Alunsina DESAP

(Reaction Paper)

A retelling of the Panay-Visayan myth, Tungkung Langit and Alunsina was written by
Reagan Romero Maiquez titled Alunsina DESAP under the direction of Jeremy N. dela Cruz and
Ron H. Bias. It was produced by the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB)
SAMASINING, the laboratory arm of the Department of Humanities (DHUM), and the Theatre
Communication class of this second semester A.Y. 2010-2011.

It is a play about the retelling of the myth from which the two gods, Tungkunglangit and
Alunsina created the world. And that in the beginning there was no sky or earth - only a
bottomless deep and in a world of mist. Everything was shapeless and formless - the earth, the
sky, the sea and the air were almost mixed up. In a word, there was no confusion.

The story shows the penalty which was resulted from Alunsinas disobedience from
Tungkunglangits order. She merely disappeared and was stuck in a place where the mortals and
the immortals meet. There she met the kind of people which represents the human race. They
soon discovered how Alunsinas escape from the immortal anger affected the some of the moral
conditions of the humanity today. This retelling weaves and traces the trails of loss, grief, and
recovery from a time of a married heaven and earth to the present day of exhuming the cries and
mistake of the state of mankind.

The costumes that the actors wore and the stage presentation were all wonderful. From
body tattoos, the hair colors up to the accessories and other props used by the characters were
presented in a very detailed manner. The idea on how to design and present the stage
presentation was brilliant. I really appreciated the arcs or the borders design, I think it was like
a mural or something which was painted with different lines and shape.
The use of technology was really maximized in this stage performance. At the middle of
the act there was a video which showed the events that happened to the people whom Alunsina
met in an unknown place. There were also lightning effects that was added to make the
presentation more realistic.