Author and playright Severino Reyes, also known for his pseudonym "Lola Basyang", is celebrated on Google Philippines on Friday, his 161st birth anniversary.
Born Feb. 11, 1861 in Manila, Google in a doodle depicted Reyes who is venerated in Philippine culture as the "Father of Filipino Drama", owing to his enrichment of zarzuelas as a Filipino art form, as well as his pioneering of the Tagalog literary renaissance during his time.
Reyes was the founder of the Gran Compania de Zarzuela, the theater group known for staging “Walang Sugat” (No Wounds), which is a historical drama centered around the Philippine revolution that he wrote that is still revered to this day.
Its popularity marked the "Philippine Golden Age of Zarzuela", which Reyes was able to sustain in the decades that followed through over 50 zarzuelas he created.
Reyes is perhaps, most remembered in Philippine Literature, for his works as editor-in-chief of Liwayway, a popular Tagalog magazine, under a pseudonym.
"His stories, full of seemingly ancient wisdom, became such an integral part of Philippine society that the name Lola Basyang is still used today to describe a grandmother who loves telling stories. Here’s to a storyteller who lifted the curtain on a new form of Filipino expression!," Google said.
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