Shock Value at U.P. Diliman
I watched the play Shock Value at the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines. It is a satire on “Talk TV” in the Philippines. And what can I say? It’s super entertaining (I was laughing a good number of times throughout the play), and the actors were fantastic (makes me wonder why some soap operas and movies still tolerate bad actors while we have so many really talented ones). The actors who play the characters Elbert (teen talent search winner) and Jason (male prostitute) are winners in the face value category — and they surprisingly act so well ha! Two thumbs up to Shock Value! Great job, Floy Quintos, Alex Cortez, and the cast!
While the play opens with two men having sex, it’s the only erotic, if we can even call it that, scene in the play.
(Synopsis below is lifted, with some editing, from UP Diliman’s website, www.upd.edu.ph)
Reality TV, Talent Searches, Sensationalist Talk Shows, Sex Scandals, and exposes are the stuff that current television is made of. No wonder that playwright Floy Quintos and director Alex Cortez have teamed up to create a pointed satire on the state of the medium in their new play for Dulaang UP, Shock Value.
Described as a fable about “fame, television and redemption,” Shock Value takes a look at the current fascination for Shock television and the consequences of both TV practitioners and the audience. It is a story of Matt Desaparecidos, a man at the peak of his career at WOP TV as a host and producer of the hit program Shock Value. But Wes Gatchalian, a talk show host/reporter for a rival station, KOTV, captures on tape one sexual indiscretion of Matt with a young sex worker, Jason.
Thus starts Matt’s downward spiral. As he maneuvers to save himself, we meet the people whose lives he has affected and manipulated. Krista and her falsified painful past, Elbert and his dubious fame and the questionable sweetness of Little Tweety Girl and her Papa Dan.
Matt becomes the unwitting star of the spectacle he himself has masterminded. In the end, he is his own victim. Matt flees from the known world into a small island off the coast of Quezon.
This island introduces him to the hospitalities of Ka Temi, and his simple but eager granddaughter, Nogina, whose voice shakes Matt to realize what he missed all his life: the gift of solitude and contentment.
Both networks finally discover his little sanctuary, and hound him for his side of the story, tempting him with all the old glitz of Matt’s past, and then some. Matt’s decision sends the last shock for the audience, saving his last shred of dignity and sanity.
The cast includes Andoy Ranay, Jay Cruz, Missy Maramara, Pola Munoz, Stella Canete, Frances Makil-Ignacio, Dexter Santos, Jomari Jose, with Mario Magallona and Mon Confiado, and the Dulaang UP Ensemble.
Shock Value runs from August 30-31, 7 p.m., September 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15, 7 p.m.; September 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, 2nd floor, Palma Hall, UP Diliman.
For inquiries, contact the Dulaang UP Office at 926-1349.
The play’s eye candies –
Faust, the guy in the pic, plays Elbert Gomez, the “babaw-babawan” teen actor in Shock Value. Don’t worry about the pic here (which I got from his Friendster profile) — he is much better looking in person. By the way he was also the one who designed the set.
Justin, a member of the Viva Hot Men, plays Jason, the male prostitute. Justin’s understudy is Patrick Valera who I heard is also a looker.
Possibly Related Entries:
- Oblation Run in UP Diliman
- A Couple More RoXXXanne Tix
- Pink Saturdays in UP Diliman
- Dennis Trillo, are you one of us?
- Inside the Mind of a Star Masseur 2
- Pride Manila Chorus Auditions
- UP Film Institute screens Troika
- Confused Gay, with a girlfriend
April 12th, 2007 at 6:27 am
Eeek, yikes Faust is no eye candy.
May 1st, 2007 at 5:56 am
I used to have a crush on Faust. Used to. Now, I grew up, got a job, and decided that crushes are for high school kids. I didn’t realize that while I was in college! I had to get a job before I realized that!