Mad Child: Review of MGA BINAGO NG ARAW: Tales of Teenage Trials

 August 22, 2026

The Intergalactic Space Balanghais was a rock band composed of 14 year-old high school students. Joms (Zoe de Ocampo) was on lead guitar, Ferdie (Rafael Jimenez) on drums, Rage (Vin Mabalot) on bass, and his girlfriend Jill (Maliana Beran) on lead vocals.  New to their gang was Nia (Jam Binay), Jom's new girlfriend. It was the summer of 2005, so  they hung out a lot at the Beach -- the pool with artificial sand at the house of Lobregats, Ferdie's family.

One day, the kids were playing football, when Nia tripped and twisted her ankle. Joms was massaged her foot with his naturally warm hands to make her feel better. They wound up in the music room of Joms' late father, where he kept his collection of LP albums. When Joms learned that George Harrison was Nia's favorite Beatle, he began to play the record of his solo hit song "My Sweet Lord." They started to dance, and, as they say, one thing led to another.

This coming-of-age play was written by Guelan Varela Luarca, so we know we can expect intense dialogue of rich emotional depth. But since they were supposed to be 14 years old, their worldviews can be quite childish and nonsensical, like how the sun was the most dangerous invention of God. However, the way Luarca wrote them, they had a precocious brand of wisdom that can only come from the mouth of babes. 

Music was a major part of this play. The band performed one full original song number live. Ferdie composed and growled a very angry song he called "Nero" out of frustration with his family.  Aside from the George Harrison, I recognized "Semi-Charmed Life" (Third Eye Blind) and "Stand by Me" (Oasis), although they were not hits from the aughts. Joms' half sister Trisha (Francesca dela Cruz) delivers a heartfelt "Chiquitita" (ABBA) to start Act 2. 

With an angelic face reminiscent of Julie Vega's Anna Liza, Jam Binay's portrayal of level-headed Nia was very natural as the play essentially tracked her teenage memories.  Zoe de Ocampo's diminutive height made his Joms convincingly kid-like, especially with his wide range of facial expressions. Maliana Beran imbued Jill with a relatively mature point of view. It may need more suspension of disbelief to see hefty Vin Mabalot or Rafael Jimenez as kids at first, but later, they do settle in as alpha kid Rage and spoiled rich kid Ferdie respectively. 

This play did not pull any punches, opening right off with a scene about sexual awakening. This was a very tense topic since the characters involved were only 14 years old. It will be replayed in its entirety later, this time with proper context of how the situation came about, like how haunting memories are often relived. The first watch of this play will be more about the feels. You will probably need a second watch to savor all the pithy lines Luarca had to say. 

This was the first full play directed by Monty Uy. With some pretty sensitive scenes to execute, he had some pretty nifty ideas that involve pantomime and dance movements. A highlight of staging was the swimming scene with all five kids at the Beach, with those lighting effects to represent water. Another well-devised scene was that Act One climax where the three boys wore goggles and banded together to "destroy" the sun's core (whatever meaning you give it).

The young cast at their curtain call

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"Mga Binago ng Araw" runs for 2 weekends, from August 14 to 23, 2026 at the Old Communications Building in the Ateneo de Manila University campus in Quezon City. Ticket prices at P1,800 each.