The Verdict: Battalia Royale 3

Call me "maarte," I don't give a damn! With this said, let me give my thoughts on the recently held Battalia Royale 3 - an interactive play based on the Japanese novel (and then movie) Battle Royale, written by Koushun Takami.

Battalia Royale 3's plot is very much like the movie The Hunger Games where the characters' mission is to kill all others or be killed. The play ends with only one survivor, who will then be crowned the winner.

Before I go to the play's details, I'll show you first a copy of the ticket that they emailed, which I had to print. It costs PhP350 per head. We were a group of 6 5 people. And the play date was September 29, 2012 (Saturday) at 7 PM.

battalia royale 3
Battalia Royale 3 Play Ticket
Let's start with the venue. It was held at Museo Pambata in Roxas Boulevard, Manila. The venue was very far from where I live. Moreover, it was really hot as there were a lot of people who attended the play plus no air-conditioning (because it was held at the museum grounds, not inside the museum). Then it rained, so people got wet (including the cast). And because we were not warned that the play was going to be held outside, we did not bring our umbrellas or raincoats to the venue. Good thing, we were boy scouts! We had umbrellas hidden at the trunk of our cars. But it was still hard to watch a play when there's rain.

battalia royale 3
Map to the Venue
We move on to the storyline. As I've said, the plot is not something new. A group of people, in this case- students, were given the mission to kill one another until only one was left. Each has his/her own weapon to make use of. They can form teams but in the end, only one must survive. The characters were given 8 hours to finish off one another (in reality, this is more or less 3 hours).

What made the play interesting is that it was interactive. The audience gets to decide if they want the play to end already. After all, it was hard standing for 3 hours, not to mention the rain and dirt. You also have to run to be able to follow the scenes as they take place at different parts of the venue. Some scenes happened simultaneously so you would have to choose which scenes you want to watch.
By the way, they also had a tally board so you could see which among the cast is still on the running to become a winner. Those who already died had a red mark over their face.

battalia royale 3
Rules of the Play
So how about the cast and their performances? Well, some were surprisingly good. Despite not having microphones, you could actually hear their voices even with the rain pouring. The language used is mixed - Filipino and English, used alternately. Some had good diction but a few struggled with their spiels, which include wrong grammar. I did like the martial arts scene, shooting scenes, and other morbid scenes. Did I mention that the "lesbian-themed" scenes were hot as well?

When it comes to costume and props, there's nothing much that I could say. The fake blood looked fake. Props used were scarce and most looked like garbage. Some of the weapons used didn't look like weapons to me at all. There's not much makeup used. But kudos to the cast for braving the rain, mud, dirt, and whatnot.

So what about other concerns one might have during the play? Aside from the rain and dirt, you have to be careful not to trip or fall since most of the time the audience were running. Since the place was not well-lit, your chances of tripping over or slipping is quite high. You also have to bring drinks with you since the play is long and it's likely you would get thirsty. It also smelled like gun powder everywhere as it was used for special effects. The smoke machine could also get you suffocated if you stood near it.

What I did not like? Well ,I hope the play was just held in a covered venue with air-conditioning. Moreover, I would have wanted it to be like a typical play where the audience are just seated so they don't have to go through all that chaos. Microphones would have helped some of the cast members as their voices could not be heard clearly. Profanity was also a main stay. I suggest they use it sparingly since almost all of them were uttering expletives from time to time. Lastly, I hope they shortened the length of the play. There were conversations that are actually not needed and do nothing for the storyline.

What I did like? Some of the cast members were really good at acting. There were guards/bouncers on standby in case of emergency. I wish I had more to like... Good thing the ticket costs only PhP350.

The Verdict: 5 out of 10 stars

Sorry, I did not take photos or even tried to take one as it was prohibited by the production team.

So, were you there as well? Have you watched other Battalia Royale plays? Tell me your thoughts in the Comments Section.

P.S. If you haven't seen Battle Royale yet, then you just got lucky. You can watch the movie below:


Til then...

xoxo Nash

5 comments :

Anonymous said...

Akala ko kung anong fake something 'tong Battalia Royale. Well I like Hunger Games more than Battle Royale. No, the author of Hunger Games did not get her idea from Battle Royale's. =)

Anonymous said...

Your review is kind of interesting. We have our own opinions though. It's good you have that point of view but I guess you didn't get the moral of the show. Well, it wasn't really a show for me after all. It was an experience.

Yes, I was there. I've seen every little thing even those at the sides (fyi, they have "mini" vignettes just in case you don't get why they say this and that and blah).

Anyway, just in case others want to experience what I am talking about, I've heard there's another one in November.

I know from the start that it wasn't for me. I was just there because a good friend invited me. Then I decided to come up with a review.

So what's the moral of the show? It was hard to understand what they were saying. Plus, the rain was such a hassle. I didn't even see the vignettes you're talking about. Oh well, this is my review.

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