Del Rosario, Hannah Bernadette P.

12- Zara
Critique Paper: #LongLiveEvil

Last December 10, 2019, Makati Science High School English Club held its annual English
Week celebration with the Literary Allusion as the main culminating activity. The theme for this
year was “Inclusive, Innovative, and Interconnected” which aims to highlight the essential part of
information centers in developing inclusive, innovative, and interconnected societies. In line with
this, the performances of the Senior High School were based on 21st Century Literature. Each
section picked their own choice of literature or movie that they want to execute.

The Senior High School performances for me were well presented and smoothly executed,
especially with the Grade 12- Nebres’ version of “Descendants 3”. Honestly, I was not familiar
with the Disney movie, “Descendants”. It was my first time hearing of the characters and their
personalities. With the presentation of 12- Nebres, they made me feel what the characters want to
portray and what they were fighting for.

It started with the musical number of the main characters of the story, dancing and singing
to the song of the wicked. The characters were presented as to be the villains of tales that I grew
up with but in this story, the villains now coexist with the heroes. With the backdrop changing and
setting the mood of the scene to fondness, Ben proposed to Mal and Mal happily answered “Yes”.
Upon hearing the proposal, Audrey cannot accept the fact that Mal is getting married to the man
she loves, for she insist that she must be the next queen. The lights then dimmed and a new
character was presented, Hades, the father of Mal. Hades gave Mal a stone that have the power to
break down the barrier between Isle and Auradon. The stone was then accidentally reached Uma’s
team but afterwards rightfully brought back to Mal’s team for both of them had each other’s back
when the knights of Audrey attacked them. The main conflict of the story is the battle between
Audrey’s knights and Mal with the Villain’s Kids (VK’s). Maleficent’s dragon was the biggest
challenge to the team but with their cooperation and dedication, they successfully defeated the
dragon. The story ended for Mal being the Queen of both the Isle and Auradon, for she said that
everyone can be capable of being good or bad. Finally the barrier was removed and the newly
merged societies happily lived together.

Nebres’ performance was executed well. Their interpretation was smooth for they have
provided song and dance performances which I really enjoyed. The introduction number at the
beginning of their performance made me feel the #LongLiveEvil vibes for the actors energetically
performed their song number “Wicked”. My most liked dance number of their performance was
the last part in which all of the characters from Isle and Auradon danced and sang to song of “Break
this Wall”. It can be seen that they have practiced it well. With that dance number, I felt the emotion
of acceptance despite of differences. Also, it made me want to sing with them even though I am
not familiar with the song. Moreover, their emotions was painted upon their faces wherein the
audience can actually absorb and be influenced to it. But there are some dance and song numbers
that for me, can still be more improved. For example, in the fight scene of Mal’s team and Audrey’s
knights, it would have been better if the knights were synchronized when dancing for it is easy to
tell if one is late or out of tempo because of their same black costume. The actors’ emotion in this
scene should have also portrayed more courage and anger. But despite of this, Nebres still
recovered because of their energy and cooperation. The harmony of their song numbers can be
observed and the tone blending was very good. In addition, the dialogues of their performance
was clear and can be comprehended. The actors and actresses showed their emotions and has been
consistent of their characters. Vinina Jacome’s performance was commendable for me for I know
how hard it is to dance, sing, and be on character continuously. She portrayed her character with
dedication. Patricia Gonzalvo’s performance was also praiseworthy for it can be seen that she was
striving hard to convey the emotions that her character must carry. Also, their gestures and
expression was on point specially the scene where Mal (Vinina) said that she does not want to
break down the barrier. Their performance for that scene also made me feel disappointed and
betrayed by Mal’s decision.

Moving to the technical side of the performance, the technical team of 12- Nebres executed
their duties well and smoothly. With the lighting committee, they greatly helped change the mood
of the scenes and made the audience focus on the characters. Their costumes was creative and
made a vibe of being in a Disney story tale. The backdrops used helped the audience to determine
the change of settings in the story. In addition, the dragon head prop was the most creative prop
used for me for it contributed significantly to intensifying the main fight scene of the story.

Overall, the 12- Nebres’ “Descendants” presentation was laudable for their preparation and
execution. They have successfully conveyed the true message of their story wherein it made me
understand that in life, one can have both good or bad sides, but what is more important is that one
should recognize differences from it and fight for what is right. The chance to change and to be
good again must be given to those who have sinned, because after all, we are only human beings.