Ghosts of Martial Law Past, and Present
HOW do you add a touch of whimsy, humor, and emotion to the dark period of the Marcos regime? Why, through song, of course. A Game of Trolls (taking its title from HBO program Game of Thrones), is the Philippine Educational Theater Association’s ( PETA) musical response to the harsh vitriolic comments spilled all over social media, which reached a fever pitch during the 2016 elections. This is the production’s third iteration, following one in December 2016, and one last summer.
A Game of Trolls follows the story of Heck ( Hector, played alternately by Myke Salomon and TJ Valderama), a paid “troll” on social media, one of many, led by Sir Bimbam ( Vince Lim), whose clean looks makes him believable as a pampered child of Marcos cronies. In a twist, Heck turns out to be the child of activist and Martial Law human rights victim Tere (played alternately by Upeng Galang- Fernandez and Gail Guanlao-Billones), who was forced to abandon Hector due to her devotion to her cause. This embittered Heck towards the Left, which is why he helped establish Bimbam’s troll network and fake news web site, Strongman Rule Rules, which praises the deeds of the late dictator.
Heck is joined by his friends, Makisig ( Lemuel Silvestre and Joseph Madriaga alternating), Jude ( Kiki Baento), and his love interest, an activist named Cons (Gold VillarLim), who are unaware of his apologist stripe. Heck’s officemates assist him in spreading lies about the Marcos regime, specializing in fighting with people on comments sections on Facebook. Due to Heck’s actions, several figures from the fight against the Marcos dictatorship visit him from beyond the grave, including murdered country doctor Bobby de la Paz (Gilbert Onida), writer and poet Eman Lacaba ( alternately John Moran and Juan Miguel Severo), activist Ed Jopson ( Norbs Portales), indigenous peoples leader Macli-ing Dulag (Roi Calilong, Jasper Jimenez), and Sister Mariani Dimaranan ( Ada Tayao). Two anonymous women also join this troupe: a victim of the Escalante massacre (the 1985 protest in Negros’ sugarland that was violently dispersed by the government’s paramilitary groups), and a victim killed during one of Imelda Marcos’ demolition projects. They show him what it was really like to live, fight, then die for a cause, which the willfully blind Heck pins simply on a recalcitrance towards government, as opposed to a genuine desire for change.
Sounds like heavy stuff — it is — but just as much as tears might flow from the sheer pathos of the situation, tears of laughter just might roll down your cheeks as you watch A Game of
Trolls, which runs for the whole month of September. For example, a man in drag with long hair, a baseball cap, and a skimpy camouflage top (doesn’t that just remind you of Asec. Margaux “Mocha” Uson?) makes an appearance during a torture scene, where techniques used by soldiers against activists and persons of interest were tried on Hector — via a game show format. Moments that could have been quite heavy- handed ( such as a keyboard battle between the trolls and the people online) end somehow on a light note, showing the trolls with egg on their face (and hilariously, one troll driven insane by her typing and ends up barking like a dog on the floor). The final song, after all, is a rap battle between the trolls and the millennials. Moments of sweetness that appeal to young audiences are brought to the stage by Heck and Cons also provide some lightheartedness.