Rizal X

 Ang palabas na ito ay tungkol kay Rizal. Pero hindi rin.

That's how the play started--a caveat flashed in bold letters onto a wrinkled, white tarpaulin that was quickly hauled up. Impressive start. There's something in that opening statement that sounded crisp and intelligent, and brave, more importantly. A show of defiance of some sorts. Or maybe I was just thinking too hard and got carried away. 

 

Unlike most Rizal plays that have already been staged, Rizal X is not about a loyal retelling of his novels. It is neither about his biography nor a classical portrayal of a period I can only describe in images of sepia. It is rather an ambitious effort to bring Rizal to the present -- a move so delicate that it would become painfully corny if not executed with layers of artistic candor and vision. 

Rizal X was a play, and it was also a musical; not the Les Miserables type but bordering towards Rent or Glee, or the Glee Project to be more relevant. There were green, Party Pilipinas laser lights, too, to match the rock and roll. There were occasional scenes of kundiman and an interesting hip hop number and a few fluid, contemporary dances. And oh, there was also a short film--yes, they rolled down the wrinkled, white tarpaulin. And there was so much more: dialogues, monologues, animations and the humorous and witty packets of a standard Dulaang UP production we have grown to enjoy. Of course, there was Rizal. His women. His letters. His dreams. His disappointments. His 150^th birthday. And a huge party.

And there was us. I saw myself in this play. My sister was also there; even my neighbors in the province I used to play with. I remember the pink, cotton candy I played with my tongue when I was a kid. It was smooth, tangy. It disappears, never gets through my esophagus. Was thinking about a lot of things until the actors gestured their final bow. It was active thinking; I reassured myself. 

It was a play about Rizal, pero hindi rin.

I was thinking too hard and got carried away.