Something to Crow About

The libretto of Something to Crow About is based on the classic short story My Brother Kiko’s Peculiar Chicken which won an award at the University of Arizona when the author was a student. Dr. Alejandro R. Roces expanded the plot by incorporating other short stories from his first collection of short stories published later. The story is about a “sabungero” (cockfight enthusiast) who was so enamoured with his cocks that he neglected his wife and his duties as a father and as family provider. The town’s local priest exhorts him to change his habits — but to no avail. The story of the modern zarzuela is a microcosm of Philippine society, taking place in a small rural town. Dennis Labaw, in his revision said that the author and humorist reveals in the story much of the Filipino psyche and culture. In the modern zarzuela the “peculiar chicken” has a “dubious sexuality” and did not want to fight in the cockpit, hence the theme “make love, not war.”