My fifth musical this lockdown is AHEB which I wanted to watch since it was first shown in Resorts World two years ago. I never did, and even failed to catch the 2019 remake because the venue is just so far from us. It's just lucky that it was picked to be available online in ABS-CBN Entertainment's Youtube channel as part of its fund-raising program Pantawid ng Pag-ibig. Donations will go to families whose livelihood is affected by the Covid-19 lockdown. Just a few days ago, the local TV giant said its farewell after its franchise was not renewed, thereby putting around 11,000 employees in further jeopardy. I wonder if a portion of the PnP will go to employees who need financial assistance.
The people behind AHEB are familiar names: Floy Quintos and Dexter Santos are credited for most acclaimed DUP productions, my most favorite being Collections. I have great expectations especially since it was the rave and because of the hype created around it years back. Story-wise, it does not disappoint. The message is so powerful, a reflection of reality that bites. As for the incorporation of the iconic band Eraserhead's songs, I feel like most are unnecessary and that the songs awkwardly fail to connect to the scenes. Of course, it's a different story with the song "Ang Huling El Bimbo" as the musical successfully mirrored the bliss of innocence and the subsequent tragedy.
But it's not just all romance, the play's strength derives from its accurate portrayal, despite common stereotypes, of personalities in the Philippine society. For instance, there are the three UP students, iskos who are so idealistic and who are full of talk about patriotism and changing the world. On that tragic night when their friend Joy was raped, they prove to be mere cowards, who for all their supposed brilliance being able to enter and exit UP successfully and for having achieved their career objectives, are shown to be apathetic and lacking in human compassion. Act 2 is so heart-breaking, seeing Joy struggle for herself as she is forced into prostitution and drug-dealing by her "protector" Banlaoi who in turn, became a councilor and used that power to further drive poor Joy's life to hell, figuratively and literally. What makes it even more sad is seeing her still believing in her friends who abandoned her after the rape. The three men are all cowards for doing so, for refusing to report to the police, for leaving Joy at a time when she is most in need of support. She even attended their graduation rites with flowers for each of them but they all excused themselves and acted like they do not know her. This, even though Joy helped them through a lot, provided moral support and uplifted their spirits when they were down and doubting themselves.
Despite her namesake, Joy is a victim of a duplicitous society, one that takes advantage of the poor and became pawn without full agency. Feminists will be enraged to find her unable to unchain herself from her circumstances. In many instances, she expressly pins her hopes for the future upon others, willingly believing her three friends when they all promise her reunions and never-ending friendship. But the ugly thing is, people will always get caught up in the tangled web of modern life wherein relationships hold value insofar as it helps propel one's career. Real, authentic relationships are but a part of the nostalgic past. It would have been okay if both parties move on with the same feeling to abandon friendship but in life, there are those who never grow up and who clings to ideals of friendship and relationships that they are left hanging.
On another note, the theater piece is full of political overtones, especially an explicit critique of Duterte's war on drugs, especially in the character of the corrupt Banlaoi who achieves high office and whose campaign money comes from drug-trafficking. But it likewise criticizes the liberals who lead these tirades against Duterte's drug war, the liberals who are privileged who cannot be bothered to really help the poor and the oppressed, these liberals who are only talk and do nothing. Joy is always shown with the color yellow (yellow top, and later on, yellow bag), perhaps as allusion to her bright and cheerful personality, and at the same time, politically connected to the Liberal Party. Thus the musical sends the message also of how the Liberal Party has promoted all these liberal ideas that, while pleasant to the ears, have done little to alleviate poverty. Joy's character is testament to how believing in the promises of liberalism will end in tragedy.
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