Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA) Rak of Aegis is back for a sixth season run! Rak of Aegis a multi-awarded Filipino stage musical that celebrates the never-say-die spirit of the Filipinos, just like the PBA team Ginebra. Rak of Aegis shows Pinoys’ resilience, perseverance, passion, and humor in the face of poverty, kasawian sa pag-ibig, and the ever-present baha in the low-lying areas in the country, as told through the birit kung birit songs of Pinoy pop rock band, Aegis.
Rak of Aegis is written by Liza Magtoto and directed by Maribel Legarda. Musical direction and arrangement is done by the multi-hyphenated Myke Salomon.
For Rak of Aegis Rerun, please read Rak of Aegis. For another PETA play, please read FnL.
The show I watched is sponsored by UP Vanguard Incorporated. For UP Vanguard related activities, please read Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at CCP, Ihudyat! 2017, and UP Vanguard’s Luksang Parangal for Senator Miriam Defensor - Santiago.
The following is an edited version of a previous post about Rak of Aegis. I have watched this play four times now. My favorite character is Tolits. My love for him is “sintamis ng wine, sintatag ng sunshine”.
The audience of Rak of Aegis is greeted by a stage that looks like it is taken straight out of TV Patrol or 24 Oras. The stage is dominated by a skillfully contained flood, flanked on either side by the house of Aileen (Shaira Opsimar) and the sari-sari store of colorful personality Joel/Jewel (Jimmy Marquez who played Joel/Jewel in three of the shows I have watched), Aileen’s best friend while the background shows miniature houses. While waiting for the play to start, we hear Myke Salomon’s voice telling us theater etiquette and our (fun) punishment if we violate any of them.
Rak of Aegis is set in Barangay Venezia, an area plagued by knee-deep floodwater for three months. It started when a subdivision was built near Barangay Venezia. The flood has affected the shoe-making business of barangay captain Mary Jane (Sweet Plantado) that employs her ex-boyfriend Kiel (OJ Mariano) and his wife Mercy (Joann Co).
The financial problems of the couple affect their daughter Aileen, who is helpless due to her nonexistent salary as a saleslady who earns on a commission basis. She wants to augment their income by appearing on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and hopefully earn US $10,000 in the process. She thinks that a YouTube video can help her achieve her goal.
With the help of Kenny (Remus Villanueva), the son of Mary Jane, she shoots a video under the pouring rain. Yes, real droplets of water fall from the ceiling of the theater. Unfortunately, in the middle of a melee, the camera falls into the flood. All of these happened while Tolits (Joshua Bulot), the funny boatman with a shady past, looks forlorn while admiring Aileen from a distance. One of my favorite parts of the play is the bubble scene that features Aileen and Tolits. It is a simple but very clever stunt. It makes one feel like a blushing teenager once again.
Throughout the play, the characters go on with their lives and treat the flood like their next-door neighbor. Will Aileen’s voice become her ticket to stardom and financial security? Will Aileen end up with Kenny or will Tolits’ hirits endear him to the budding singer? Who is Fernan Ganda y Revilla (Rody Vera), the man in immaculate white who appears to be the savior of Barangay Venezia? Is it really over between Kiel (which is short for kilabot ng mga chicks) and Mary Jane?
These questions are answered in the second act. Tolits earns his chance to shoot a video of Aileen singing and what do you know, it rains again! The video turns her into an instant celebrity and Barangay Venezia and its extra feature – the flood, as parts of the main attractions. Everybody except for Kiel is excited about and is supportive of Aileen’s concert. The proceeds will fund the building of a barangay health center, which is greatly needed at that point because Mercy has leptospirosis.
Joel/Jewel auditions as Aileen’s front act. He performs a doble-cara number that wows the crowd. It is one of the most applauded numbers in the show. Kiel and Fernan have a showdown singing Mary Jane. OJ Mariano’s air guitar number does not compare that of Robert Seña’s in the first two reincarnations of Rak of Aegis, but Mariano commands the stage like he is born to play Kiel. In the background is Vera, his hip walking stick and his powerful voice that makes one take notice of him. Meanwhile, the rivalry between Kenny and Tolits intensifies as Aileen slightly veers towards Tolits. They decide to settle their differences. When Tolits lift his shirt up to expose his Greek-god sculpted midsection, half the people inside the theater shriek with delight while the other half collectively drop their jaws open and drool. As the shock subsides, everybody applauds loudly and whistles.
On the day of the concert, the city government finally sends a team to drain the flood. A debate whether or not they will allow the drainage of the flood occurs. On one hand, it is part of the concert promotion and people buy the tickets partly to experience the flood. On the other hand, without the flood they will have a collective peace of mind that no one will have leptospirosis and they can set foot on solid ground again. And there is more singing and dancing.
Rak of Aegis is a good example of art imitating life as it showcases the resiliency of the Filipinos—the people whose spirits are forged by the fire of Mordor. This spirit prompts us to rise like a phoenix after a typhoon or an earthquake, with a smile on our lips and hope in our eyes. It also touches on the inefficiency of the government leaders in solving the problems of their constituents posthaste. This ineptitude or general apathy of our elected officials forces the people to act on their own and grasp at straws to survive.
The sixth run of Rak of Aegis is a complete production, just like the first five. It is replete with talented artists, has a tightly written script with infinite witty remarks, a stage that gives the audience a virtual feel of the flood and rain, and songs that are ingeniously arranged to highlight the voice of the actors and to suit the storyline.
The Rak of Aegis ensemble is made up of Abigail Sulit, Gold Villar-Lim, Crystal Paras, Roi Calilong, Gio Gahol, and Chamyto Aguedan. They are the ka-barangay, Kenny’s basketball teammates, Aileen’s co-workers at the department store, the mannequins with high-pitched voice at the department store, and the bodyguards of Fernan, among other things. These versatile artists do it all.
Rak of Aegis runs for 2 hours and 20 minutes with a 10-minute interval between acts.
The sixth season of Rak of Aegis will rock our world and our sanity from June 20, 2018 to September 2, 2018.
*Rak of Aegis tickets. Ticket prices (may vary):
VIP – P2,000.00 (US $37.55)
Orchestra Center – P1,800.00 (US $33.80)
Orchestra Side – P1,500.00 (US $28.16)
Balcony Center – P1,600.00 (US $30.04)
Balcony Side – P900.00 (US $16.90)
*US $1.00 = P53.26
For enquiries and ticket reservations, contact PETA Marketing and Public Relations Office at (02) 725 – 6244 or Ticketworld at (02) 891 – 9999.
For more information, please visit http://petatheater.com/shows/rak-of-aegis-rerun/ or ticketworld.com.ph.