"I got teary-eyed during the show, not because of the dramatic scenes but because the musical somehow manages to encapsulate what's going on in our country right now. Contrary to what most articles have said about Rak of Aegis, it is not just about the Filipino people's resilience in the midst of calamities and our perpetual need to sing eardrum-splitting karaoke that can be heard barangay-wide. Rak of Aegis is everything Filipino, which includes our bad side. There's poverty. Corrupt, wealthy people who mistreat the weak and the less fortunate. The "I'll buy an expensive living room rug for show and so I could feel good about myself, but won't let guests at my house step on it" attitude. Our inclination toward get-rich-quick schemes, which in today's Facebook and YouTube age have been replaced by get-viral-and-hopefully-rich-thereafter-quick schemes. Our tendency to turn handicaps (e.g the flooding in the story) into emotional crutches (e.g. something we can milk for all it's got so we can earn money). And our penchant for looking toward the government for solutions, sometimes rightly so but more often than not incorrectly when we can be the solutions ourselves.
But yes, there's also a lot of good in the musical's being everything Filipino. Our creativity and resourcefulness. Our love for social media and music. Close family ties. Pride. Unity in times of desperate need, particularly when our community or country is being taken advantage of by someone from the outside. Our great sense of humor. The title itself—a pun on the hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages—shows our sharp wit and knack for copying or imitating stuff, which is not necessarily a bad thing because having been conquered many times, it is quite understandable for our country to be once in a while confused with its own identity...just as long as in the end we get back to being sure of who we are. Aside from the title pun, however, everything else about Rak of Aegis is original. I hope we could create more plays of this sort in the future."
Read the whole article here:
http://www.leeflailmarch.com/2014/06/rak-of-aegis-rerun.html
PETA's RAK OF AEGIS (Rerun)
Aug 9, 2014 | Saturday | 3PM | PETA Theater
Ticket Prices: P1200, P1000, P800
For reservations and inquiries, contact:
Jayme del Rosario 0927.202.2017
Buena Elizondo 0917.888.7179
