Senakulo gets digital visual effects in Tondo

MANILA, Philippines — A youth theater group in Tondo, Manila has modernized the senakulo (Lenten play) by rendering the life, suffering and death of Jesus Christ through visual effects.

Don Bosco Youth Center staged the play for the third time in three years yesterday, Easter Sunday, at the St. John Bosco Parish, with a white screen as backdrop upon which digital renditions of Biblical episodes were projected.

For P10 per ticket, the audience watched Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Noah in his ark, Moses parting the Red Sea, and the life and death of Jesus Christ.

The digital senakulo was staged for the first time two years ago, breathing new life to biblical narratives to keep up with the times, production manager Jeffry Bago told The STAR.

Don Bosco Youth, however, was careful not to put too much premium on digitizing the senakulo. Instead, they focused on a “faith-based” rendition of the passion of Jesus, in order to evangelize their mostly young audience, said the group.

“The visual effects are a great help, especially because the audience tend to look for more visuals and are more imaginative. We have to adapt to the modern times although what we are after is to evangelize through this modern technology,” Bago said.

Jeffrey Francis, portraying Jesus Christ for the sixth time, claimed he wasn’t religious in the beginning. He said he is now concerned about his spiritual wellbeing.

Francis said the visual effects made the ascension of Christ even more dramatic, as these gave the audience the illusion that he was levitating to the sky.

John Rovic Ngo, as the archangel Gabriel, was excited about how his wings must have looked to the audience as he delivered the news to Mary that she would give birth to Jesus.

During the temptation of Christ, the devil transformed into different horrific beasts, again through digital effects, according to actor Christopher Fortades.

Next year, the group eyes hologram technology to up the ante in showing Jesus’ life and death, said Francis Topia, who plays Judas Iscariot and has been a sekularista (senakulo actor) since he was 12.

The annual senakulo serves as an invitation to Christians who long to return to the light of Jesus, Topia added.

The digital imagery was made possible through the academic and technical knowhow of director Redentor Bernardino, who teaches motion graphics at De La Salle College of St. Benilde.

The parish first staged the senakulo 50 years ago, with simple props and materials.