To the caterpillar

Theater has really kept me locked and loaded for 2006. From Merrily We Roll Along, to an Easter Ayala event for Rep, to Aladdin, and most recently to Hope for the Flowers for my new home in blueRep, I have become heavily immersed in a stressful yet gratifying marathon of rehearsals and shows while juggling a relatively challenging course load at Ateneo. While my weekday routine has become a topsy-turvy cycle of finishing long readings for History 165, cramming for research papers left and right, and digesting the numerous canons of third year poli-sci, I am fortunately rewarded from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m, Monday to Friday, with rehearsals for Hope for the Flowers which is a commitment I look forward to. Not to mention the dinners afterward. Amid a flurry of homework and countless things to do, Hope has become a creative release for me and has provided me with an opportunity to mix and mingle with some of the most fascinating people who amazingly walk the same college halls as me. All majoring in our own distinctive fields, camaraderie and a love of performing are basically what keep us going despite all these taxing academic demands.

Which is why some people, including us, have pondered a great deal about what it is that makes us stay in this wild and crazy world of theater. Obviously, the schedule negates all opportunities for spontaneity. And I have since bidden farewell to lazy afternoons after a hard day of school. Sometimes, I forget that I actually have other lives aside from theater. Where a huge sum of time and energy is demanded from the courageous student who dares juggle school and his chosen passion, most student-actors continue on, really, for the love of it. It’s like being on a Varsity team that requires an athlete to wake up earlier than usual for morning practice while his peers are still sound asleep. It’s ridiculous, yes. But when you want to do something so bad, you’ll do whatever it takes to keep at it. Energy-wise and time-wise, theater may be just as ridiculous as being on a Varsity team. The exhaustion is of colossal proportions yet, amazingly, it is an exhaustion of great relief and satisfaction. Sure, muscles will need some soothing. Bruises will need some patching. Study and leisure time may be partly compromised. Yet an artistic yearning is judiciously appeased at the end of the day. And of course, there is that momentary fulfillment of "something more" – something each and every one of us craves every so often.

Before the Theater Bug came-a-biting, I really thought that life was some plain ol’ bowl of cherries and that I could simply wing each day without question or cause. Since theater’s advent to a formerly lackadaisical life, I’ve learned a great deal of things with regard to responsibility, commitment, passion, and constantly challenging myself to aspire for greater heights. While I’ve been in a number of productions in the past, I find myself in the present wanting to learn more from many a colleague in the theatrical realm.

This time around, my tutelage is imparted by my friend and director Macky Santiago who has guided me in the process of understanding the character of Stripe, one of the protagonists to Trina Paulus’ popular children’s tale, Hope for the Flowers. As it has become a challenge to make potent the simple yet profound layers that animate Stripe’s journey through the Crawlers’ life, curiosity, openness, and that hunger for "something more" have become the very components to crystallizing Stripe’s very essence. Similarly, these have become the very articulation of the methods and battle cries that have propelled me, as an actor, into the art of "acting as becoming," as Tita Baby would always say.

A veteran composer in his own right, Ariel Escasa has weaved some compelling tunes for Hope for the Flowers, developing Stripe and Yellow’s ordeal through an eclectic journey of music and sound. Like most of its contemporaries, Hope for the Flowers follows the tradition of Rent and Les Miserables with the whole play being sung – well, more with Rent, actually, because the play has a modern rock feel to it. From the eerie Stepford Wives vibe of Crawlers’ Reply to the jazzy-fizzle of To the Pillar to the haunting orchestrations of At the Pillar at Last, the show’s signature tunes have become the very means of portraying the powerful emotions invoked by Hope’s fascinating characters.

Showcasing its latest talent pool of actors, the folks at blueRep have handpicked some of the most delectable pals ‘n’ gals of the bunch to bring life to the many caterpillars that festoon the Crawlers’ world. Marc Baluyan, Reb Atadero, and I alternate as the curious Stripe, a caterpillar who shatters the status quo in his search for "something more." When he hears the buzz about the Caterpillar Pillar, he joins the fray and stumbles upon Yellow (with Oli del Rosario, Jes Peralta, and Reg de Vera alternating as the strong-minded caterpillar) who convinces him to abandon the crazed mob and lead a more simple life with her back on earth. While the pallet is painted sweet for the two friends, cherries sour for Stripe in a horrific nightmare and a tragic incident with some pillar bugs. His curiosity compels him to journey back, leaving Yellow behind to make sense of her friend’s impulse decision. The story then shifts to Yellow as she meets Grey (with Derrick Fuentes and Chris Yu alternating as the learned caterpillar), who imparts some wisdom unbeknownst to most of Yellow’s kind. That in pursuit of something more, one must leave everything behind. Philosophical, huh? Meanwhile, the pillar is still as frenzied as ever and a realization breaks the caterpillars’ spirits, most especially Stripe’s as he is flung off from the top despite painstaking attempts. His resolve emerges from seeing an evolved Yellow who shows him the path to becoming that "something more" he’s been searching for all his life.

Hope for the Flowers is a collaboration of all sorts, translating the story’s powerful communiqué to the theatrical stage. Laura Cabochan, who you may remember from last year’s Sweet Charity, is the show’s praiseworthy musical director as she facilitates some wonderful ideas brought to the table by Ariel, Macky, and even some of the actors themselves. Pom Docena, who was recently seen in Atlantis Productions’ Footloose, draws inspiration from Bob Fosse to add some amazing choreography to jazzy numbers like To the Pillar and spine-tingling movement to numbers like At the Pillar at Last.

Meanwhile, Mahar Mangahas heads the costume side of things where cast trips to the ukay-ukay have borne fruit with some of the most psychedelic apparel in line with Hope’s ‘70s theme. Not to forget the equally astounding technical team, headed by Alexa Yupangco, who takes charge of the show’s nitty-gritty aspects.

Hope for the Flowers will be staged at the Rizal Mini Theater in the Ateneo on Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.; Sept. 30 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Oct. 1 at 3 p.m. with tickets priced at P150.

Most impressive is that Hope for the Flowers is a show put on by the students themselves, meaning that from promotions to set construction, lights, logistics, and even direction as Macky himself is a blueRep alumnus, such challenges were all willingly undertaken by people who have nothing else but faith in the material and love of performing. It’s funny when one realizes the lengths that he will go in pursuit of doing something he loves best. As the saying goes, "If you want something so bad, the whole world will conspire for you to get it." I don’t know about my other compadres and comadres but I’m still here, standing and surviving. Which reminds me, it’s time to get started on my next paper. As my friend Mian would always say, "Just keep on pushing, don’t delay." I know, right, face it!

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For ticket inquiries, you may contact Loren at 0917-7383431.