REYES, Mark Emmanuel P. Feb 21, 2012
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BS Business Econ 2011-34934 Comm 3 – Ms. Eileen Relao
DUP play “Collection” The title was catchy for me. It does not provide enough information on what to expect in this play. It made the play interesting and that is why I became really excited to watch the play.
When it started, I was confused for a minute. I saw that the Banaue Rice Terraces was being sold to the highest bidder of the auction. Every actor in the stage was very active. It started with a bang of acting talents being shown. I asked myself. What is happening? Is this for real? Who are these people in this auction? That was a very interesting start for me. I like the line of Carlo Vibal, the auctioneer, in the scene when the auction was finish and he was interrogated by Agustin Mendez, the student in his MA in Social Anthropology. His line said something like this “It is about finding the right buyer that will treasure it more than you do.” I felt that he has a good point. I also felt that showed some undeniable truth in life that money makes the world go around and some people will do everything to make them happy without taking into account that they are already stepping on other people. At that moment I felt a little angry on those people. I like the scene when Manolo Estancio, the celebrity auctioneer, Tatiana Olandrez, the international jeweler, and Alphonse, the creative genius were having a conversation about the next thing that will be auctioned because the props here looked like really high class. I like the part when Tatiana Olandrez slipped in the stage, stand up and still had her lines delivered very well. She was very professional. The part when Dr. Steven Yan, a doctor from shanghai, was explaining about the existence of souls made me think. He said that the soul has mass and the physical evidence was that the mass of a dead person is lighter than the mass of a living person. I like the dance steps of the tribe. It is so energetic and somehow look liked dance steps of cramping in a traditional way. I like the part when Helena, the social or political climber is campaigning and distributes money to the poor. That scene really made me laugh. I like the part when Hermana Augusta, the one who symbolized Filipino’s pure heart, was singing. She has a nice voice and this was emphasized because she sang it with no accompaniment of any instrument. I was amazed by her passion in acting that she agreed to be totally nude in a part of the play. I noticed that the play was well financed. I like the props and the backdrops. The fake statue was the best. It looked like it is still the same statue that had just been messed up but actually it was just a copy of it and it was made of a special solution of plaster of Paris. Every prop seems to be in its right position. I like the costumes. The costumes are beautiful and suited their roles. The lines of the character were good. The sound system was good. I heard every line clearly and I did not have any problem in understanding the thoughts conveyed by the characters.
I did not like the scene when Carlo was sales talking about the Nuestra Señora delas Almas Perdidas (The Virgin of the Lost Souls) because it made me realize that it has been very long time since Filipinos started to somehow like worship statues. I was a little bit sad. I felt awkward because I had read in Exodus 20:4 saying “you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below is in the heaven.” This was the reason that I do not believe in these statues and in saints. I did not like that the actors behind the major players had multi roles. It is like they are selfish. They should have just given it to other actors. I did not like the fact that someone spilled water to the stage that resulted in the accident of Tatiana Olandrez. I did not like the transition in the last part of the play. It was too fast. There were so many things that were happening.
When I saw the scene that the statue was decaying, I thought the statue will be back to its good state when it was sold to the right person. I was shocked in the end that I was wrong and it had ended that the statue was destroyed. Over all the play was good. It is a must watch play and I recommend this to my friends even though they are not required. I know they will enjoy this. The message of the play was clearly presented. From what I understood, the message was “Not everything can be sold or can be bought. There some things that money cannot buy. Some things are priceless.” I enjoyed the play and would probably watch it again if I had just more money.