1990 / Acrylic on canvas / 152.3 x 183 cm / Artist: Danilo Dalena / Cultural Center of the Philippines collection

Since his earlier Jai-Alai series and Alibangbang series, Dalena has been a painter of large urban crowds and of the folk and rural masses, with his unique artistic gift for combining general movements and finely observed detail.

In Pakil Komedya, the artist uses a brighter palette to capture the festive spirit of the komedya performances in his hometown of Pakil. It is an image that he has nurtured since childhood and which he enriched with each performance that he attended. Filled with the spirit of childlike wonder and excitement, the painting depicts the colorful flurry of the battle scene, with the protagonists in red costumes for the Moro (Muslim native) and short tiger-skin attires for the Amazonas (Amazon women), fencing with their swords. Backstage, other actors and actresses wait for their cue, put on makeup, or change their costumes. These activities, however, are full of observed detail that tell of the collective life and daily interaction of the members of a theater group, rich in emotional connotations. The audience also crowds around the stage and avidly follows the performance. The artist tilts the stage to present a larger surface and the entire pictorial space is covered with numerous figures in seemingly inexhaustible stances, attitudes, and gestures. Individually, despite their number, the figures are drawn with consummate suppleness and mastery of form, conveying continual movement and flashing colors.