Write a theatre play review about the play based on the following references
a. Elements;
b. Production:
c. Artistic Design;
d. Main idea and over-all message of the film;
e. The significance to the reality; and
f. Cultural relevance.
Ang Huling El Bimbo is jukebox musical written by Dingdong Novenario through the direction of
Dexter Santos, premiered in July 2018 at Newport Performing Arts Theatre. It is an original story
about the colorful world of friendship; a powerful bond that signifies unconditional love and shapes
our lives as an individual. It depicts a journey of joy and sadness, driven by a song playlist by the
Eraserheads.
The musical play explores how the friendship of three college students and a girl named Joy is
tested by a miserable tragedy, which left all of them in the dark for the rest of their lives. The use
of narrative dialogue makes it easier for the audience to decipher the events, as it started featuring
the present Hector, Emman, Anthony, and Joy and everything unfolded halfway. There is also a
clear pattern of the theme because of the accurate portrayal of every cast. General Banlao and
those suspects provided the vehicle for conflict which add spice to the whole play. The languages
used were Filipino and English, creating a diverse inclusion of audiences. Also, the stage,
costumes, lights, and sounds used were organized accordingly making every line and scene of
the play leave a mark.
For the production, the feature of the songs of the most iconic bond of the 90’s has given a more
colorful portrayal of the song, building the mood of each scene. It can be observed that the stage
is divided into four parts; left, foreground, right, and middle back. The three of them were
positioned to give the best view of the stage for the audience. The use of moving circular platform
made it possible for the scenes that require immediate set change and movement to be
performed. In addition, the artistic designing of the stage for every set change is created properly
which definitely suited every act or scene in the play.
Ang Huling El Bimbo clearly depicts social issues such as poverty, social inequality, rape and
sexual violence that are truly relevant in today’s society. It conveys how the poor victims of sexual
assault are forced to be silent with the fear of not being understood and receive criticisms from
shallow-minded people. Its significance is that it is able to accurately feature the reality of how
rape and silencing operate in the society we live in. It provides life-changing lessons of coping
with the trauma and what does a family fill in its process.
In addition, resiliency has also taken the context of the play as the male characters decided to
keep the truth of what really happened to Joy during that night, convincing themselves that Joy is
a strong girl and can recover from the event on her own. Hector, Emman, and Anthony neither
did consider Joy’s decision would be nor took her to the hospital and report the incident to the
police. They rather chose to become blind-eye to protect themselves from criticisms and live with
peace. Their silence somehow makes them complicit to violence against women and it debunks
the norm that only bad men commit violence because good men can be guilty as well when faced
in a difficult situation. The song “With a Smile” was supposed to be happy and yet it turned to a
sad song with full of regrets as per Joy’s experience of friendship with the people who left her at
the time of a tragedy.
With the use of classical music of an iconic Filipino band, musical culture of the Philippines is
emphasized. Not only that, the songs used were truly related to everyday living of a person making
it still as refreshing as the time they were released. Also, the feature of fabrics, baggy clothes,
and the university culture are vividly present. Even the moving platform for set change is also part
of the Philippine culture in the field of media.
As the line of the song With a Smile goes “You can never be too happy in this life”, it tells that life
is not always a bed of roses. In a friendship, there will be a rainbow and there will always be a
trial that would test the bond of the relationship you have built with each other. The most important
thing is to never leave your friends behind, even it takes a million trials to be with them.