‘A Game of Trolls’: A musical’s power in reliving history
With the advent of social media, trolls, fad and other terms associated with millennials, the Philippine Educational Theatre Association’s (PETA) new production, “A Game of Trolls” targets today’s generation.
With serious issues like fake news and trolls on the internet today, it would be difficult to imagine making a theatre play about these issues, but “A Game of Trolls” managed to produce one that is related to Martial Law.
“A Game of Trolls” is about the story of Heck, a paid troll and Martial Law supporter who works for Bimbam, a leader of trolls on the internet and manager of a company that releases pro-martial law propaganda. Heck’s disfavor to everyone’s opinion on social media can cause him to release hate and careless words to people who comment against the Martial Law regime.
As a result, the ‘ghosts’ of Martial Law victims haunt Heck from the ‘internet cloud’ with the fear that their stories will be deleted from people’s memories. These rendezvous challenged him to judge his own belief and his relationship with his mother who was an activist against Martial Law in the 70’s.
It was the musical’s objective to make the millennials look beyond content on the internet, to do their own research, and to critically think and act responsibly on social media despite the advent of online propaganda, especially regarding Martial Law. It was an attempt to revive, relive and reach the youth to cease the dismissal of the tragic events that took place over 40 years ago.
Written by Liza Magtoto, a Palanca awardee and directed by Maribel Legarda, known for directing PETA’s “Caredivas,” “A Game of Trolls” is a perfect balance of comedy and drama that revives the crumbling memories of traumatic events during Marcos’ dictatorship.
“We are telling the real [stories], real accounts of the people who were killed before,” said Mike Solomon, who played the lead role of Heck.
“This is not an opinion, they say that this is only an opinion but it isn’t…These are real people who fought for our freedom,” Solomon added, referring to this generation’s apathy regarding the atrocious events that caused the death of the people during the Martial Law era.
With the various theater productions staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines that talks about the Martial Law regime, like the “Pagsambang Bayan the Musical,” proved that musicals are powerful expressions of the past and through theatre, the productions are able to deliver and continue the legacy of the Martial Law victims who fought for their freedom.
“It is a heavy responsibility, but who else will do it?” Solomon lamented.