Last February 15,2019, St.Francis of Assisi School proudly presented a show like no other namely, the “World Unknown”. The said stage play was held at the SFAS social hall. Behind the successful play were the “masters of theater” who put together the well-thought act and inspiring production. These people are: [no other than] Mr. Jose Manuel Aguas (director), Janna Elrica Alicaba (student director), and the actors & actresses in the theater club.
The theme of the show was Greek mythology, so let’s recall what Greek mythology is. It is the body of all the legends, myths and stories created by the ancient Greeks. It was used as the basis of their religious beliefs and practices. They believed that their gods had enormous powers and that they were able to control nature in all its forms. I interviewed the director, Mr. Aguas, with the question, “Why did you choose Greek mythology as your theme for the stage play?” He stated three reasons: first, he said he had never done it before and it was never been staged; second, he chose Greek mythology (specifically love) since it fitted in the month of love—February; lastly, since his cast comprised mainly of the Grade 10 students, he thought of applying their World Literature (which included Greek mythology) lessons in the play.
In the play, they presented different love stories, so let us elaborate further on these stories.
Echo & Narcissus
“Sometimes the person who is supposed to be yours,
just can’t be yours.”
The characters of Echo and Narcissus were played by Nina Dianne Dangcalan (Echo) and Edwin Dante Mortalla (Narcissus). So the story goes like this: Echo is a sexy young mountain nymph (a spirit who lives in the mountains) whose only downfall is that she talks too much. One afternoon, Hera comes looking for Zeus, afraid that he's out frolicking with the nymphs again. As it happens, Echo is on hand to stall Hera with mindless chatter so that Zeus can escape. But when Hera realizes that she's being played, she's not psyched. As a punishment, Hera takes away Echo's voice so that she is only able to repeat whatever she hears. One day, Narcissus comes out to hunt in the woods. As he looks for animals to prey on, Echo sees him and falls hopelessly in love with Narcissus, but because of Hera's curse, she can't say anything. Instead, Echo follows Narcissus around the forest, waiting for him to speak. As he talks, Echo repeats the words and jumps out of a bush, ready to get busy on the spot. But Narcissus is completely freaked out, and yells at Echo to stay away. They have a weird conversation and eventually become friends. One day, when Narcissus knew about Echo’s curse, he pities her and decides to help her break free. He leaves her for a moment and talks to Hera. After some time, Echo’s fellow nymphs see her an tell her that Narcissus had left her for good.
Devastated and hopeless, Echo cries until she slowly withers away—with her voice being the only thing left. When Narcissus returns, he ran thirsty and decides to drink from a riverbank. He kneels in the grass, stretching out his hands for a drink, and BAM. He catches sight of his reflection in the water and falls completely in love. He tries to talk to the image in the water but it never spoke a word. He never knew it was his own reflection. Tired, but still obsessed with the “image”, he lies down, hoping that the image would speak. Eventually, he tries to kiss it then dives into the water, and dies. The story of Echo & Narcissus is a perfect example of the quote, “Love stories don’t always have romances in it.”
Cupid & Psyche
“Love and the Soul had sought and, after sore trials, found each other; and that the union could never be broken.”
The second play was the story of Cupid and Psyche, played by Zenia Minxie Tabares (Psyche) and Justin Ice Esma (Cupid). Psyche was a very beautiful mortal—so beautiful that it made Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, jealous of her. Because of her envy, she instructed her son Cupid to tie Psyche’s fate to a vicious monster. As he was about to do it, he saw Psyche and struck himself with the arrow. That made him instantly in love with Psyche. The two were destined to wed. In the palace they were staying in, Psyche was so lonely; for her husband only visits her at night—plus the fact that she can’t see him because he told her not to look at his appearance. One day, when Psyche’s sisters visited her in the palace, they gave her instructions so Psyche could see his true face while he was asleep. That night, Psyche did what they told her—holding a lamp in her hand and knife in the other. She was amazed to see that her husband is the ever-so-handsome Cupid. Distracted by what she saw, a single drip of oil from the lamp spills onto Cupid’s face. He woke up, and, upon seeing the knife she held in her hands, Cupid was furious and flew away, telling Psyche that he would never come back. This made Psyche so depressed that she had to face the one and only Aphrodite just so she could see her husband. Aphrodite then tells her that she must prove her worth first before she could set eyes on Cupid again. She gave her three seemingly impossible tasks: to sort the seeds by nightfall, to give her a golden fleece, and [the most dangerous] to travel to the Underworld and ask for some of Persephone’s beauty. She completes the two tasks—with the help of Cupid (in secret). As she did her final task and was about to head back to Aphrodite, she thought maybe she could use some of Persephone’s beauty to make Cupid come back. When she opened the box containing the goddess’s beauty, she realized there was none and then fainted. Cupid was quick enough to help Psyche and struck her with his arrow to wake her up. When she opened her eyes, she was delighted to see her husband again. The two wed before the god Zeus, who gave Psyche some ambrosia which would make her immortal. And they lived happily ever after.
Pyramus & Thisbe
“Love, however, cannot be forbidden. The more that flame is
covered up, the hotter it burns. Love can always find a way.”
The third and last play was about the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, played by Janna Elrica Alicaba/Marcie Gentile (Thisbe) and Emmanuel Ednilan/Jarred Andrei Roden (Pyramus). Gentile & Roden played the lead roles during the matinee show, while Alicaba & Ednilan in the gala show. Pyramus and Thisbe are a couple of young Babylonians in love. Unfortunately, their families totally hate each other. The star-crossed lovers whisper sweet nothings through a crack in the wall that separates their houses, until they eventually can't take it anymore and decide to elope. But when Thisbe shows up under the mulberry tree where they're supposed to meet, a bloody-jawed lioness is hanging out there. Thisbe screams and runs, leaving her shawl behind. Pyramus arrives a little while later and finds the bloody lioness ripping apart the shawl. Uh oh—we can see where this is headed. Assuming Thisbe has been devoured, he stabs himself with his sword. Later, Thisbe returns, figures out the horrible thing that's happened, and stabs herself with Pyramus's sword, too. Although their story was tragic, their love was infinite.
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