Brave old words, brave new world: Francis M as sci-fi 

Dystopian science fiction is unnerving because it is both familiar and mysterious: it is a glimpse at our own selves as through a glass, darkly.

The Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA’s) “3 Stars and a Sun” pulls off this feat of collective introspection quite well, even as it serves as a nostalgic homage to the rap music of the late Francis Magalona.

Essential Pinoy SF

In the already rarified world of Philippine arts and letters, hard science fiction works are a distinct rarity—and one based on rap music is certainly unheard-of.

The actions of the play unfold within the strict confines of a fictional but self-consistent reality. This makes it an important contribution to the annals of Philippine speculative fiction, in which there is only a scant handful of such “hard SF” plays.

After the age of apocalypse

Set in what’s left of the Philippines in the year 2096, the play opens two generations after the worldwide nuclear holocaust that wiped out everything save for a precious few survivors sealed away in a massive Stormdome—a clear nod to the popular video game, “Fallout,” and even to classic sci-fi titles such as “Planet of the Apes” and “Mad Max.”

Things take an even darker turn when—not unlike the future envisioned in Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” and, to a lesser extent, H. G. Well’s “The Time Machine”—it is revealed that the survivors have been cleaved into two distinct classes: the bourgeois elites of Lumino and the underprivileged scrap workers of the Diliman wasteland.

Breaking the Fourth Wall

As expected, tensions rise and can only be suppressed, albeit temporarily, by a show of authoritarian force. The audience is immediately pulled into this dialectic by a terrible breaking of the fourth wall that is best left to be experienced by playgoers firsthand.

But this much must be said: the whole experience leaves one shaken, in many more ways than one.

Because, more than anything else, ultimately, “3 Stars and a Sun” is less a homage to science fiction and to Francis M than it is a reminder of historical fact: its parallels to current events—particularly the present generation’s seeming eagerness to whitewash the evils of Marcos’ Martial Law—are uncanny.

Francis M. as sci-fi

“The time is ripe to do a sci-fi play. It’s a way to tell a story na dapat talaga alam na natin. Binabalot lang natin ito kasi ayaw natin harapin,” explains playwright Mixkaela Villalon, who points to the contemporary popularity of such movies as “Snowpiercer” and “The Hunger Games.”

Meanwhile, Magalona’s music must be given due credit as the weft that interweaves and binds the various threads of the play’s narrative together into a cohesive whole.

“(Francis M was) mostly talking about history, dirty politics, social ills, and the role of the youth in the future,” explains director Nor Domingo.

“His music still rings true today and seeing how things are now, yes, his music will still ring true in the future,” he adds with conviction.

Would the artist have approved of the appropriation of his songs? Perhaps yes, or as Aldous Huxley might have said:

“Kiko’s in his kicks; all’s right in the world.” — GMA News

Catch “3 Stars and a Sun” on February 4 to March 6, 2016, from Tuedays to Sundays (Tue-Fri 8PM, Sat-Sun 3PM and 8PM) at the PETA-PHINMA Theater at the PETA Theater Center. PETA is located at No. 5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. For tickets and inquiries you may call (02)725-6244 or visit petatheater.com and ticketworld.com.ph