Children’s story turned play
Last Saturday was a stimulating day, a welcome disruption to my relatively monotonous work-from-home setup the entire week. I watched a play based on a children’s story which tackled cultural identity, political classism, and feminism during the Spanish colonialization of the Philippines. (I’m not sure if these themes and topics were engendered in the book, though).
It’s been so long since I’ve witnessed an upbeat theatrical play, and the energy was refreshingly bright. The last one I watched in March – Betrayal – was a drama based on Harold Pinter’s original. Betrayal was rich, dialogue-laden, and inert; quite the opposite of this identity-centric play that’s very Filipino.
Despite their differences, these productions were exemplary. The actors, sets, dialogues, acts, stage directions, and everything were captivating to behold.
That brings me to think how important it is to enrich one's life every now and then with such live spectacles. These are art forms that just can’t be replicated by a show on your favorite streaming app.
Theater is a good type of entertainment that goes hand in hand with rest, socialization, and the other tiers of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, at least for me. It made me temporarily forget the troubles and hopelessness of this world...capitalism, environmental degradation, etc. Also my new manager. Haha.
Until my next theatrical show.