Carmi Chameleon

After the set, I eavesdropped discreetly; I tried to get the drift of reactions from other people around me. While having a last smoke before braving the rain, I overheard two guys mutually spitting venoms about devil-spawn hustlers, somehow the play's outcome afforded them some sick sense of satisfaction a.k.a. "justice".

Somewhere else in the buzzing crowd, another pair mirrored the narrative to a tabloid creation of recent past, "gay serial killer". (Should that rather be a serial killer preying on gay men?)

Still somewhere else, elderlies talk about one's fortune of never having to go down so low as to cruise sex-for-pay. As if preventing sex premised on monetary exchange protects oneself from risk.

At all these, my thought was "ah, melodrama still could work its charms". The "formula" opened lively discourse to an audience, who probably were too weirded out by two earlier stagings: one which admitted to be "carnivalesque" was too much indirect dialog, and another which admitted to not having a story was too, er, "emo".

This was my first night at Virgin Labfest 6 (runs at the CCP 'til 04 July). Initially, as I left CCP, I felt disappointed for guessing early what the "twist" in the story was (the sniffing and spraying gave it away). But I wouldn't be writing this at all if my thoughts just ended there.

I got to thinking more about "Carmi" a.k.a. karma (also goes by Carmina, Carmela, Carmelite) - that cultural dynamic of every gay man's gallivanting ways. Well, a friend who's used to a lot of gallivanting called it a rumor.

Was the outcome the referred karma, i.e. what has simply befallen the character "Adonis"? Could it be a more complicated karma pattern, i.e. series/cycle of deeds and consequences? Was this Adonis' karma for having suffered from an affair gone wrong? Or maybe this was also Gabriel's karma for having loved and lost a lover? Implications on gay relationships? The characters' clash of neuroses were mine fields of "sub-texts."

While we're talking about deeds and consequences, note that the characters were named Adonis and Gabriel. (Sub-text another?)

But then, just maybe, my thoughts are running wild, tossing and turning the story over and over because I couldn't let go of something else. Or someone. I was so taken by this "Adonis" character (performed by Paul Jake Paule); I think I held my breath while I watched. Now that's my sub-text. *wink*

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P.S. The play referred here is J. Dennis Teodosio's "Carmi Martin", part of Virgin Labfest 6's Set D, themed Pink Pestibal, also includes "Huling Habilin ng Sirena" (Layeta Bucoy) and "A Fist Full of Sand" (Arlo De Guzman).

P.P.S. Paul Jake Paule so "affected" me, I now know that he has a Facebook account.