How a kapre and 6-7 are engaging Gen Z

We never heard such deafening screaming at a theater for some time, thanks to high school students reacting to kilig moments between a hot kapre and an alluring provincial maiden who have undercurrents of desire that were titillating these Zoomers. It’s so refreshing to see how a play could elicit such raw emotions, from a period one at that—Kislap at Fuego, set during the 19th-century Philippine revolution against Spain.

The second play in this Twin Bill from PETA Theater, Children of the Algo, hit even closer to home since it’s set in the TikTok world of today and speaks their language, “6-7” and all. But PETA being what it is, these click baits have links to more urgent issues that deserve further introspection.

Originally conceived as experimental lab works for the Control + Shift series at the PETA Studio Theater in 2024, both plays have been expanded for the main stage to challenge narratives that have dominated the socio-political milieu and the cultural landscape, “making us revisit Filipino values and explore how stories, past and present, shape power, identity and action,” says PETA artistic director J-mee Katanyag.

The first play, translated to Filipino by Gentle Magapu from Dominique La Victoria’s Toward the Fires of Revolution and directed by Maribel Legarda and Katanyag, subverts all the stereotypes we grew up with: the forest as a place of danger and evil spirits, including the kapre, the trickster who can cause travelers to get lost, and the powerful Diwata, guardian of nature who can curse those who harm it.

By situating her play in the kagubatan with characters from folklore, La Victoria reclaims our heritage that was lost with the takeover of the Spaniards who built the pueblo system of towns where we were visible and easily controlled, away from the forests, the home of our myths, oneness with nature and spirituality—effectively alienating us from our ancestral past and our true selves.

Production sesigner Boni Juan recreates the forest in an impressionist style that suits a fairy tale romance à la Beauty and the Beast but the kapre, Ezequiel (CJ Navato), is no longer the fearsome image of yore. Neither is Gabriela (Felicity Kyle Napuli) the damsel in distress but a feisty, intelligent woman, a rebel who carries around Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and other books that she considers “weapons” for the revolution against Spain. Defying convention, she braves the forest to negotiate with Ezequiel who had cursed her father for stealing mangoes from his tree. To reverse the curse, she agrees to be his servant, during which time she discovers her superpowers while the beast reveals his romantic past with the Diwata.

Navato’s style is mannered, delivering lines reminiscent of balagtasan, contrasting him with the more modern Gabriela and making him the romantic figure—another subversion—this time challenging the traditional image of the macho. Could a character be any more romantic than a man so in love with a Diwata that he asks her to turn him into a kapre to be part of her enchanted world and even when she leaves him and disappears for eons, he still awaits her return every single day?

Even the ensuing romance between Gabriela and Ezequiel is not your staple of saccharine interludes. It’s a love that’s more profound, not just directed at each other but working together for the love of the nation in a shared future. It’s a more contemporary concept of revolution that need not involve violence and bloodshed, making it more accessible—proof of which was that during the Q&A after the show, students identified with the characters and the themes that emphasize self-awareness, education, and going back to our roots as forms of revolution that can reshape our own individual narratives and that of the country.

In Children of the Algo, on the other hand, playwright Mixcaela Villalon delves into the algorithms of the digital world as the dominant stories that control us and limit our perspectives.

Director Johnnie Moran simulated the frenzied scrolling through social media with fast-paced segues between the feeds of TikTok content creators Yani (Nyla Festejo), a corporate executive and lifestyle connoisseur; Jen (Frances Marie Akol) a student covering art, beauty and food; Owen (James Pe Lim), the alpha male gamer who seizes opportunities no matter what; and Mark (Otep Madriaga), a provincial fast food server struggling with urban realities. The use of a spare metal scaffolding on wheels cleverly frames the characters as they alternate on the rig, which turns in different configurations as perspectives change.

The perspectives, however, are all highly curated to fit into the algorithms of followers who have inadvertently built their own echo chambers to suit their preferences based on what catches their attention.

If colonial narratives imprisoned us before, social media becomes our new Bilibid, cloistering us from what’s really going on in the real world.

At the talk-back after the play, it was interesting to note that many of the boys identified with Owen, partly because gaming has become a favorite pastime if not an obsession among junior high schoolers and also because of his aggressive street savviness, his abilidad.

The danger, though, is his individualistic, each-man-for-himself attitude, with no concern for the community. Fortunately, at the play’s denouement, when the content creators’ perfectly composed digital lives start to crack as socio-political and economic realities seep in and affect them, they realize that there is a need for transformation and this can only be done by connecting with others and working together to effect change. These are themes that PETA has always advocated and seeing how the students were so engaged, these plays undoubtedly bring these messages across and inspire them to break free and write their own stories.