The BGC Arts Center Festival held over the weekend not only started the 2017 performance calendar rolling for me, but it also introduced the BGC Arts Center as the newest cultural hub in Metro Manila. Located at the Bonifacio Global City, the center hosted a diverse line up of dance, theater, and of course, music performances over the course of two days, thus positioning itself as a major venue for the performing arts and more.
Braving the long and arduous getting there, I dropped by the
festival and caught a trio of shows to see how the BGC Arts Center, especially
the Maybank Performing Arts Center, measure up as a venue for classical music
performances. A quick tour was first given to the press first wherein we found
out that the center is actually composed of an open park (Alveo
Central Plaza), a 300 seater amphitheater (Sun life Amphitheater), and the main
building (Maybank Performing Arts Center) that houses an auditorium (Globe
Auditorium), a recital hall (Zobel de Ayala Recital Hall) and a
classroom/exhibit space.
Happiness is a Pearl
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| Standing: Paul Jake Paule, Rody Vera, Roeder Camañag, and Jesse Lucas Seated: Cathrine Go, Tomas Miranda, and Ira Ruzz |
The first day of the festival for me consisted of watching two shows at the Zobel de Ayala Recital Hall located at the second floor of the Maybank Performing Arts Center. First up was Artist Playground’s Happiness is a Pearl, a titillating one act play penned by Rody Vera and directed by Paul Jake Paule. This play, about a love triangle between a Japanese gigolo Kenji (Tomas Miranda), a lonely Japanese wife Mari (Cathrine Go), and a Filipina entertainer Maria (Ira Ruzz), explored the concept of happiness, on whether happiness can be bought by money or be attained when the odds are stacked against you. Or if happiness is tangible like a pearl stitched under the skin of a penis like in the case of Kenji.
What particularly astounded me with this production was not
the subject matter nor the sensual scenes, but how the tango was integral to
the course of the story as a way to show the tug of war between the two
rivalling women. With precise, sharp and deliberate motions and secure feet,
both Cathrine and Ira led me to believe that they were dancers first who later
ventured into acting. But I was, in fact, mistaken as I learned afterwards that
the two just had a few months’ worth of intense dance training in preparation
for their roles under choreographer Lezlie Dailisan. Tomas, was quite a charmer,
making it believable for the two women not only to fall for him, but also to
fight over him as well. And I was very relieved that Tomas also proved himself
as a stable dance partner matching his two feisty partners in intensity. While
the dancing left me impressed, the singing that served as a prologue to the
play was rather anemic. It went far too long for my liking and it didn’t really
segue smoothly into the actual beginning of the play.
La Voix Humaine
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| Rudolf Golez, Jay Glorioso, and Kay Balajadia-Liggayu |
Still at the same venue later that evening, soprano Kay Balajadia-Liggayu starred in MusicArtes, Inc.’s La Voix Humaine, a one woman operatic monologue by Francis Poulenc adapted from the play by Jean Cocteau. Accompanied by pianist Rudolf Golez, Kay portrayed the role of an unnamed woman going through an emotional rollercoaster of a phone conversation after getting dumped by her lover. A one woman show in such an intimate setting made me feel like a voyeur peeping into hers most private and vulnerable moments. It was strange and unsettling to bear witness and hear what she claimed over the phone while actually seeing otherwise. And all this without her knowing that the audience knows since the fourth wall wasn’t broken at all.
Seating right beside the piano made me more aware of the music:
the abundance of dissonance and complex chords, the almost speech like rhythm
of the notes, and the constant and sudden shift in tempo, going from agitated
at one moment and then relaxed at the next. And whenever there is a hint of a
melody, it was always short lived as more uneasiness just crept around the
corner (or the next measure).
It’s not easy for anyone, including myself, to comprehend
this work fully at the first viewing. I found myself shifting my gaze quickly from
the projected surtitles to Kay so as not to miss anything. I know that there
would be so much more to discover with the nuances of the text and the music with
repeated viewing and listening of this work.
My overall experience watching two different performances at the Zobel de Ayala Recital Hall was indeed a satisfying one but was marred by outside noise that managed to penetrate through the walls of the hall. The noise came from the chatter above at the 3rd level viewing deck and also from the sound of car engines outside in the streets. Measures to improve sound proofing the recital hall must be taken to ensure a more pleasant viewing experience free from unnecessary distractions.
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