It’s a universal story, only set in a particular time in Filipino history.”
“It’s a beautiful love story overtaken by violence, and the show is full of the most romantic and thrilling music,” book and lyric writer Peter Fleming said.
Riverside Theatres Parramatta, Mar 30 – Apr 6.