History Theatre / APortraitOfTheArtistAsFilipino

[[caption-width-right:350:Promotional still from ''Ang Larawan'', the 2017 Tagalog film version, starring (L-R): Paulo Avelino as Tony Javier, and Rachel Alejandro & Joanna Ampil respectively as Paula & Candida Marasigan.]]

* LatinLand: Upper-class Intramuros denizens would feel very much at home in some parts of Latin America, what with the airy, storm-prone tropical atmosphere, the GratuitousSpanish, the [[ChristianityIsCatholic old-school Catholicism]] (complete with a penchant for lavish fiestas), and the unequal and hierarchical social structure. Justified since Intramuros was the ''original'' Manila[[note]]well, colonially speaking, it was founded in 1571, but the ''truly original'' Manila was a precolonial rajahnate that existed as far back as [[TheLowMiddleAges the late 1200s]], and it used to be called "Seludong"[[/note]], and it was open only to the highest classes of colonial society, mainly Church leaders, government functionaries, and peninsular Spanish families.

* LatinLand: Upper-class Intramuros denizens would feel very much at home in some parts of Latin America, what with the GratuitousSpanish, the [[ChristianityIsCatholic old-school Catholicism]], the unequal and hierarchical social structure, and the airy, storm-prone tropical atmosphere. Justified since Intramuros was the ''original'' Manila[[note]]well, colonially speaking, it was founded in 1571, but the ''truly original'' Manila was a precolonial rajahnate that existed as far back as [[TheLowMiddleAges the late 1200s]], and it used to be called "Seludong"[[/note]], and it was open only to the highest classes of colonial society, mainly Church leaders, government functionaries, and peninsular Spanish families.

* AerithAndBob: With all characters being Filipino nationals, all the names are some derivative of Western—primarily either Spanish or English—but there are a mix of names still in use (Paula, Tony, Susan, Violet, Elsa, Patsy, Pete, Eddie, Cora), and some more outdated names (Candida, Perico, Aristeo). Some of the names mentioned, while also Western-based, are likely uniquely Filipino nicknames, like Pepang and Bitoy.

-->'''Bitoy''': […] I grew up during the hard, hard, nineteen-thirties, when everybody seemed to have become poor and shabby and disillusioned and ill-tempered. I drifted from one job to another—bootblack, newsboy, baker's apprentice, waiter, pier-laborer.

* OldDarkHouse: The Marasigan house. Its literal darkness becomes a crucial plot element, since Candida and Paula constantly worry about the electric company[[notelabel *]]yes, even back in the 1940s, Meralco was already the sole provider of Manila's electric power—as evidenced by its full name: '''M'''anila '''E'''lectric '''R'''ailroad '''a'''nd '''L'''ighting '''Co'''mpany[[/notelabel]] cutting off their power, since they're several months behind on payments. At one point, when Paula tries the lights and they don't work, she thinks for a second that what she and Candida had feared has come true at last—at least, until Candida looks out the window, and notices the entire Walled City is in darkness, forgetting a practice blackout was scheduled that night.

* OldDarkHouse: The Marasigan house. Its literal darkness becomes a crucial plot element, since Candida and Paula constantly worry about the electric company [[note]]yes, even back in the 1940s, Meralco was already the sole provider of Manila's electric power—as evidenced by its full name: '''M'''anila '''E'''lectric '''R'''ailroad '''a'''nd '''L'''ighting '''Co'''mpany[[/note]] cutting off their power, since they're several months behind on payments. At one point, when Paula tries the lights and they don't work, she thinks for a second that what she and Candida had feared has come true at last—at least, until Candida looks out the window, and notices the entire Walled City is in darkness, forgetting a practice blackout was scheduled that night.

* TheFlapper: Susan and Violet, the vaudeville dancers at the Parisian theatre where Tony Javier plays the piano—while the RoaringTwenties is long past at this point, their mannerisms, vivacity and liberal (even loose) morals evoke a flapperish image.

* LetThePastBurn: [[spoiler:Paula slashes and burns the portrait. In doing so, she sets herself and Candida free.]]

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: The Bureau of Health and Science [[note]]precursor to the modern Philippine Department of Health[[/note]] pays no heed to Candida's offers to go rat-catching for them. None of their officials take her seriously; they end up calling security and chasing her out, thinking she's become insane or some sort of threat—at least, the way Candida tells it, anyway.

* OldMaid: Paula is 40, Candida is 42, and neither are married, having focused instead of caring for their father and their ancestral home. (In the Philippines, it used to be common, especially in large families, for the youngest to forgo marrying and setting up their own families, in order to care for their ageing parents.)

* TakeOurWordForIt: Don Lorenzo Marasigan ''[[TheMagnificent el Magnifico]]'' is known by all of Manila society as a famous ''ilustrado'' (intellectual), an amazingly talented elite Filipino painter, and friend and rival of the RealLife master artist Juan Luna, and yet the only artwork of his ever mentioned explicitly in this play—the eponymous, double-headed self-portrait—is never even shown directly or completely, on stage or on screen. Verges on InformedAbility, though Don Lorenzo's talents are not meant to be in question.

* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/TheAeneid''. The titular portrait, while never meant to be revealed directly, on stage or in its movie versions, is described as depicting Aeneas carrying his decrepit father Anchises on his back as they flee the burning Troy. Don Lorenzo used his own likeness for both father and son's faces—himself in his current old age vs. himself in his youth.

* DuringTheWar: While conversing with the Marasigans, Senator Don Perico occasionally rhapsodises about his youth during the Philippine Revolution of the 1890s, in which he and Don Lorenzo fought. (Presumably they fought in the Philippine-American War as well.)

* ChristianityIsCatholic: And a very old-school, Latin-speaking, unapologetically Baroque kind of Catholic too. At the time Nick Joaquin finished it, the Second Vatican Council (a.k.a. Vatican II), which simplified, updated and modernised a lot of old Church traditions, wouldn't convene yet for another decade (it would commence in TheSixties).

* GratuitousLatin: The logical conclusion of the characters' double exposure to Latin via Western Classical education on the one hand, and pre-Vatican II Catholic tradition on the other. A lot of this features in the dialogue as a consequence (just see the page quote).

** "Interbellum" in the Filipino context may not necessarily refer to the period bracketed by the two World Wars, since the American Philippines saw little direct action in TheGreatWar despite already being a colony then. The earlier war in this case would be the Philippine-American War, which allowed the Americans to colonise the (newborn but aborted) Republic in the first place. No wonder the entire period between (1898–1946) is often summarised and stereotyped as "peacetime".
* TheGhost: Don Lorenzo, who never leaves his bed for the duration of the play, until the very end. (In ''Ang Larawan'', his entry into the final Marasigan ''tertulia'' being thrown by his daughters is shown, but only lasts a few minutes.) Also the nameless American buyer that Tony Javier has purportedly found for the portrait.

* DancesAndBalls: ''Tertulias'', of which there used to be a lot on Friday nights in the Marasigan house [[note]]not to mention at the other houses Bitoy's been to[[/note]], are basically soirees—social gatherings of colonial high society, even if they don't necessarily have to involve dancing.

** "Interbellum" in the Philippine setting may not necessarily refer to the period bracketed by the two World Wars, since the American Philippines saw little direct action in TheGreatWar despite already being a colony then. The earlier war in this case would be the Philippine-American War, which allowed the Americans to colonise the (newborn but aborted) Republic in the first place. No wonder the entire period between (1898–1946) is often summarised and stereotyped as "peacetime".

Adapted a number of times into film: two examples include a 1962 black-and-white English version directed by Lamberto Avellana, and ''Ang Larawan'', a 2017 Tagalog version in full colour, directed by Loy Arcenas, starring West End veteran Joanna Ampil and Rachel Alejandro respectively as Candida and Paula Marasigan, and Paulo Avelino as Tony Javier.

* TakeOurWordForIt: Don Lorenzo Marasigan ''[[TheMagnificent el Magnifico]]'' is known by all of Manila society as a famous ''ilustrado'' (intellectual), an amazingly talented elite Filipino painter, and friend and rival of the RealLife master artist Juan Luna, and yet his only artwork ever mentioned explicitly in this play—the eponymous, double-headed self-portrait—is never even shown directly or completely, on stage or on screen. Verges on InformedAbility, though Don Lorenzo's talents are not meant to be in question.

* {{Paparazzi}}: Not quite as badly-behaved as some more modern examples, but Bitoy's work friends Pete, Eddie, and Cora, the trio of journalists that come to the house hoping to get down some words and photos of Don Lorenzo's ''Portrait''. Certainly they seem to embody this trope from the Marasigan sisters' perspective.

* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/TheAeneid''. The titular portrait (while never meant to be depicted directly, on stage or in its movie versions), is described as depicting Aeneas carrying his decrepit father Anchises on his back as they flee the burning Troy.

An English-language Filipino play written in 1951 by author Nick Joaquin.

* GratuitousLatin