“Clever!” I would’ve exclaimed if only I were allowed to make a sound louder than a whisper in the darkened Rizal Theater of Ateneo. “What a clever idea to use the phrase ‘Fool’s gold’ for this story!” Forgive my fixation on words but that moment of delight just happened to be the most valuable return on my investment of two hours one Saturday afternoon.
The story of King Midas was the second of the stories that ushered theater enthusiasts—made up mostly of college students—into the ten stories of love of Metamorphoses. Mary Zimmerman’s material, based on Ovid’s fifteen-book narrative poem on the creation of the world, attempts to paint a collage of love and transformation. And Tanghalang Ateneo, celebrating its 31st season, borrowed her material and used an almost-bare stage as a canvass.
Pre-Metamorphoses, I did not know many of the characters portrayed. But now I can tell you that Psyche is not just the spirit or the soul but the object of passion of Eros; Orpheus is not the character from Matrix (“That’s Morpheus!”) but the heartbroken husband of Eurydice who sets out for the Underworld; and Phaeton is not a kind of snake but the reckless-driving son of Apollo who scorches the Earth.
But even with that many gods and goddesses on stage, their combined presence was impotent to command excitement. By the time the third story of love was being acted, all I could think of was, “Oh no. I’d have to endure watching seven more.” The number of situations depicted made me feel like I was being deluged with too much information. So this is how it feels like drowning while watching a play. Before I am able to fully absorb one story, the characters of another story sashay into the stage. The kilometric lines of archaic-sounding words did not help the play grow on me either. These two factors made it particularly challenging for the young thespians to reel the audience in.
Sure, Tanghalang Ateneo tried to infuse fresh blood into this play by adapting some parts of the dialogue to reflect the language of the 21st century. But sadly, save for a few parts that stirred the audience—particularly when Vertumnus tried to woo Pomona or when Myrrha was consumed by the wrong kind of passion, their overall performance was still anemic. The voice projection of the actors was also sometimes weak, which made us strain our ears to hear and understand what in the ancient world was going on.
I left the theater with a greater appreciation for the fool’s-gold phrase. But other than that part, everything else really sounded Greek to me.
Filed under: On Stage
Hey, what do you think about the scene of Vertumnus and Pomona and the scene of Alcyone and Ceyx?
Vertumnus elicited the most laughter, I think, during the duration of the play. The scene of Alcyone and Ceyx? Though I was able to sense the deep emotions these characters shared, their part was a bit bitin. Before I could feel and grieve for them, they’re gone from the stage.
Thanks for visiting, Thessalonita. 
Were you part of this play?
I think you handled the Greek well—naalala mo pa nga lahat ng pangalan ng characters, tama pa spelling mo am sure. Hehe. Naku buti pala wala ako, di kaya ng pagka-ADHD ko yan ah. By the way, thanks for your comment sa blog ko, just wondering though, bakit dalawang “n” ang Beng mo dun? Hmmm Typo kaya, Miss Editor? Hehe.
Haha, it helped that I had a souvenir program to refer to for the names! So daya din yun.
Naku, baka di mo nga kayanin. Or pwede ring nachallenge ka.
Ay talaga? Dalawang N? Typo yun. hehe. After office hours na kasi kaya hindi na ako editor (as if nman infallible ako between 9-6!Not!)