Theater Review: Finding the Silver Lining in Silver Lining
The intentions were good.
(SPOT.ph) Silver Lining brands itself as a "new musical of hope and redemption" with themes of fighting misinformation and standing up for the truth. And in the current political landscape, it's a promise you'd want to hold on to. For this intention alone, I hoped I liked it more. However, finding the silver lining in Silver Lining was as uneasy as going through the narrative that was dragging too long.
The musical, produced by Jack Teotico of Rockitwell Studios and Jay Gloriso of MusicArtes, only has a six-show run within two weekends from October 20 to 29 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati. Tickets are still available through Ticket2Me.
Synopsis of Silver Lining
Silver Lining is loosely based on the life of Jack Teotico, owner and president of Galerie Joaquin. The musical's music and lyrics are his, after all. The book is by Joshua Lim So, who incidentally got news this week that he will receive his 10th Palanca Award for the early draft of Silver Lining—minus the songs—titled Atin ang Panahon. "Though this version is different from the one currently running, they have the same spirit," the playwright said in a post.
The musical direction is by Vince Lim (Walang Aray), while the overall direction is by Maribel Legarda (Rak of Aegis).
Silver Lining straddles two timelines: the present, where Leo (Ricky Davao), Anton (Joel Nuñez), and Raul (Raul Montesa) are well into their senior years and looking forward to their high school reunion; and the past, which is set in the '70s, where their younger versions—played by Albert Silos, Noel Comia Jr., and Jay Cortez—are dealing with high school and college life during tumultuous times. The present timeline also includes Leo's daughter, Dalai (Maronne Cruz); Leo's grandson, Mart (Shaun Ocrisma); and Anton's son Rico (Jep Go).
Theater Review of Silver Lining
Production
The shift in time in Silver Lining is achieved through a play-within-a-play structure. It was as if the audience members were part of the cast members' production within the production. In fact, at some point, they break the fourth wall and shine the spotlight on the audience—probably to drive a point, bordering on being cliché.
Music and Lyrics
In an interview with ANCX, Teotico narrated that the songs for Silver Lining were created over the past years when he rediscovered his passion for the guitar. Each piece has its story. "Julia," for example, is a "generic song" about a guy meeting the girl of his dreams. "Bakuran" is about their fun soirees with the girls from St. Paul, St. Scholastica, and Maryknoll when he was still a high school student at La Salle Greenhills. "Atin To, Atin ang Panalo" is a celebratory anthem about the UP Men's Basketball Team's win at the UAAP.
In a sense, having the songs before the book somehow makes Silver Lining a jukebox musical. The problem with jukebox musicals is that they're a hit-or-miss, especially when melding a set of songs to match the story. It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle; only the puzzle pieces are of different colors, and none of them match. It takes a genius to fit them together.
We've seen this succeed in the likes of Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!, which incidentally has a similar story of college students dealing with political struggles in the '70s. But sometimes, when you put a whole discography with albums of different concepts, it's hard to make them into a cohesive narrative.
This is what happened with Silver Lining. While there's no rule about having different song genres in one musical, the show's music went in all directions. In the end, you can feel the heavy-handedness to make the pieces fit.
Desaparasido as a Plot Twist
The show starts with a bright and shiny song. And at the center of it all is Leo, who laments the fact that his band's performance for the upcoming homecoming is being cut down to just a few songs. Along with Anton and his wife, Josie (Nenel Arcayan), and their kids, they decide to put up a musical to showcase their life as high school and college students in the '60s and '70s. The behind-the-scenes of the production unfolds and things start to go sideways when Raul finds out that they're including the story of a certain Julia (Krystal Brimner).
Obviously representing the society's troll farms (and/or cronies), Raul goes on to change the script, gets rid of Julia's tragic story, and presents only good parts of their narrative. Dalai, Mart, and Rico—who represent the millennial and, supposedly, the "woke" generation—get fed up and deal with the situation in their own middle-class ways: eating out at a samgyup restaurant.
After an arguably out-of-place detective sketch of where Julia is, the story reveals that Julia was raped, kidnapped, and killed by the Philippine Constabulary during Marcos' Martial Law.
Finally, a silver lining: The truth has come out, and they can move on.
Funnily enough, this "move on na lang" chant comes from the likes of Raul, who wants to erase and change our history. And yet, Silver Lining's resolution is exactly that. Never mind that the desaparasido bit became a plot twist. Never mind that the truth is tragic. Never mind that no one was held accountable. Find the silver lining and move on.
Silver Lining runs until October 29 at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. Tickets, priced from P1,500 to P5,000, are available through Ticket2Me.
Also read:
Theater in Manila: Shows to See Onstage From October to December
Here's How Much Tickets to Miss Saigon in Manila Cost