Cover Photo By Benildean Press Corps
Cover Photo By Benildean Press Corps.

Darkness into light


Shadows are often taken for granted.


By Benildean Press Corps | Wednesday, 11 June 2014

Shadows are often taken for granted. Sure, you can use them to pull off crazy good pranks, but the real challenge is in using them to tell inspiring stories. And rise above the challenge, Karilyo did, in their Summer Training and Artist Recruitment (STAR) shadowplay recital “Kwentong Karilyo” last June 9 at the Augusto-Rosario Gonzalez (ARG) Theater.

 

Students, professors, staff, and guests alike gathered around the ARG Theater to see the much-awaited recital. The doors opened to a colorful walkway leading to a circular space, enclosed by panels draped with black and white cloths. Soft lights welcomed the audience. After singing the National Anthem, the viewers were treated to a video dedicated to the late contemporary artist, Don Salubayba, who had been Karilyo’s adviser for a year.

 

An amusing, quirky silhouette of three magicians performing tricks opened the show. The silhouette-magicians would go on after every segment of the recital, delighting the audience with acts of beheading, floating objects, and disappearance.

 

First up was Munting Jose, a performance about our national hero’s early life. This performance highlighted the creation of his first poem, “Sa Aking Mga Kababata”, and the famous story about his slippers. The execution, admittedly, was a little slow, with awkward pauses every now and then, but otherwise, this was a great introduction to the rest in store.

 

Up next was Tres, a modern take on Jesus’s life as a child. A school outcast, the kid JC wondered about God and why people often went against His will. Despite the negative influence around him, he continued to carry out acts of kindness. Students in the audience were delighted to find that the story took place in the College, allowing them to further immerse themselves in the narrative. This kind of involvement hinted at so much potential which, if pursued, could bring a lot of attention to future projects of the organization.

 

Before the third and final performance commenced, another intermission took place—one where audience members were brought back to their younger years. With the help of Karilyo members, viewers got reacquianted with folding paper planes. As an added bonus, the audience was given the chance to test them out afterwards, filling the theater with figments of childhood against a backdrop of fantastical music.

 

All of this, however, was just in preparation for the adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince. The well-loved elements of the classic story were all present, from the elephant-swallowing boa constrictor to the Little Prince’s special rose. This shadowplay was the highlight of the show—where for the first two, it seemed as if Karilyo was just warming up, this last segment achieved near-perfect execution. Unfortunately, there was still the issue of the terrible voice acting (that plagued the entire show). Nonetheless, the audience members were moved when they were reminded of the famous line, “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” There could have been no better way to end the show.

 

The performances, despite having some points for improvement, were definitely worth watching. The talented crew behind the production came to the stage, receiving thunderous applause from the enthusiastic crowd. That, inarguably, was the mark of a new era—one where shadows would no longer be just areas that light could never reach, but shapers of society—one whose legacies will continue to live on from one generation to the next.

 

 

 

Last updated: Wednesday, 2 June 2021