MEDIUM RARE
A prophesy has been made by the United Nations that the next pandemic will be a familiar condition called loneliness.
In a one-act play, Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon take turns playing an anonymous middle-aged character who their audiences assume is an overseas Filipino worker, OFW. The play runs for one hour without words, no dialogue, but the silence is powerful. Its title: “Request sa Radyo.”
In that one hour, the solitary character is shown tidying up her nice-looking one-room apartment that contains the kitchen, dining room, living room, bedroom, and toilet. Lea/Dolly is preparing her dinner, setting the table while rice is being steamed and a vegetable dish is ready for serving. She turns on the radio, the voice of a female announcer being her only company. She washes her hands after sitting on the toilet to pee, and changes her shirt for something more comfy-homey to get ready for bed.
There’s nothing wrong with this character. Her actions are entirely natural, she is obviously healthy physically and mentally. How will the German-born writer of the play, Franz Xaver Kroetz, end the story?
Only the “sa” in the title – a preposition in the national language meaning “on” – tells you this is a local production. Otherwise, the theme, plot, and characters are as universal as they are local. Kroetz uses the radio as a metaphor for the human need to establish a connection with another human being. Before television, there was radio. Before radio, people had their neighborly chats late into the night, after dinner.
Now, even with Netflix and other in-demand portals, you don’t talk back to the TV, but you can talk to the radio dj and ask him to play your favorite song, or to greet your imaginary friend on his or her birthday. At worst, you could invent a name for yourself and tell him what a fan you are of his playlist and choice of music.
When the night is long and lonely, everyone who’s alone needs a connection to another human being. A deejay who plays your music on request is only half a stranger, but he’s there, a safe distance away but friendly, silently waiting to hear from you for your requested song. Dare to try it?