Battalia Royale, set to open in Feb 2012

One of my favorite Japanese films of all-time is Battle Royale - a cult piece which merited a sequel with a tag-team twist wherein a select class of high school students are gassed and kidnapped during their field trip and then wake up in a military concentration camp as a kill-fest disciplinary measure by the Japanese government.

Battle Royale is a result of the youth’s growing insubordination and folly to their seniors, and as a result, the students are assigned random weapons ranging from swiss knives to full-on machine guns, and are forced to kill each other in order to survive. Only one may walk away from the madness within a given time frame - fighting proximities, kill zones, and battle rules applied.

There were rumors of an American version being produced many years back but plans fell through. Of course, Hunger Games which tackles the same premise is set to open in Manila sometime this year.

 

You can just imagine my excitement when I found out that Sipat Lawin Ensemble, a growing presence in today’s theater scene, is doing a local adaptation of the film which is set to open in February. Browsing through their Facebook account, I was able to unearth the following details:

MR SALAMON:
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Battalia Royale!

My name is Fraser Salamon. I’m your host for this evening’s game.

I’d like to introduce you to Class Hope of Our Lady of Guadalupe High. These 40 fifteen year-olds have been selected to take part in this year’s game. Last night they left Manila on their way to a class trip to Mount Pinatubo. However, on the way to their destination, a sedative gas was released into the bus. While they were unconscious, they were re-routed to this location.

That’s right, we’re talking about you! You see, the effects of the sedative are starting to wear off.

While they were asleep, each student was fitted with a special collar, like this one. In each collar is a device which monitors the student’s breath and pulse and a transmitter and receiver. In short, the collar enables us to determine whether the student is alive or dead.

The game lasts for eight hours. At the end of eight hours, if more than one student is left alive, a final mechanism is activated - here - which triggers a small springloaded wire to slice open the windpipe.

If only one student is left alive, that student is the winner. They receive a variety of prizes.

***
Sipat Lawin Ensemble’s BATTALIA ROYALE
a loose-adaptation of Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale that makes the Hunger Games a rip-off. 
FEBRUARY 2012.
WILL KEEP YOU POSTED ABOUT FURTHER DEETZ

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus

22 Notes

  1. sirkevinmartin reblogged this from theaterati
  2. frameweaver reblogged this from theaterati
  3. marikoisbipolar reblogged this from theaterati
  4. oohjoelle reblogged this from gatusby
  5. gatusby reblogged this from theaterati
  6. theaterati posted this