THE GREATEST MAGICIANS’ have something to learn from Mr. Mistoffelees’ Conjuring Turn – PRESTO! But let it be known, that even the greatest of performers need a break away from the play, away from the facade, and away from the illusion that “we are okay,” said with a sickening grin.  

Musical plays are often divided into two parts—an Act I and an Act II—with the intermission serving as the short interval for thespians to rest and take a breather in preparation for what is to come. And finally, after a span of usually 15 to 20 mere minutes, a whole new persona possesses their entirety as the work resumes. The show must go on.  

“It glances through the pretense. It shimmers even in hiding. And it defines you in ways which words never could.” 

Beneath the spotlight, anything is possible. A beloved 31-year-old singer transforms into a “popular and good” witch descending in a bubble. A princess from the kingdom of Agrabah finds herself navigating Saigon, with her son, during the Vietnam War. A viscount, who finds a spinster to be the “bane of his existence,” suddenly dances through life. And an enthusiastic mortal from the land of rolling hills reimagined as a soulless writer. The line goes on. 

But beyond all that glimmer lies a whole different, and somewhat, disappointing reality. After all, amid the roles temporarily taking over our entire being, the bottom-line is the fact that they are merely fleeting; for nothing—not even the greatest mantle ever imagined—could possibly defy and shadow our most authentic self. It glances through the pretense. It shimmers even in hiding. And it defines you in ways which words never could.  

Every day, the stage is set for us to take part in the roles society has in store for us. There are some made to be a leader, others a preacher, and even a chosen few as a writer to observe, report, and comment on the reality shown before him/her. This is the status quo. To contravene the norm is to violate the entire system, therefore compromising the standard functioning of society. Yet in an effort to really immerse ourselves with these roles, the limit exists; and believe me when I say that we are mere seconds away from breaking character.  

In the grandest of podiums called life, there is no intermission in-between to give us a breather of the road ahead. Heck, there isn’t even an overture to, at the very least, alert us in keeping our act together. Forever, we are left standing on the perpetual stage while carrying this stressful burden to appease the public gaze. There is no time to be human, no bubble to defy gravity, no yellow brick-road to wander, and even no space to simply dance through life. And that’s the unfortunate truth. 

And yet, despite the somewhat suffocating roles one is positioned in, it is equally pivotal to wonder what drives an individual to continue living in this charade? Wouldn’t it be easier to simply stray away from these responsibilities and pursue personal pursuits?  

This, I plead, is what’s fascinating about being human. While one can never hide away one’s authentic self, this does not imply that the roles assigned are entirely deviant from us. Yes, it is admittedly daunting to work and to be hindered from embracing different heights, but through these roles, one is heard, one is seen, and one is given the opportunity to try and make a change. Whether we are living in a facade or as our truest selves, it is certain that innate within our nature is the capacity to think, imagine, and pursue what could be the next big thing.  

Famed American novelist, Ernest Hemingway, once quoted that “there is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” This is the plight that we are currently up against. We embrace the roles given to us in an effort to reveal a world as it is and as it could be. Yet doing so demands an immense sacrifice—a willingness to pour a part of ourselves into the work. It is a daunting task, but such a profound sacrifice is undeniably noble.  

While there might forever be no clear intermission to the acts that we play in life’s eternal podium, as humans, maybe we could just forge our own trajectory in life—one that continues to strive for change through the roles we belong to without the expense of our being human. Ironically, take this from a cat who is deemed to be one of the greatest magicians ever known.  

Essentially, we deserve a good break.  

Oh! Well, I never! Was there ever a cat so clever as magical Mr. Mistoffelees?   

Email me at thebedan_editorinchief@sanbeda.edu.ph