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Despite my being an English Lit major wannabe I have yet to see a Shakespeare drama onstage, so I was really excited when Lorna Lopez (aka The Bachelor Girl) invited me to see Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet. Perhaps this is just me being a Shakespearean theater n00b, but I walked into Onstage Greenbelt expecting to see something like this:

Instead, what I got was this:

For a moment there I thought Ade and I had accidentally stumbled upon a Ragnarok cosplay event. Now, if I had done my homework and read up on the production, I wouldn’t have been too surprised by the post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk look donned by the actors. Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet is supposed to take place in a nameless world that – just like the play itself – has been “stripped to its core” (nevermind that I heard Denmark and England mentioned a couple of times in the dialogue). To quote the article from the Repertory Philippines website, “When stripped to its core, this immortal masterpiece, this most famous of Shakespeare’s plays, is really about greed, love, vengeance, passion: in short, all the ugly, hateful, beautiful, sordid things that make us human.”

Instead of tights, pointy shoes, and feathered hats, the characters wore leather jackets, goggles, and too many belts around their torso. In the place of a fancy palace set was rocks and a lot of sand.

Maybe this is just me being slightly disappointed about not seeing Elizabethan costumes on my very first Shakespearean theater experience. But I’d think that the audience can appreciate all the human emotions inherent in Hamlet (or the essence of Hamlet, if you will) through how the actors deliver their lines instead of what they wear. In that sense, Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet was very successful. Despite not being very familiar with Shakespearean English, it wasn’t too difficult for me to follow what was going on thanks to the actors’ fluid acting and distinct body language. Of course, it took some concentration for me to comprehend the nuances and the wordplay in the dialogue. But all you really need to do is pay attention, and you’ll get it. So first timers – you don’t have to be afraid of falling asleep in your chair or being completely lost in translation if you’ve never encountered a word of Shakespeare in your life. The actors will make it easy for you to follow the plot all the way to its tragic conclusion.

I do understand the need to “update” the costumes though. Hamlet has been done and redone for four hundred years and every production needs to add something new so the play doesn’t get stale. I still think Elizabethan costumes would have helped viewers contextualize the play, though. Don’t get me wrong – objectively speaking, I thought the costumes were fabulous. I’d wear that on a normal day if it were cold enough for boots and jackets here, but the costumes were little inappropriate for play and I don’t see how it helps “strip Hamlet to the core”. If anything the costumes added another layer of complexity to it. Why make the characters look like something out of an MMO-RPG instead of having them wear all black or all white if some sort of minimalism was what they were after?

Despite my problem with the production’s aims, I highly recommend that you catch Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet at Onstage Greenbelt 1. The show will be playing up til February 17 only so watch it! Now!

February 1-17, 2008
8:00 PM on Fridays & Saturday
3:30 PM on Saturdays & Sundays

Venue
OnStage
2/F Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center, Makati City

Tickets
Orchestra Center – P 550.00
Orchestra Side – P 350.00
Balcony – P 250.00

Other reviews:
Ade – Hamlet
Fritz – Still Awestruck by Repertory Philippines’ Hamlet
Gibbs – Welcome Initiates! (not really a review but whatever, I’m mentioned here )

I’ve never been one for fairy tales. As a child I was fed the usual diet of Disney movies and happily-ever-after endings by my well-meaning parents, which I did enjoy. Sometimes, however, I wish they exposed my childhood self to literature along the lines of The Call of Cthulhu instead. It’s quite a shock to enter the real world and discover that:

a) there really IS such a thing as Prince Charming, but he’s so damn charming that all the Prince Charmings in all fairy tales are one and the same guy
b) the hero complex all those would-be Princes have gets really old and ridiculous after a while
c) wicked witches in the woods make better friends than pampered princesses
d) I’m not going to sit around and wait for some douchebag on a horse to protect me from the dragons and giants of the world. I can venture out of my castle all alone just fine, thank you very much.

I suppose all that happy ending propaganda is good for something because kids would start swinging from their bedroom windows if they learned how shitty life can get at such an early age. Once I start crapping out babies I’ll still read them fairy tales, but with a healthy mix of their retold versions, just so they don’t have any illusions about what kind of characters and moral dilemmas are waiting for them outside their parent’s home.

Last Friday I saw The New Voice Company’s production of Into the Woods with Fritz at the Music Museum. Seeing as I am an uncultured lout, all I knew about the play was that it’s a retelling of several fairy tales in a single narrative; I wasn’t entirely sure about the particulars of the plot and the conflict. But that basic premise was enough to get me all excited about finally getting to see it onstage. What I love about the sub-genre of retold fairy tales is the clever way in which black and white are sprinkled with shades of gray and the unexpected and often dark twists added to predictable and saccharine childhood classics.

For a moment I was worried that Into the Woods would be a total disappointment. The first act of the play, which ran for about an hour and a half, was surprisingly campy for a retold fairy tale. The bad guys got punished and the good guys got their wishes granted after a series of deus-ex-machina moments. Save for Julia Abueva, the 11-year old girl who played Red Riding Hood, I wasn’t too impressed by the cast’s performance. I was ready to go home and crash by the time the characters were prancing about on stage being all in-your-face about getting what they wanted. But the real retelling begins at Act Two; the plot becomes far more sinister as our fairy tale heroes suffer the treachery of their deepest desires. As though the cast members were saving their energy, everyone’s performances picked up and I got wowed off my seat by their powerful musical monologues, especially Lynn Sherman’s (The Witch) rendition of The Last Midnight. Act Two is also the part where characters start dying off one by one. I’m not going to say which characters get squished under the giant’s heel but rest assured, the most useless and annoying one gets her due, and you’ll be snickering like mad when that finally happens.

If you intend to bring children under ten years old to see Into the Woods, I suggest that you leave after Act One ends because they’re bound to get restless and bored by the time Act Two kicks in. Not that I doubt your children’s intelligence, but Act Two deals with realities that they won’t be able to appreciate. They’ll start making whimpering noises, squirming in their seats, and demanding that their parents take them to the bathroom — all of which is bound to distract, irritate, and ultimately piss off noise-sensitive, children-hating theatergoers such as myself.

Overall, Into the Woods is a very intelligent production that deals with highly complex themes on life, love, friendship, betrayal, and greed. The intricate fashion in which every character’s fears and desires overlap and get woven together into one narrative is bound to keep you more than just entertained. Just like any excellent fairy tale retelling, Into the Woods makes you think about life, the necessity of going “into the woods” to make things right, and other important stuff as the events after happily-ever-after unfold.

For show dates, ticket reservations, and other questions, check out The Bachelor Girl.

WE’RE HEEERE!

Well what do you know, I ended up NOT making an ass out of myself on the intarwebs after all. The wonderful Lorna (aka TheBachelorGirl) took the time to personally speak to Fritz and me so we could sort out the mess that was my unexpected marketing scheme. What a very nice lady she is! Thanks to her, we got to occupy the best seats in the house. Even the obscenely tall couple sitting in front of us could not ruin the view from where we were seated.

Unlike Fritz, who pretty much knew the soundtrack by heart even before we got our tickets, I only knew of two songs from Avenue Q: Everyone’s A Little Bit Racist and The Internet Is For Porn. (Aside: I find it odd that my friends keep cracking jokes about how I would know a lot of things about the internet being for porn. Me?! Lauren Dado? Role model for the Filipino youth? What do I know about vulgar things like Internet pornography? Srsly gais.) I felt like a douche for showing up unprepared, so I went on a mad Avenue Q OST download spree before heading out. It’s a good thing I wasn’t able to find the complete soundtrack though. You see, when it comes to watching movies or plays, I believe that Ignorance Is Bliss. I like knowing next to nothing about what I’m about to see. This makes me a more open-minded viewer and keeps me from falling into the trap of holding unrealistic expectations or from “challenging” what I’m about to watch (”Come on puppets, bring on the LOLZ!”). Also, I become more receptive to happy surprises and unexpected plot twists.

The Ignorance Is Bliss tactic brought rise to a rather unusual experience I had while watching Avenue Q: for a very brief moment during the second act of the play, I actually felt like crying.

This happened when Kate Monster sang the lines, “I wish I could go back to college. Life was so simple back then.” Fuck me if I haven’t made that same wish (almost) every day since I graduated! Actually, the opening lines of the play – “What do you do with a BA in English? What is my life going to be?” – was enough to hit me right where it hurts. I did not expect Avenue Q to address the question of Purpose or to portray the confusion and self-doubt that plagues us sheltered college kids when we step out into the Real World. The lighthearted moments were appropriate placed though, so that the heavy stuff didn’t get too heavy. Thank god for that, or I really would have burst into tears and made an idiot out of myself.

Besides the existential angst, Avenue Q also brings up other Real World issues people don’t like saying out loud simply because they aren’t very pleasant things. Things like: you aren’t as special as you thought you were, money is a real bitch to come by even with a degree, and happiness is an evasive and fleeting thing. If I had kids, I’d take my kids to see it because nobody ever tells children about the awful things that await them in the Real World. Then I’ll make sure they don’t have access to sharp objects or ropes afterwards. Also, nobody ever tells children about sex and how it happens. So parents – if you feel awkward about explaining how the boy’s peepee goes into the girl’s vajayjay to make babies, the very graphic sex scene in the play is quite instrumental explaining the reproductive process. My mom did her best with me, but for the longest time I seriously thought I could get pregnant by kissing someone.

We have pictures of the cast, just not with them. Suxxorz.

Performance-wise, the cast was excellent, particularly Aiza Seguerra, who pulled off a very believable performance as the grown-up child actor Gary Coleman, right down to the accent. Joel Trinidad was also amazing as Trekkie Monster and Nikky. Then again, I’m a little biased because I’ve had the hots for him ever since I saw him perform at Mag:Net Bonifacio High Street. Once I have more time, I intend to make Jayvee bring me to his SPIT shows so I can stalk him properly and propose marriage, or perhaps concubinage, when the opportunity arises.

I think the reviews done by bloggers more eloquent than myself already said what I want to say. Which is: go watch Avenue Q! I hear the shows are all sold out, but try to mug someone you know with tickets anyway. The jail time will be worth it, I promise.