Savior

The context is immediately established economically by a montage of breaking news reports in a blacked-out theatre. Apart from evoking an appropriate angst, it is apparent that the Philippines’ own name for the typhoon, Yolanda, has been usurped by foreign news agencies, becoming “Cyclone Haiyan” to the world. A small point, but one which illustrates the difficulty of national self-determination for smaller nations.

Lights up, and we are situated in a well-appointed hotel room, remote from the desperation of Tacloban, the worst-affected area, and acting as a control centre for Savior, an NGO relief organisation. Michelle (in slippers) works at her laptop, a local Project Officer for the international Savior, while her feisty BFF, Janna, tries to distract her by finding Michelle a “match” on Tinder.

The scene is loaded. Most of what we need to know is efficiently conveyed through texts or phone conversations. Janna has broken up with her boyfriend, whom Michelle describes as living off ill-gotten wealth “with no remorse”, indicating the presence of a corrupt wealthy class. Janna reveals that Tinder is being flooded by incoming white male aid workers who are looking “to give back while getting some!”, and we learn that Jobert, an on-the-ground Filipino worker in Tacloban, struggles valiantly to do an impossible task. Michelle’s telephone manner in dealing with Jobert is unpleasantly positive, corporate-style.

Very soon, Michelle meets her “match” in her new boss, Joe, a messianic crisis mapper from Savior who will deliver a “better-built” future to Tacloban. She is attracted to him immediately and joins in his filial adulation of the Corporate God. But Michelle’s loyalties are truly tested. She is reluctant to help Janna, who beneath her sassy exterior has a brave plan to save her family, and she is drawn into a scheme that will sell out Jobert, who wants only to restore what has been lost to a corrupt self-enriching oligarchy.

The cast is superb. Mark Paguio as Jobert conveys a steadfastness and simplicity of heart that is painful to watch, while Chaye Mogg is totally engaging as the deceivingly flighty Janna, who is both street-smart and resourceful. Chrissy Mae Valentine as Michelle is utterly convincing as a young woman who is understandably anxious to retain a job that gives her a wage and social recognition, and whose loyalty is wooed by an ambitious, self-serving white dude. Her smile, always slightly hesitant, suggests her inner struggle to find the right path. Her would-be seducer, Joe, has the plum role. The opportunities for ridicule and consequent laughter offered by the conflation of Savior with Saviour are many, and Michael Whalley, while wringing the humour from each gospel reference, never overreaches, while his glib and would-be suave Joe is squirm-worthy.

It must be noted that the use of language in the play was supremely effective, and especially powerful when used by Jobert in the final scene as an assertion of cultural identity in the face of cultural subservience.