A Game of Trolls: A Musical Play Review

Hi! Have you heard of the musical play, "A Game of Trolls"? I'm just wondering maybe some of you are familiar with it because they actually started the show year 2017 and then because of some media partnerships, they started the show again through a paid site. As for me, I was able to watch it for free because it was our final requirement in a minor subject. Our professor managed to give us tickets for free. How nice, right? :)

So here I will be sharing my review of the show hehe I hope this poke your interest into watching it. This is by the way a Filipino musical, played by Filipino actors. ^^

A Game of Trolls is a stage play musical about a conflict between an activist mother and his son who feels distant from her, but it tackled a much deeper issue that is very timely nowadays at a time of election. But its essence doesn’t make any less if it isn’t a time for election because I believe many people should watch this because honestly large populations of people are still misinformed. The specific issue we’re talking about is the reign of the late president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. and the martial law. The play highlighted the experiences of the different groups of people particularly those who have outspokenly fought for their rights during martial law. In the play, the main character, Heck, works as a troll for “Bimbam” and his group, who looks up to “Apo” and fight people on the internet who oppose the lies they have been spreading. They are trolls, they are spreader of fake news.

On his alone times, people from the past “descend” from the cloud and talked to Heck about their experiences; they even let him experienced some of the tortures and hardships they went through. Each of their story is truly heartbreaking, to think that they were based on real people, on real stories. They urged Heck to talk to his mother as he was having personal dilemma since he can't truly show how he cares for her because of the hard feelings he had been keeping for so long. They encouraged him to ask his mother questions he’s been long looking for answers all along. It turns out, Heck is also misinformed and he’s only blinded by his hate towards his mother. When the time came that he was finally able to talk to his mother about what happened in the past, his mother told him everything. Everything that she experienced from his abusers. It was a sentimental moment between the two of them because Heck didn't expect to hear it from his mother, he didn't know his mother have experienced such abuse and violence. But in the end, the two of them reconciled, and the love for each other helped them to forgive. At the end of the show, Heck joined his friends in fighting fake news and the trolls, by which they won in the end and the truth still prevailed.

I didn't include everything in here of course, especially about the love interest and friends of the main character. What I love most about this play, I can say is its theme and the storyline. It was well-written as well as the scripts and the actors really did a good job with each roles.

Overall, the play is good and the actors did really well. It made me sad, angry, I laughed at the glimpse of the main character's love story and most importantly, it opened my eyes to the experiences of certain individuals that I’ve not known before. I became more aware of the severity of the injustices and abuses that happened during those times. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen musical and stage plays live before but I just think the experience would be better if I watched it live but generally it’s a good play; very informative, timely, an eye-opener and a must-see musical.

That's all for today! Since the 2022 National Election is very soon, let me remind you to vote wisely! Let us think deeply about this decision we're about to make. We still have few days to go! 😊

Until the next article,

-glossyberrycraze 🌷