Act I, Scenes 1-8 Synopsis Summary

Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters is a play in two acts that deals with the brutal suppression of political opposition to Ferdinand Marcos's government in the Philippines, as framed against the first Manila International Film Festival. Hagedorn playfully rearranges historical events and presents the harrowing and tragic narrative as a radio soap opera.

Dogeaters begins in Scene 1 with a series of radio snippets that act as a primer for the audience. The snippets announce that Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos have visited with the new American President, Ronald Reagan. One hears that Daisy, the daughter of the opposition leader Senator Domingo Avila, has won the Miss Philippines Pageant. The First Annual Manila International Film Festival is approaching, and for it Imelda Marcos has built a new Film Center in the capital. The guerrillas of the insurgent NPA continue...