Dogeaters: A Book Brought to Life on Stage

The play Dogeaters was very entertaining to watch. From watching the play I was better able to understand the book. While reading Dogeaters, many times I found myself looking back in the book to try and understand what was happening. And, often I felt very confused and disoriented. The author did a wonderful job of adapting this book to a play. The characters came alive on stage and the story was easier to follow. I cannot be for sure though, if I had not read the book the play would have had the same effect.
My favorite characters on stage were Joey and Andres. Joey was very interesting to watch. He made the book Joey seem so real. Joey captivated the audience with his sleek acting and good looks. He held the attention of the audience with his intense style and facial expressions. He really seemed to be a tormented soul who was without anyone whom he did love. Andres, on stage, is flamboyant and fantastic. In the book Andres was not a very interesting character, but on stage Andres was the most unforgettable character. His actions in the book did follow along with his actions in the play, but the actor and writer brought Andres to life on the stage. The actor did a wonderful job of portraying a feminine man.
The themes of Manila come alive on stage. While reading it was hard to discern what the themes were. But it seemed obvious that there were many themes being addressed in the play. Themes like war, sex tourism, politics, and Americanization, were all alive in the play. The theme of war was omnipresent as the soldiers stood above our heads and across from us. The sex tourism was much more obvious, in one scene many of the examples in the book were played out on stage at once. This brought the intensity of the sex tourism to life which is described in the book. Americanization was shown through the seeming obsessions which people of Manila had with Americans and Hollywood. They loved to go see American movies, talk about the American movie stars, listened to American music, and dressed in an American style.
There were some drawbacks to the play in regards to having read the book. If someone only sees the play much of the story is left out, and part of the story is changed. For instance, Girlie’s dream is not in the play but it is a very interesting part in the story. The President’s wife’s dream is also left out. Also, by not reading the book a person could miss the dramatic way in which the story is cast, the feeling of being a spectator lost in Manila.
Dogeaters the play was an experience which will not be soon forgotten. Sitting on the stage in Manila was exciting and made one feel as though they were part of the story. The actors were dramatic and intriguing to watch. Hagedorn did an excellent job of adapting her hot story of Manila into a play. The lights dazzled, and the characters jumped around; up above, behind, to the left, to the right, the stage exploded with intense emotion. Up on the stage one could feel as though they were in Manila, dancing the last dance.

"His Mother, The Whore" chapter of Dogeaters

“His Mother, The Whore”
*The title is very fit for this chapter.*

As I was reading the chapter titled “His Mother, The Whore” in Dogeaters, I was rather repulsed. My mind kept wandering as I read trying to fathom the context of the chapter. It is so hard for me to imagine a seven-year-old child being trained to steal, cheat, get high, and have sex; but being raised in middle class United States in the twenty-first century, I am hidden from this reality. As I was reading the chapter, the only thing that kept popping in my head was how these people reminded me of the United States. There was Uncle, a low-life middle aged man taken in little boys and being their savior, yet teaching them to be distasteful and minces to society. How does that remind me of the United States, well I think of poverty stricken areas where gangs and violence is the only option for young children.
The melodrama of the boy’s life is extreme. The boy’s mother was a crack whore who could not feed him let alone herself. He was an orphan. Nowhere to go; Uncle saved him. Uncle buried his mother and gave him a place to call home. So often young children are bribed into slavery. Throughout the U.S. children are born to addict parents and feel as though they have nowhere to go and when that one person who makes the effort to care for the child, that child is free. Uncle freed the little boy; Uncle gave him shelter, food, life.

“I would do anything for Uncle in those days. We all would- grateful orphans who earned our keep, eager to please and turn our loot over to Uncle.”

I am appalled by Uncle. Letting the ten-year-old boy have a good “fuck”, as Hagedorn put it, was heartbreaking.

“Uncle watched us hump and writhe as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world, his expression benign and serene.”

I think of young Chinese women trying to survive in the United States using their bodies to put food on the table. These women's bodies were abused and yet they would become more and more emotionless as the jobs went on. This little boy could get women and would feel nothing. He could get men and he would be paid. He felt something by the men that pleasured him. The young Oriental women felt as though they had no way out when it came to prostitution, but I feel as though the little boy liked it. I could be terribly wrong with my conclusions, but I see this chapter as bringing to life the reality and the sadness that abandoned children in the Philippines were put through. This little boy did not know any better than to enjoy stealing and any other opportunity to gain money.