Of love, lust & life
Is it worth it? While that question is answerable by a yes or no, it holds dire consequences for every wrong turn. In this thesis production&em;two short plays in one&em;Cross Your Heart: All Our Red-Reds and The Fall juxtapose the aspects of love, life, and lust.
The production, based on Monica Sebial's set design, is part of Fine Arts Festival 2008.
Let's play tickity-tock
As the lights dim down, the audience plunges into an awkward yet familiar scene: innocent children running around, carefree and naïve. Amidst the background music reminiscent of phonographs and waltzes, one can feel a slight pang of longing either for what was lost or what has yet to be found.
Directed by BJ Crisostomo (III BFA TA & CW), the scene opens with little Den, portrayed by Jiggy Guballa, a freshman at the University of the Philippines, dressed in overalls and school shoes. He waits for his friends to play another round of tickity-tock or, in the common tongue, the game of love. Tata Enerio (II AB Eu) plays the role of Prilly, whose red-red was lost by Den the other day. Ball and Doll, portrayed by Matt Manalangit (II AB MEco) and Ia Solis (II AB Psy), respectively, are the ones willing to use their red-reds so they can all play tickity-tock.
Dialogues have been specifically tailored to mimic childish conversations, using an array of seemingly nonsensical terms such as "tickity-tock" and "red-reds" to mean "love" and "hearts." Combined with exaggerated movements, there comes the lost twinkle of vulnerability that comes with each child.
Tata Enerio gives the aura of innocence with the repetition of clichéd notions of being together forever. Instead of sounding like a broken record, one is reminded of a child ask-ing for a nod of approval or a hug of affection. The simplistic image of children's innocence is apposed to the mature concept of love.
Conflict builds up when the four children start to play. From the childish and light intonation of his voice, Den's rage and doubt over the loss of his red-red become evident in split-second flashes of emotion as he interacts with his friends.
The minimalist stage design&em;white backdrop bathed in red light and red trinkets&em; focuses the viewers' attention specifically on the characters. The effective interplay of this stage design with the actors is illustrated in Den's sudden transition from rage to serenity, Prilly's innocent affection for Den, and in Doll and Ball's naïveté in carelessly but trustingly surrendering their red-reds for another round of tickity-tock. In a haze of red, everything seems to be coming from a dream or a distant memory that brings back viewers to a time when innocence outshines cynicism.
Ready? Okay.
The Fall, an adaptation of Israel Horovitz's Acrobats, opens with three couples onstage. Lisa, portrayed by Solis, and Tom, portrayed by Samboy Lim (III BS Psy), are a high school couple on the brink of taking their relationship to the next level. An unhappy relationship exists between Bernardo, portrayed by Paolo Apagalang (IV BS Psy), and his wife Emma, portrayed by Ella Palileo (AB Comm '07), as they struggle to find a compromise between his need for space and her need for appreciation. Acrobats Edna, portrayed by Regina de Vera (II BFA TA), and her husband, portrayed by Jan Parma (II AB Comm), have both grown tired of each other's dependency and are caught in the crossroads of holding on or letting go.
Each couple seems to exist in its isolated universe, seeing no one else but their respective partners no matter how close they might brush against the others. At the same time, the brilliance of the script shows how all three pairs are intertwined by the concept of overdependence. The use of parallelized dialogues, wherein couples answer each other's questions and finish each other's sentences, become the main ground for comparing and contrasting the three aspects of love.
Clever dialogues are not the only foundation of the play. Although there's always a degree of risk in including sex scenes onstage, this production does not hesitate to take it on. As the other couples bicker about their troubled relationships, Bernardo brings Emma to the side of the stage where he begins to "prove his fidelity" to her. Instead of giving discomfort to the audience, this particular scene signified Bernardo and Emma's decision to make their relationship hang on for a while longer.
Palileo maintains a dignified character despite that supposedly awkward scene. Bordering along restraint and composure, she is able to give the housewife character a more real identity by going beyond the mere act of sex as an everyday routine to a turning point of holy transcendence. They are able to impress upon the audience&em;with admirable chutzpah&em;the lost passion they are willing to find once again.
Far from falling into the cliché that comes with the subject of love, the two plays do not totter with mere dramatic interpretation of onscreen romance. They plunge headfirst, using the ingenious mix of dry humor and temperate drama, giving the audience a taste of what love really entails.
It's not the fairytale side of love that these plays wanted to depict. Rather, it emphasized the love-hate cycle in every relationship. This is seen in Den and Prilly's constant skirmish on red-reds and in Bernardo and Emma's caterwauling over fidelity and space.
Each cycle overlaps with the other as if to keep the audience from second-guessing the outcome. Even until the end of the acrobats' act, the audience is left questioning whether a relationship that damaged is still worth holding on to.
Love was lost then love was found. It is lost then found again. Cross Your Heart: All Our Red-Reds and The Fall leave their audiences with two extreme perspectives on love. One can choose to get over the hurt and risk everything once more in a childish display of confidence, or view change with a ray of hope but also with a dash of skepticism. Either way, everyone ends up looking for love once again.
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