Atheista -

Last weekend, Gibbs Cadiz was once again generous enough to give me two tickets to a one-night-only performance of Art. This is the third time I went to the theater due to Gibbs’ kindness - the first two occasions being for the comedy ZsaZsa Zaturnah and Batang Rizal. Going in to the event, I knew little about the show that I was about to watch. All that I had figured out was that Ricky Davao, Michael de Mesa and The Dawn frontman Jett Pangan will be playing a big role in the play. Other than that, I was pretty much in the dark. The fact that it was a Tony Award-winning show did play a big part in convincing me that I should watch the play though.

Fortunately, Art did not disappoint. Translated in Filipino, Yasmina Reza’s comedy about three friends in different stages of the lives captured the universal theme of friendship and compromise. Mar (Jett Pangan) caused a stir when he made a fuss about how one of his friends (Serge, played by Michael de Mesa) bought a two hundred thousand peso painting. What was the painting like? It’s like this.

Did you see that? Haha. To borrow Mar’s words, the painting has white lines over a white background. Yes, all that for two hundred thousand pesos. Serge is an established dermatologist but according to Mar, he was still in no position to pursue whimsical procurements of post-modern art. It’s very interesting how Mar (an engineer by profession) chooses to overstep the boundaries of autonomy and choice by openly and often times rudely criticizing Serge for something that he did on his own volition. Mar reflected a quality that some of our friends have – those that routinely police us to make sure that we do what they think is right and sensible even if it’s already your prerogative. Here’s the painting again:

To Mar, the painting was a piece of shit. He felt so strongly about it that he went as far as laughing in Serge’s face and mocking him for being ripped off. The eminent doctor of course rattled off his insights about art and the value of his aesthetic philosophy in a defensive and condescending tone. We are all so familiar with this type of behavior (heck, even I engage in this sort of practice from time to time). When people seem to not see the purpose and significance of the choices and actions that we do, those being ridiculed often talk down to the unwashed and unsophisticated masses to further prove that we are far superior and evolved compared to their primitive way of thinking.

It’s a start contrast. One is cunning and manipulative who puts on a seemingly diplomatic front to further agitate his adversary. The other is a brash and frank trash talker who leaves nothing to the imagination. And oh, did I mention that these two were friends?

Things are further complicated when the group’s token YES-man enters the scene. Jun (Ricky Davao) is someone most successful people would judge as someone who failed to fulfill his potential. Unlike his two friends, Jun has had a rocky word record. Despite of his already advancing age, he has yet to find stability in terms of keeping a job and financial security. To this day, he is still very dependent on his mother for a lot of his monetary and emotional needs. This is probably why Jun turned out this way. He has lost so much self-esteem and self-confidence to the point that he no longer has his own say. Through the years of emotional and psychological trauma, he has been reduced to someone who simply agrees to what his superiors will tell him.

After talking separately with Mar and Serge, Jun has unwittingly misled both that he was on their side. Jun admired the painting and also conceded to Serge that Mar has already lost his sense of humor. Unfortunately, Jun said virtually the opposite during his conversations with Mar.

I’d like to take this opportunity to share the painting once more…

When all three of them ended up in the same room, all hell break lose. If making white lies, saying half truths, dishing out sarcasm and discussing past events were Olympic events, Serge, Mar and Jun would have given the country our first Olympic gold medal. And yes, all of this was because of a single painting!

With two stubborn professionals already jockeying for position in the arena of moral ascendancy and intellectual superiority and one malleable and impressionable loser with a history of nervous breakdowns, the whole shebang about the painting takes the backseat as the discussion meanders to personal histories of unsophistication, one’s general disapproval for someone else’s spouse and an over-blown analysis of how the act of wafting cigarette smoke can be correlated to poor breeding and bad manners. It’s a riot!

And yes, they’re friends. Just like in real life, people have their own quirks. Some are easily swayed by fads and trends while some are biased towards empiricism. Some would go the extra mile just to keep the peace while some will rattle cages and ruffle feathers without any hesitation. With Art, the interplay of personalities and characters are further nuanced. It makes one wonder, do friends choose each other or do they stick together just because they’re the ones who could tolerate the other?

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