Not your typical high school musical: 'Bare' vs. 'Battalia Royale'

What is high school? Well, it’s pubescent youth raw and rancid with angst, a flurry of raging hormones and sensitive emotions. It’s predestined buffer time for priorities changing, experimenting and transitioning into independence.

So the result is children growing up, but at different rates. Some grow up faster and discover themselves earlier than the others. And within the four walls of a school where everyone is forced to act and think the same way, it’s no wonder there’s such a thing as high school stereotypes, as is evidenced by the countless references in pop culture (see Breakfast Club, Glee, Mean Girls).

Two theater shows that are causing quite a buzz today depict these exact same high school stereotypes, but set in rather unique conditions: Blue Repertory’s rock musical Bare, and Sipat Lawin Ensemble’s site-specific rendition of Battalia Royale.

Bare is a rock musical that tells of a forbidden love story between two boys studying in an upper-class Catholic boarding school where the rules of right and wrong are strictly dictated by the doctrine of their religion.

Meanwhile, Battalia Royale is an interactive, action-adventure performance telling the story of 40 students from a non-secular high school in Manila, suddenly kidnapped, abandoned, and forced to play a game of survival against each other. Here, there is only one rule: kill or be killed.

What happens when the two schools go back to back? Young Star was able to gather the cast of Bare and Battalia Royale in an exclusive inter-school get-together, where we talked about how their characters deal with the pressures of growing up, reaffirming identities in demanding conditions, and simply surviving high school. Roll call, please.

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Catch Bare, a pop opera in Teatrino, at The Promenade, Greenhills, on March 7-10 with gala shows on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and matinee shows on Saturdays at 3 p.m. For tickets, contact Chiz Jardin at 0916-5787618 or e-mail nicojardin12@yahoo.com. Check out http://www.facebook.com/bluerepbare or for more details.

Also, Battalia Royale will be having performances in Victoria School, Cubao QC on March 9-11 at 7:30 p.m. Contact the Sipat Lawin Hotline 0917-5008753 for tickets or check out http://www.facebook.com/battaliaroyale for more details.

This means war!: The students of Our Lady of Guadalupe High School (seen here are actors Tara Cabaero, Adrienne Veragara, Isabelle Martinez, Michan Mendoza, Mk Espiritu, and Kiko Miranda) square off against the students of St. Cecilia’s Boarding School (with actors Marphie Bernardo, Mikah Franco, Mica Fajardo, Justine Pena, and Dar Uy).

The Army: St. Cecilia’s Boarding School vs. Our Lady Of Guadalupe High School

While at first glance there seems to be few similarities between the culture and situation of the students of St. Cecilia’s and Our Lady of Guadalupe High School, the struggles faced by the students seem to be tied together in an issue of morality vs. mortality— the tension of fulfilling what is “right” or what is “wrong,” or else face imminent death (whether literally as in Battalia Royale, or figuratively as in Bare).

What happens when children’s perceptions of “right” and “wrong” is challenged by either:

a) The strict rules imposed by a bigger, higher institution or pressure, or

b) A horrifying circumstance where they are forced to rethink their principles and are left helpless without choice.

What happens when what they feel is “right” is not in sync with what is being told to them by the authorities? If their judgment of morality doesn’t jive with what is expected or imposed, will they be cast to death?

High school is, perhaps, really, a journey of the self. And Bare and Battalia Royale are presenting to you two very unique and entertaining ways to see it.

Both shows present the struggles of the youth as they define for themselves standards of morality within a highly controlled situation, and they grow up to learn that maybe not everything taught in high school is written in stone.

Class dismissed.

Golden boys: Actors Marco Viana and Jaime Barcelon play popular kids Victor and Jason in Battalia Royale and Bare, respectively.

Mr. Perfect: Victor Vs. Jason

Like Barbie’s Ken, Mr. Perfect is the golden demigod of the batch, with naturally dashing good looks creating magnetism amongst the girls (and possibly boys); one that draws envious glares all around.

For Battalia Royale, it’s Victor. Victor’s good heartedness is most striking about his character, which is why he is popular in the campus. He not only possesses great physical abilities, but also lives by a moral code uncommon amongst his batch. His good-natured intentions are fervid, so much so that this strength also plays to his very weakness when put into the situation of the game. Will a man with a good grasp of his basic human rights, kill?

Jason from Bare is christened with the same Adonis genes. Charming, intelligent, top of the class, and one who seemingly exceeds in everything he wants to. The ladies love him, but his boyfriend Peter, loves him more. Jason hides his sexual orientation, as he struggles to keep control of the perfect boy image he built for himself, keeping in line with what is accepted in the stringent rules of the Catholic Church.??

Hunger games: Battalia Royale’s June (played by Sarah Salazar), a student by day and stripper by night, moves in for the kill while Bare’s Nadia (played by Cassie Manalastas) waits in the shadows. She might just have a trick up her sleeve. 

The Wallflower: June vs. Nadia

Be wary of the wallflower. Although they don’t speak much, they have a strong sensitivity and sense of perception towards the people around them.

June in Battalia Royale is a quiet, private person. She’s agreeable, but not overtly nice. She mostly keeps to herself. A professional pole dancer to earn a living, her life at school is mostly a role-playing act, thus the apathy to socialize or belong. Some people don’t even notice June, and she doesn’t care if people are completely unaware of the mysterious character beneath.

Meanwhile, Nadia from Bare is the sardonic, sarcastic and introverted sister of the most popular boy in school, Jason. Due to the fact that she lives in the shadow of her older brother, her shyness comes from her biggest insecurity, being heavy, and feeling alienated from the rest of the ‘cooler kids.’

Life’s a bitch, and then you die: Bare’s Ivy (played by Maronne Cruz) and Battalia Royale’s Kakai (played by Thea Yrastorza) savor the calm before the storm

The Bitch: Ivy vs. Kakai

The anti-hero of any story is one who is popular for all the wrong reasons. The bitch is rebellious, gorgeous and beguiling, having discovered that the gift of her female wiles, when used properly, can be incredibly beneficial.

In Battalia Royale, it’s Kakai, a consummate liar, who switches roles to fool other people into vulnerability. Kakai’s bitchiness comes from the pretensions that other people in high school try so hard to pull off. She is calculating and cruel, and takes absolute pleasure in toying with her other classmates, manipulating them to reveal their inner desires or fears.

On the other hand, Ivy from Bare is a bitch by reputation, but the image stems from an insecurity and consciousness of how people see her. She wants to keep proving herself from fear of being rejected. Ivy is known for being promiscuous and intimidating, the dissident life of the party.

Maximum authority: Battalia Royale’s Director and theater actor JK Anicoche stands in for Kuya Bodjie Pascua as Fraser Salamon, the game master. He is joined here by actress Jenny Jamora who plays Peter’s mom Claire in Ateneo Blue Repertory’s Bare 

Adult Supervision: Fraser Salamon vs. Claire, Mother

As in any high school setting, the adult is a representative of authority. Whether this is depictive of some kind of pressure or foundation of values.

In Bare, Claire, the mother of the lead character Peter, represents the conservative status quo. Clair is afraid of anything that could break what is accepted as normal, and so she becomes a barrier for Peter in being able to express how he really feels (gay).

Meanwhile in Battalia Royale, Fraser Salamon, played by the iconic Kuya Bodjie (Batibot), is the game master who dictates the rules of the killing game to students. Fraser is largely representative of the ‘old world’, a mode of instruction set by an unseen force.