Tonying at ang Mahiwagang Libro ng Kasaysayan: A Review
Harlequin
Theatre Guild (HTG) has all the rights to claim that they’re the only recognized theater group by De La Salle University- Manila. Aside from the obvious reason
that no other theatrical group exists in the school, they’ve got talented
people, composing the production and the actors, that wouldn't be possibly
intimidated by any group that would attempt a competition with them. Through
the years, its doors, which filter every aspiring lasallian, have been an
evidence that only the best of the best could really be on the spotlight
finally carry the guild’s name. That’s
why I can’t be blamed if my expectations were pulled up excessively. I guess
the same reason has also caused my judging-mode activation and become a little
very observant and critical about the play- “Tonying at ang Mahiwagang Libro ng Kasaysayan”.
Wondering
about what really happened? Let me share my opinion about it.
Tonying
at ang Mahiwagang Libro ng Kasaysayan’s story is about the adventure of a simple and ordianry boy
named Tonying who was appointed to be the tagapagsalaysalay. With the help of
the “mirror of time” and “the key of the
past, the present the future” and together with his friends- Tata Lasy and
Klea, he has traveled time to witness and record the events of the Philippine
history. However, with the cruelty of Mangmang, stealing the history’s
treasured happenings for him to be the most powerful in the world of fantasy,
Tonying’s adventure has become more adventurous.
On his
way, he met the some of the Philippine history icons like Jose Rizal, Gabriela
Silang, and Andres Bonifacio. In the Philippines they are extremely popular
especially when the word history comes in. He also witnessed some of the
important events in the Philippine history like how the Spanish people perched
in the country and how Japanese took control of the Philippines.
At the end, typical as a Filipino
tele-novela, Tonying won over Mangmang and retrieved everything such the
kingdoms Kalangitlangitan, the order of the Philippine history and his romantic
interest, Klea.
Well,
that’s the story I absorbed from the play. However, as a film enthusiast I have
my critical eyes turned onto the script, the story, the direction and most
especially with the actors.
Typical-
that’s how I will describe the story but the thing how the story writer
attempted to make the play very Filipino is something that I really have to
appreciate. Okay, done with the looking into conventional nature of the play-
the hero wins and the bad guy dies, the prince saves the princess and the story
ends happily. It’s not a documentary or an indie film trying to get a Cinemalaya award anyway. It’s a show
that goals to entertain and tickle the audience so that at the end of the play,
the audience would leave the auditorium with smiling and relieved faces and
with a sense of satisfaction and completeness. Imagine if the story ends up
with the protagonist having killed or worse, it was with an open ending, then
the audience would leave sad, confused and disturbed. I bet they would not be
returning to watch any HTG play again. That’s for sure : }
The
director is very talented. I think they had a very amazing collaboration with
the script writer thus making the play be very much of an attention catcher.
The comedy twist of the play has made the audience stay considering that it’s
all about history again. The play, even with talented acts, would be boring
with the story alone, so salutes to the director and the script writer.
To the
actors, they are amazing. It’s like they've been acting all their lives. Their
characters were not only reflected by the costumes or by their faces but by their
entire bodies and gestures as well. They are simply amazing.
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