100 years into the future, a country called Town-Z is ruled by corrupt dictator Boss Tsip (JP Lopez) and his wife (OJ Arci). Town-Z was hit by a dangerous virus that turned infected people into zombies. The residents of Town-Z were demanding relief goods as Boss Tsip ordered a lockdown, allegedly to curtail the spread of the virus. In reality, this virus had been invented by scientists under instructions from Boss Tsip with the aim of eradicating the poor.
Four friends who lived in Town-Z -- Andy (Vince Tanada), Jayriz (Johnrey Rivas), Kudz (Gerald Magallanes) and Pol (Fidel Redado) -- decided to lead their neighbors in their demand for food and supplies, as well as equality and justice. When labor leader Ding Silang (Chris Lim) was captured and executed even before he did anything, his wife Ella (Adelle Ibarrientos) boldly took over his cause, with the help of elderly mentor Tata Selo (Chin Ortega).
Tanada gave his four central characters a love interest. Randy Andy had flirty rag seller Aya (Vean Olmedo), with whom he can trade naughty jokes. Jayriz had his one true love Lei Nora (Renee Escurel), whom her mother wanted to marry off with someone else. Kudz had Asti (Yvonne Ensomo), the feisty daughter of the local imam. As for Pol, Tanada snuck in a BL reference, letting him fall for his guard Emil (Awin Valencia).
The main antagonists were a husband-and-wife tag-team of political corruption and excess, the historical reference of their identities was not exactly well-hidden. There were even little dips into current events, which audiences easily caught. Lopez and Arci played the notorious Tsips with sinister glee. Their main henchman was an intimidating goon sporting a multi-spiked mohawk named Kuhol, energetically played by Rotsen Etolle.
However, for the other heroes, the parallels can be confusing. While true to Andres Bonifacio's advocacy for revolution, Andy repeatedly called himself dimwitted and implied that he was illiterate -- which the real Bonifacio was not. Kudz was there to represent for the Moslem sector, but not much was told about the real Sultan Kudarat, who was 200 years older than the other three. The absence of a quotable quote from him was even a punchline.
Lest they misunderstand, younger viewers should be guided by their elders that the story of Pol here should not be taken as a historically-accurate retelling of Apolinario Mabini's life and heroism. Pol was portrayed here not only as a gay man, but also as HIV-positive, which later led to him being wheelchair-bound. Also, Mabini never wrote for La Solidaridad, but Pol wore its name on his shirt and held up a copy of the paper at the finale.
Other heroes of the Philippine Revolution against Spain were also included in the story, like Diego and Gabriela Silang (in the characters of Ding and Ella Silang), and Melchora Aquino (gender-swapped in the character of Tata Selo). The martyrdom of Gomez, Burgos and Zamora were mirrored in a scene about the senseless execution of three priests, Fathers Gumabao (Lloyd Relatado), Borromeo (Renz Saavedra) and Zaragoza (Jason Chan).
Like many PSF musicals in the past, the grand finale of this entertaining 2-hour show (no intermission) was again a fervent flag-waving call for revolution. This ending was historically-appropriate for shows like "Bonifacio: Isang Sarswela" (2014), "Katips" (2016) or "Supremo Redux" (2018). For this play with a futuristic setting, it reminds Generation Z that, as there will always be politicians who will try to oppress them, they need to strive to educate themselves, and be ready to fight back if ever the direness of the situation calls for it.
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