Soulprints - Amyline Quien Ching

Wry Spell

A fun and ‘pun-ful’ play takes a stab at society’s obsession over winning
By Amyline Quien Ching

(I simply loved this play, laughed right 'til the end. I would readily recommend people to watch it. I heard that their cheapest tickets are already sold out!)

Sitting through a Spelling Bee competition brings you back to those ego-deflating days when your only dilemma in life is whether the word DILEMMA has two Ms and when not knowing what the heck SOMNIFACIENT means, can send you over the edge (of reason or of sleep, you choose!)

The local version of the Tony Award-winning musical— the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee— pretty much relives (and at its ending relieves) those feelings: frustration over not knowing the correct spelling; insecurity that you are not smart enough; and despondency over losing. This latest stage offering from Atlantis Production however spells it F-U-N-N-Y, what with the hilarious antics of its characters, all in the throes of infantile regression.

It follows the adventures of six pubescent kids as they wrack their brains— and uhh… their toes— out for double Ps and silent Hs in ridiculously archaic words that died with the Mayans. Between stage catatonia and catharsis, these teeners will figure out not only how to spell the adolescent wor(l)d but also find the Is and the M-Es in the process.

LIGHT AND HEAVY

Sounds heavy? Don’t get it wrong. Spelling Bee is a comedy. But like many plays with great scripts, each rip-roaring scene also rips at the heart. Its characters each grapples with societal issues that are often ignored or at the very least sublimated. Perhaps, this is what makes this show worth watching: how life’s painful truths are presented in painfully funny ways, leaving the audience wiser about the world but not weary of it. Besides with kids— as opposed to adults— going through these issues, you will leave your seat jaded but hopeful that they will outgrow their idiosyncrasies and come out the victor in life, if not in the competition.

One of them Leaf Coneybear struggles for self-acceptance and opines at how he can survive the finals when his parents don’t think he’s any good in English. His soliloquy “I’m not that Smart” suggests how adults can be harsh in their judgment just because their kids do not fit the right mold.

Like Leaf, Loggainne Schwartzandgrubenierre also strives for acceptance, caught in the personal battle of her gay parents for social acceptance. Their idea of great parenting is lodged on their adopted daughter’s many accomplishments.

Some however found acceptance totally overrated like Marcy Parks whose early overachieving ways gave rise to underachievement. Her rebellion is a jibe on parental expectation and on how winning doesn’t always equate to being a winner and that losers can be winners too.

There are also characters who are just simply reflections of issues that are entrenched in society. Defending champ Chip Tolentino, for instance, is a textbook case of an adolescent taken aback by the ummm… ups and downs of adolescent lust. His exuberance merited him an early exit. And there is Olive Ostrovsky, a speller that most children with OFW parents can identify with. A poster child for neglected kids, she yearns for a mother working abroad and a father too busy to even attend the Bee.

And who can forget William Barfee, whose “magic foot” took him to the finals? He parodies the stereotypical geek whose inane social skills, weird ways and passive-aggressive behavior make him a loser despite winning competitions upon competitions.
How about the adult adjudicators who are grappling with their own adolescent issues?

WHAT SPELLS DIFFERENTLY

Like many musicals in recent years, viewers can expect a gamut of drama on and off the stage. One actor will be running through the aisles while another will point to you as if you are part of the play. This modern format allows for more audience interaction and extends the stage down to the crowd.

Spelling Bee however puts a different ‘spell’ into the format by allowing the audience to participate in the competition onstage. Take note that this will not be scripted. They will not know what words they will be asked to spell. There will even be celebrity spellers. Thus no show is the same; each run, written differently by the audience themselves.

Director Bobby Garcia is however quick to assure the audience that they will not be picking participants in random to come onstage but rather would ask for volunteers before the show starts. Usually those who are confident of not incurring their elementary teachers’ wrath bravely raise their hands.

In Spelling Bee’s run in other countries, directors have actually had to invent words just to eliminate volunteers. Some, like screen legend Julie Andrews of Sound of Music fame, are given stumping words like “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” which ironically was a word derived from a song that the actress sang in the movie, Mary Poppins.

ANYTHING BUT CHILD-LIKE

In the heart of this unpredictable script is a paradox that makes for an interesting show: adult issues seen from the eyes of its young characters, who are portrayed by adults. Balance however is crucial. Too heavy material ages the play while inappropriate portrayal can turn it into a mockery. This is, agrees stage actor Felix Rivera who plays Chip Tolentino, where the challenge lies. Actors must be careful not to cross that thin line between acting like a child and “acting out” like a child. From the looks of its first run in RCBC Plaza, it indeed struck that balance.

Despite being largely a play about kids, Spelling Bee is anything but kiddie. Behind the thin veil of a kids competition lies a core theme that takes a stab at issues disregarded as trivial and taunts at society’s jaundiced eyes. It portrays kids as strong beings, able to get past their neuroticisms, which ironically shown to be brought on by adults themselves. Even the competition itself is a parody to society’s obsession with winners and losers and how sometimes winning is seen as the Bee-all and end all.

All these are however presented in a light and playful manner that does not detract from the seriousness of its message. Dialogues are simple but pack a wallop. Its funny and brilliant script plus the outstanding performance of its cast only serve to highlight what is not said. The use of language is fun and pun-ful, leaving the audience with something to think about long after the laughter has died.

And unlike its off-stage counterpart, Spelling Bee is sure worth the two hours of sitting through DILEMMAs and a SOMNIFACIENT experience. After all you don’t just learn how to spell these words, you also realize that not knowing does not necessarily make you a loser.

(Spelling Bee will have a repeat run from July 3 to 12 at the RCBC Auditorium. For more info, log on to www.atlantisproductionsinc.com.)

posted by Amyline Quien Ching @ 5:22 PM