Games theater people play
March 11, 2005 | 12:00am
Tomorrow, March 12, Ragnarok players from Manila, Cebu and Davao will lay down their weapons and leave the world of Rune Midgard for a while to watch Ragnarok’s new game episode, Amatsu and Kunlun: A Tale of Two Cities unfold – in the real world this time.
Coming alive right before their very eyes are Episode 6’s characters Shosuro Ran, Li Yang Fei and Willow via a theatrical show mounted by Audie Gemora’s Stages Productions. This will be the first time that a popular computer game will be performed onstage in the country and by a roster of talented thespians at that.
Novel the material may be, Audie and company are quite excited by this project and didn’t think twice about staging it. "First of all, it has a good following. Its players, both kids and adults, are already emotionally involved with the characters," says Audie. He adds that, like other successful musicals or plays, Amatsu and Kunlun is based on a good story. But don’t expect any singing or dancing in this play, but brace yourselves to watch actors – who have made a name acting in musicals – perform stunts and do fight scenes just like in the game.
Featuring two new oriental-themed maps, a super novice job class and introducing the wedding system (which allows players to get married online and play as a couple), Amatsu and Kunlun has a soap opera-ish plot and cliffhanger of an ending. It’s a love triangle featuring Shoguro Tan (the prince of Amatsu), Li Yang Fei (the princess of Kunlun and Ran’s fiancee), and Willow, a mysterious female assassin who saves Ran’s life.
Based on a story written by Level Up!’s community and web content manager Ramon Macutay and his team, Episode 6 has an eastern setting this time. "We decided to have the setting in Japan and China because these two countries have the biggest number of Ragnarok players," says Macutay, who had to work with a very loose synopsis sent from Korea to be able to come up with an interesting plot and fascinating characters. Based on Myung Jing Lee’s popular Korean comic book, manwha, Ragnarok Online is the country’s first Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.
"My job was to get all elements of the patch and weave it into a storyline. It took about two to three months of brainstorming and input from different departments to come up with the final product."
The love story angle of Episode 6, Ramon says, also has the potential to attract girls, which at the moment comprises 25 percent of Ragnarok players.
Asked to describe the differences in the female leads of the new patch, Ramon says, "Princess Fei is very demure and feminine but has an unmistakable inner strength, while Willow is quick and nimble, stealthy and because of her experiences, tends to take matters in her own hands." The two characters remind us somehow of LOTR’s Arwen and Eowyn and their love for Aragorn. In fact, as an aside, one can’t help but find traces of LOTR characters in the game, what with Higher Orcs and Dark Lord characters, as well as references to Midgard (which sounds a lot like Middle Earth), among other things.
The actors picked to play the Amatsu and Kunlun characters seem ready to take on the challenges of portraying anime roles. And because the show, like the game, is action-packed, they have prepared themselves physically by working out and rehearsing their swift and skick moves.
Maria Criselda Consunji, who plays Willow, couldn’t help but admire the game’s characters saying, "There’s something about the characters that are fascinating. They have a spunk all their own and it’s fun."
Roy Rolloda as Shoguro Ran agrees that they’re out to have fun portraying these characters. "But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to give it my all. I’m going to get out there and play the character the best way I know how and enjoy every minute of it."
Director Slyde Ardiente has prepared "lots of eye candy moments including freeze-frame battle scenes" that will excite Ragnarok fans. And several scenes will incorporate video segments of the game. "The cast is very flexible physically and emotionally, and they are God-fearing. They know how to folllow authority, and will do what you tell them to do," he says of his actors. The challenge is for them to be able to present a visually exciting performance and bring it out of video game mode into real life. It’s all about bringing a human perspective into a two-dimensional world.
Apart from Slyde, other members of the team include choreographer James Laforteza, costume designer Danilo Franco and scriptwriter Luna Inocian. While they’re not Ragnarok players, they are nonetheless bent on giving these online characters a three-dimensional quality. Whether they will successfully do it or not depends on how true-blue Ragnarok fans will react come D-Day. Other cast members include Diane dela Fuente (as Li Yang Fei), Samuel Concepcion (as the young Ran), Moreen Guese (the young princess Fei), Raymund Concepcion (Pretoreus), James Laforteza (Tzerero), Vinia Pamplona (Sunos/Monk), Rizza Ribo (Novice 2/Sunos), Christian Banzil (Sunos/Dark Lord) and Arnel Zulueta (Monk 1/Sunos).
And, just like the game’s highly interactive nature, the play’s ending will be decided via SMS poll. This means text voters have a say as to which of the two female leads Prince Ran will end up with. Just text TALE to 29769 and choose between Princess Fei and Willow. The winner wins a trip to Hong Kong for three with $300 pocket money, hotel accommodations and other prizes. The winning "ending" (no, not that "ending" game Pinoys are so fond of) will be re-enacted at The Fort’s Market! Market! live with satellite video feed at the Ayala Center parking lot in Cebu and the Matina Town Square in Davao City.
Obviously, Stages Productions is preparing two endings and which version will end up onstage is probably one of the most awaited part of the play. Unlike full-length plays, this one lasts for 30 to 45 minutes, which is just enough for a highly dynamic world of computer games enthusiasts. Besides, since it’s set in a mall, the show will be a good "break" for harried mall goers and hyper children.
Audie stresses that a mall show is not a theater show but "a theatrical show or treatment" of a play or musical, and is one effective way to reach out to more audiences. "Always, our main objective is to try to bring in more people to theater or for them to appreciate the arts. We’ve to be on our toes and make sure that whatever we do and wherever we perform, all elements of good entertainment are there," says Audie, who is involved in different kinds of theater projects including a school-based children’s theater and an upcoming masa theater.
Furthermore, he adds that Stages Productions aims to take mall shows into another level. "A mall show before was just a side show. Now, it has become sophisticated and we’ve added premium to the shows. Yung talagang sasadyain na ng tao." Definitely, Amatsu and Kunlun is another way to reach more people. As Audie stresses, any noise they create outside the theater is good for them.
Audie is candid enough to admit that he doesn’t think the popularity of computer games among the young will destroy them. It’s all a matter of discipline and balance. "Games have never really destroyed generations. Man, by nature, wants new things all the time and computer games are able to fulfill this need," says Audie, who admitted having caught the gaming bug during his Game & Watch playing days. As for playing the Ragnarok, he sheepishly admits to being hopeless with computers.
Ragnarok fans will probably be shaking their heads with this piece of knowledge. They know that Audie will never be able to explore Amatsu’s Tatami Dungeon, Underground Battle Field, or even the Haunted Shrine. But no matter, for Audie and the rest of the theater community are happy enough to be able to drum up enough interest among young Ragnarok players in the world of theater.
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