To The Town Where We Live and Die

“Kung sino pa 'nga mga patay na, sila pang mga mas alam kung paano tunay na mabuhay."

This line was stated from the theatrical production entitled, “Dito Sa Atin”. The play was directed by Gian Carlo de Jesus and was presented at Batong Malake Covered Court. This production was an adaptation of the play by Thornton Wilder. This is a play about life. This is a play about love. This is a play about death.

Life, love, and death – these are the main three components which encompass the whole story of the said play. The play began by presenting the daily lives of the “Grovers”, or the habitants of the Grove which is a part of the city of Los Baños. The Grove is where the families of Hiling and Jorge live. This is where their childhood began, where their schooling started, where their love developed, and where Hiling died as well.

Life, as presented in the production, was all natural and ordinary. The setting was most likely in the 90’s because the musical remix played at the very beginning of the play were groovy old songs which were danced along by the actors. This introduction made the audience really interested and it really caught my attention. Subsequently, a woman appeared at the center stage. This begins the story and this was effectively narrated by the woman, who is probably the stage manager. She played an important role in the whole play for she was the one manipulating the timeframes of each act in the story. She began by