A Shakespearean escape

There is something about a Repertory Philippines play that seems to be about escape by default. You enter the theater and are forced to deal with a story that isn’t yours, at least not of this country’s. Universal notions about life become the rule here, and no matter that you know better, you allow it. You allow yourself to sit through that play and let yourself be taken on a ride. Part of Rep’s appeal is that it allows you to forget for a while where you are, maybe who you are, how you’re connected to the world outside that theater. Shakespeare In Hollywood (directed by Jaime del Mundo) is no different, except that this is Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream in particular. Except not totally, as it is a version of the 1935 movie version of it, and yes we are confused. Ken Ludwig was commissioned to write a comedy, and he used asa premise the 1935 Hollywood film version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ludwig’s comedy is Shakespeare in Hollywood first staged in 2003, which now that I think about it, just seems so many times removed from the original Shakespeare, seeing as we’re watching it in the land of impoverished Philippines. And yet, for all its complex intertexuality, this comedy just works. It works at making us laugh of course, but even more so at making these characters so believable, they seem like stereotypes that exist where we are. Maybe because versions of them do, but that just seems to complicate even more the act of watching Shakespeare in Hollywood. When in fact the experience could be so much simpler, at least if you’re willing to get lost in it as I did. Get lost in it and all you’ll see is the set for the movie version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in 1930s Hollywood when censorship of the irrational kind (which is oh so familiar to us, isn’t it) was the evil. Getting lost in Shakespeare in Hollywood will also let you fall in love with the kind of fantasy it is: the one that works with the idea of literature being so real, it actually comes to life. Enter Oberon and Puck, both from the times of the original Shakespearean text, entering the stage of the comedy’s present via the movie set. To get lost in this play is to imagine this fantasy possible, and to get caught up in the love that happens between Oberon and actress Liv. To get lost in it is to let Puck do the comedy, let him mess up the point of holding that beautiful cursed flower in his hand, let him be central to the comedy of errors that ensues. Because this is what Shakespeare in Hollywood banks on, a comedy of errors that will effectively keep an audience laughing, even as it seems familiar, if not old. In this sense much credit must go to this cast of actors that Repertory Philippine has assembled. Hans Eckstein’s Oberon successfully traverses that line between being boastful and handsome, and enamored and well, handsome, still. Eckstein allows for the Royal ka-macho-han to meld with a kindness that’s about leaving and giving Liv the gift of forgetting. Caissa Borromeo’s portrayal of Liv banks on some real youthful innocence, one which works perfectly with Oberon’s over-the-top existence in the play. There were obvious lapses in Miguel Faustmann’s portrayal of Wil Hays the censors chief, as revealed by his awkward pauses in dialogue. Yet Faustmann does recover particularly when he falls in love with himself, in a portrayal of literal narcissism that should be put in a bottle and taught every darn actor wannabe on these shores. Topper Fabregas plays the assistant Daryl to Arnel Carrion’s Jack Warner, the big shot movie producer. Fabregas steals the show, a measure of which is in that scene when Daryl walks from stage left to stage right, then comes right out to put the pencil holder on the table in its proper place -- which was really just to give it a slight nudge. Fabregas’ timing was impeccable here, and this was true for any other time laughter and comedy depended on him in some way. The same may be said of Red Concepcion’s portrayal of Puck, Oberon’s playful and mischievous servant. In Concepcion’s hands though, Puck is able to traverse that line from childlike to sexual creature, a coming of age that can only happen precisely in the context of a movie set that has him as star. There is an intelligence to those big bright eyes that Concepcion uses in his portrayal of Puck here, as there is power in his movements as the spritely literary fairy, the one who’s jester and joker, as he is speaker of truth. It’s easy to see how Concepcion would steal the show from the bigger roles that surround his character. This is also what Cris Villonco does as the bimbo Lyd, who turns movie producer Jack Warner into one smitten man. Villonco was surprisingly believable as that bimbo we all know of, the talentless actress with dreams of movie stardom, the one who’s able to be both flirt and innocent young thing at the same time. When Villonco first enters the stage in a red dress and blonde wig, it was easy to presume she’d play a major part in the comedy. What Villonco proves though is that she can make this character funny without having to rest on its high heels and big boobs. Lyd is no caricature of the bimbo here; instead she is a charming character, a young girl who sincerely thinks herself an actress, and who will ultimately try her hardest to do well, Shakespeare as it is. Villonco’s moment can only be when Lyd decides to deliver her Shakespearean lines backwards. Yes, it’s difficult to imagine. Which is to say that you had to be there. Shakespeare in Hollywood is worth seeing for all these things, including the fact of escape. Of course in the throes of nation(s) in crises, it seems strange to even think of watching a play (or movie for that matter); yet it’s precisely because of today and the daily crises we face that a Repertory Philippines play is worth stopping for. Shakespeare in Hollywood is the perfect comedy to disappear into, as it is one that will know you exist because try as you might, it is impossible to suppress your laughter here. Nor should you want to. – HS, GMA News