Review: Selda Senakulo

Selda Senakulo concluded with us, the audience together with the cast and the crew light each other's candles to place them beneath the crosses of Christ and the two criminals. In one single instance, the line drawing who was an audience and who was a performer was erased. In one single instance those who were “free” and those deprived of liberty mingled, as guests and inmates performed together whether in ritual or in theater. That was a most fitting ending.

Beyond that, was Selda Senakulo another of your usual holy week life of Christ story? and did it stand out just because it was staged inside a prison and acted out by inmates?

Like Octopus Woman, some of the story of the inmates were juxtaposed with the play’s narrative of the Octopus Woman, but this time, with that of Christ. This is not so hard to imagine if we take a moment to consider that being crucified was a form of punishment for criminals or enemies of the state.

Having already seen Octopus woman, I though I won't be as moved as I was when I get to hear their side of the story again. But it was still a struggle to keep your manly tears from falling. Others were already crying.

However, that was only a small part of the play, and Selda Senakulo was less of that and more of visual feast than the previous production. There is no drought of colours and shapes and many times I thought I was observing a moving painting. Perhaps this was due to the fact that the director and probably some of the cast are visual artists as well.

One favorite of mine is the last supper with the apostles carrying welding masks and the action would stop, slow and proceed time and again. All the visual elements blended together just right, the costume, the make-up, helped to make this portrait and many others memorable.

But the added element that completed, and one could say dictated the atmosphere was the music. You see, while the last supper was happening before our eyes, John Lennon’s Imagine was on. And if you know the lyrics to that you could see both a rhythm and a dissonance to what you are seeing and to what you are listening to.

A live performance of Ave Maria coupled with the music of Lenoard Cohen and Beethoven among many others all served to build the atmosphere and heighten what others called the sensory experience of Selda Senkulo.

Of course, no amount of costume and music could save a production if the acting was not in sync.

Standout performances and crowd favorites were the cast who played the guard who lashed the lord -  not only did Christ’s skin being lashed sounded real but also the gleeful act of the guard doing it did so. Masterful could be said to that of the cast who played Pilate, offering a comic relief but with serious social commentary done in a powerful voice. Of course, any production about Christ would not be a success if Christ himself was not doing his part well. The actor how played Christ was a natural. From the moment he was revealed to the moment he was crucified, Christ was Christ.

The rest of the crew did their parts beautifully even during times of adversity. I could remember two mishaps on the stage, and no one looked all too startled when they happened.   

All in all echoing what Anton Ego said in Ratatouille:

"not everyone can become a great artist but a great artist can come from anywhere"

With proper guidance

I believe the real magic of Direct Angelo Aurelio’s work is how he manages to bring out the best out of his cast. For sure there is an audition and some of the inmates might have had previous theater experience but this is the third that I have watched of his work and the first one that I did proved that even without a theater background, anyone under the guidance of direct Gelo embraces that stage as if they were born there.

This extends the scope of his work from being a playwright, from a director, from an artist to whatever you call anyone who transforms others to perform to their best of abilities - a teacher?

Naturally, the production was not perfect. I thought the message about theater prior to the play was misplaced. While we were waiting for it to start, the guards and the virgins were already walking around to the sound of Leonard Cohen. The stage was set, so to speak, and yet before it started a message was read about the role of the theater. Thankfully, when the music resumed, we were able to get back on track.

I also wished some narrative elements could have been explored further, but that is just coming from a big fan of the musical Jesus Christ superstar. So for those worrying if the play was sacrilegious. It wasn’t. It is more of the many Christs, Judasses, that abound the present day. And how we have condemned them, betrayed them and played a part in their crucifixion.

These are minor gripes, nothing that could take away from what was already a complete experience.  

Congratulations to the whole crew and cast of Selda Senakulo!