Theater & Arts
ATENEO ENTERTEYNMENT Para sa Tao, Bayan, Lansangan at Diyos’ (Ateneo Entablado) second production of the season, Sa Isang Madilim, FB na Mapanglaw, is a subversive marriage of Brechtian epic theater and millennial culture. It is an epic, written by Jerome Ignacio under the direction of Jethro Tenorio, that revolves around the cyberspace of high schoolers doing a Filipino group project online. As the title suggests, the contemporary familiarity of the Internet and the admittedly archaic—the latter of which being, sadly, our country’s own literature—mesh in unexpected ways.
The set is reminiscent of a typical student’s virtual reality, with canopies of glowing apps, as well as multiple computer screens. The characters are uniformly dressed, all donning eyebags and gadgets that spell out “smartphone-dependent millennial.” They play multiple roles at the same time, with frequent ins and outs for costume changes.
Folk and pop songs alike are turned into cheeky anthems about the Ibong Adarna and Doña Victorina. Although it deals with classics such as Florante at Laura and Ibong Adarna, the play itself is highly unconventional; apart from the playful songs at every scene, one can expect a lot of audience participation and even a breaking of the fourth wall.
There is a very characteristic energy throughout the play, although in this particular effort, it tends to be overdone. While the peppy choreography and slapstick humor do captivate the audience, the din of laughter and shouting gets a little too chaotic, to the point that the punchline is paid more attention to than more important points.
For all its comedic relief, the play’s culmination does not fail to emphasize the heavier message: That by forgetting our language, we also forget our national identity. Sa Isang Madilim, FB na Mapanglaw provides the critical distance needed to remind us that even in this day and age, Filipino is more than just a language—much less a subject in need of abolition.
Ateneo Entablado will be staging their final performance of Sa Isang Madilim, FB na Mapanglaw on January 24 at the Rizal Mini Theater.
Updated on January 23, 2015 at 9:43 AM.
