AP Presents: LARO ni Floy Quintos

Parte ng celebration ng Gay Pride Month ang pagsasadula ng buhay kabaklaan sa entablado sa pamamagitan ng isang adaptasyon na gawa ni Floy Quintos hango sa likha ni Arthur Schnitzler na La Ronde – ang LARO.

This photo is from the files of Paul Jake Paule

Gay Pride na nga kabaklaan pa all in one sentence, masyado bang redundant?  Well, wala kayong magagawa doon kasi buwan ng celebrasyon ng mga baklush, ateng, sistah, acheng, sister soul, bakla, bakla, bakla. Laban? J J

This 10 men cast is set to simply present what gay life is all about, past, present and definitely not yet the future.  In other words, eto ay ano ang buhay bading noon at ngayon; ang bukas ay bukas na siya namang ipapasilip sa atin sa Roses for Ben – ang kasunod na production ng Artist Playground for the month of June.  Ang LARO ay nagpapakita kung ano ang buhay ng isang bading . . .bading na nagmahal, nasaktan, ginamit, gumamit, nagpagamit, nagtatago, social climber at jaded.  Lahat ng ito ay itinali at pinagdugtong ng sex – the act hindi kasarian.  Oo, sex is one common factor when it comes to gay life, maliban sa luha.

The sex factor is very much clear on how the play was presented. From 1^st scene till the end, sex is present and active.  It comes in the form of pleasure and/or punishment.  It is up to you watchers to connect to either aspect.  Each character in the play represents a particular type of individual in the gaydom.  A gay who wanted love (the TV, the Student and the Model), another uses it for power and domination (the User-Lover, the Ideal Lover, the Cop), while there are those who simply goes with the flow as portrayed by the Writer and the Callboy.  Unfortunately, there are some who falls into this category of being gay – a category formed by being bruised, battered and realistic; that of being jaded (the Philanthropist).  Maging ano ka pa at maging sino ka man, welcome sa pagiging bakla. Sa hindi bading, eto po ang realidad ng mundo ng mga ka sister soul, welcome at maraming salamat.

Sabi ko nga, connect na lang kayo sa  eksena at character.  Pwedeng tumawa, pwedeng mapailing, pwedeng tumahimik at lalo-lalo ng pwedeng magcomment –discreetly lang teh at baka nasa loob ka pa ng tanghalan.  Basta sigurado ako na pwedeng magreact. 

10 scenes:10 actors
All from LARO

During the press preview, the production people admitted that there would be some adjustments still to be made, adjustments such as additional music and a little pick-up of pace.  There were some noticeable props traffic challenges, not distracting but definitely needs to be addressed to make things more fluid thus cutting time.  The actors were either comfortable in the own skin or not.  Since this is a semi-stripping kind of stage production, one has to be confident with his skin as his clothes.  I would like to give credit to Gio Gahol who portrayed the role of the User-Lover.  He may not be physically molded to perfection but he was comfortable with his skin and shape that his appeal shows as demanded by his role.  

Since we are at the topic of discussing the performance of the actors then I might as well do things the right way . . .gracefully.  I know not what the challenge of bringing a production to its desired performance level but unfortunately it took 2 scenes before the play truly took flight.  Ano nangyari?  MaMeMiMoMu.  Siguro, a little consistency on how some scenes and characters are to be treated.  Why do I say this?  Imagine this, a domineering person suddenly assumed a sexual position that shows surrender after a bout of dominance (Scene 1 till Scene 2). Doesn’t paint clearly right?  The perfect display of dominance was shown in the 3^rd scene.  The manipulation of the user. The submissiveness of the bottom.  The blowjob eksena sa dressing room which is a clear display of who’s who in control.  Now that is consistency!  Kaso pumitik si TV, biglang loss si User-Lover.  Well that is life, maging bading ka man o hindi – basta nang gamit ka.  Pagpumitik na ang ginamit mo, sana handa ka na maging Luz Valdez ng biglaan.  How about, the bedroom scene?  Sana hindi ka  na lang nagmake-up kung buburahin mo lang din naman on-stage.  Yes, there were smudges of make-up on the pad used.  Sayang ang make-up at effort sa paglagay.  Another actor  worth commendable is Vincent De Jesus.  How I love his way of dropping lines and ad libs (inamin niya na may mga ad libs siya) which doesn’t show as one.  His wit is reflected with his portrayal.  Jaded his role may be but behind the scenes he is one individual full of hope.

As a whole, nakakatuwa ang prodduksyon na ito kasi it only show things the way it is.  No pretensions.  No painted aspirations.  Simple truth.  Yun lang at pawing yun lang.  Maaring may magsabi na hindi gaano alam ang mundo ng kabaklaan ng:  “Ganoon pala kayong mga bakla.  Puro sex.” (Maraming salamat Evo sa linya!)  Masakit ba?  Pero totoo naman di ba?  Isa lang ang sagot ko dyan . . .

“Malaki ang pagkakaiba ng may libog sa malibog.”

Take the play as it is.  Then try to look for the undertones.  Then use the undertones as additional shades in the story as you remember it.  Then now you see the play for what it is.  You then get to see the life of gaydom in its harsh true colors.  Yan ang mundo ng LARO.