It’s not as if the subject is alien. Like many Filipino telenovelas, Betrayal follows a love triangle between three affluent people — gallerist Emma (Vanessa White, from the girl group The Saturdays), her husband and publisher Robert (James Bradwell), and her lover and Robert’s best friend literary agent Jerry (James Cooney) — all of whom are portrayed in this iteration by British actors of Philippine heritage. Pinter’s plays and poetry have always explored, as scholar Dilek İnan noted, “existential alienation in an oppressive world” and who better a subject than the diasporic Filipino — whose histories of in-betweenness, relegation to underpaid and illegal labor, fraught relationships with colonization, and encounters with structural racism remain inescapable despite whatever achievements they accrue.

But as the Q&A progressed, the disconnect between the play in Lirio’s mind and the play we witnessed grew more apparent, paralleling the disconnect in communication between the characters of Betrayal. Lirio tries to tether Pinter’s text to the distinctly Filipino — infusing the material with the subtext of Catholic guilt, diasporic pressures, and issues of transnational identity. Lirio, with set designer Miguel Urbino and scenic artist Julia Pacificador, even goes so far as to create these parallels by decorating the set with licensed reproduction of Pacita Abad’s paintings, made with permission from the Pacita Abad Art Estate. It hits intellectually at deeply interesting places but misses emotionally most of the pain points that make Betrayal echo throughout time. Though ripped directly from Pinter’s life and affair with broadcast journalist Joan Backwell and infused with the personal struggles of its cast and crew, why does this staging of Betrayal feel so polite, discordant, and borderline sterile?

It’s not as if the production is without texture. Bradwell and Cooney, as best friends who compete for Emma’s affection while duping each other, create layered performances out of their men. Cooney is frenetic, less patient, and more emotionally imbalanced as Jerry, whose repeated dismissals of his wife Judith, constant one-sided competition with Robert, and true infantile core come to the fore as the play progresses. Meanwhile, Bradwell manages to de-age Robert across time through his mannerisms — his assured but jaded facade melting away to reveal a more drunken and insidious interior as the play goes back in time. Only Bradwell seems to understand the rhythm of Pinter’s text, the tiny implosions within the pauses that have become the trademark of Betrayal. In these silences, he articulates his hesitation, fears, and exhaustion and through his words, he curates an image worthy of the public standard as a powerful man in the diaspora.

In many instances, Bradwell and Cooney have more chemistry with each other than with White, and most times, one wonders how Emma factors into all of this. In previous iterations of Betrayal, particularly the 1983 film by David Jones and penned by Pinter for the screen, the character’s bravery as an artist was at the forefront, with her status and independence challenging the social mores of the 1960s and 70s, symbolizing a new kind of woman informed but not defined by how British art was radicalized by bombings, trade union strikes, and the growth of the feminist and queer movements in London. 

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While Lirio makes similar political parallels by temporally shifting the play to the late 2010s to be truthful to the reading of second-generation immigrants struggling through Duterte and Brexit, the influence of these global moments on the characters’ personal lives isn’t as effective or clear, especially because these political fractures appear only through a one-time radio announcement. Throughout the play’s 70-minute stretch, White’s Emma becomes more of a passenger in her own story than the driver of her destiny, and while facts of her character’s life are dropped — her imagined backstory as a curator of Abad’s work at the Saatchi in London, her shared passion for literature with Jerry, and more — so little of her interiority is revealed through White’s acting and behavior.

It’s particularly frustrating because the decision to make Emma the central character in this iteration is so promising. In the Q&A, Regina de Vera, who serves as a cover for Emma, describes the character’s infidelity as an act that stems from a fundamental “undernourishment” in her relationships. It’s an often under-explored point-of-view, the idea that women “stray” as a means of arriving at a healthier, more complete self-identity; as a means of exercising self-agency in a cruel labyrinthine world. It’s an approach that makes sense considering Lirio’s reading because the Filipina has historically been relegated as a caretaker, but rarely has she been cared for in equal measure. It points to a larger cyclicality, a more primal wound rooted in our colonial past. Infidelity, through this lens, is a means of preserving the self.

But we barely get a solid understanding of what sustains Emma’s relationships with the two men throughout the 70 minutes of the play. There is no delight in the intellectual sparring, nor any alchemical pull in privacy with either of her lovers. Their kisses rarely feel ravishing. The confessions barely have weight. Even their arguments — whether during the affair or years after — are without heat. Maybe this emptiness has value in rendering palpable how emotionally inarticulate the characters must be. But it tints the experience with a banality that renders the art inert; that makes the secrets feel as if they weren’t worth keeping in the first place. If the audience cannot see why the two lovers are together, if it is unclear what alternate version becomes accessible to them through the affair, then what is the point?

In Betrayal’s ninth and final scene, Lirio devises a montage close to a mating dance between Emma and Jerry. It is the first scene in the production that inches towards something new — touching on the electricity of pursuing the forbidden, visualizing through lights, choreography, and Max Richter’s reimagining of Vivaldi the freedom infidelity promises. Only in this final moment does Lirio use Pacita Abad’s art as something beyond decoration. Above Emma, Abad’s Paris in the Fall (2003) hangs like a cross in a Catholic church, the light on it growing brighter as she reels from her encounter with Jerry, after almost being caught by Robert. The Endless Blue series was created by Abad after 9/11 and her cancer diagnosis as a testament to how mourning and joy can co-exist through color and abstraction, and Lirio uses Paris in the Fall to punctuate the death of Emma’s marriage with Robert but also the birth of possibility with Jerry; as if Pacita through the painting and across space and time were encouraging her to make a decision that will liberate her from the depths of herself.

It is a glimmer of self-discovery that demonstrates why the production is a classic. Pinter’s text has always centered around how deceit can lead us to a truer version of ourselves and how it is worth pursuing even at the expense of others. But just as things feel as if they’re opening up, just as Lirio and the production are on the precipice of insight, it ends abruptly. By failing to close the gap between its intentions and ambitions, Betrayal lives up to its name. – Rappler.com

Repertory Philippines’ Betrayal runs from March 1 to 17 at the Carlos P. Romulo Theatre in RCBC Plaza.

An earlier version of this review said the paintings used on set were lent to Repertory Philippines by Silverlens Gallery, which may have created the impression that they were the original artworks. Silverlens clarified that those were “not the real artwork by Pacita Abad,” but “licensed reproduction…made with the permission of the Pacita Abad Art Estate.” 

It was in April 2023 when Barefoot Theater Collaborative announced that they were adapting Kip Oebanda’s 2017 film into a theatrical musical. Pat Valera, who also served as the director and playwright of the musical Mula sa Buwan, is set to write the production. 

To recall, the comedy-drama film follows a group of four young men as they navigate life’s challenges while trying to pursue their dreams of being professional lawyers. It starred Enzo Pineda as Chris, Carlo Aquino as Erik, Rocco Nacino as Torran, and Kean Cipriano as Josh. 

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In Bar Boys: A New Musical, Alex Diaz will play the role of Chris, Benedix Ramos will take over the role of Erik, Jerom Canlas will portray Torran, and Omar Uddin will be Josh.

Meanwhile, Sheila Francisco will portray Justice Hernandez, who was originally played by Gawad Urian winner Odette Khan in the film.  

Other cast members include Juliene Mendoza, Nor Domingo, Topper Fabregas, Kakki Teodoro, Carlon Matobato, and Gimbey Dele Cruz. Also part of the show’s company are Diego Aranda, Edrei Tan, Joshua Ade Valenzona, Jannah Baniasia, Meg Ruiz, Anne Cortez, and Uzziel Delamide. 

Bar Boys: A New Musical will be staged for three weeks only from May 3 to 19 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Circuit Makati.

Tickets are priced P2,200 for Silver, P2,800 for Gold, and P3,000 for VIP and are available via bit.ly/barboystickets. – Rappler.com

“My actual writing, however, started in 2023 when the National Commission for Culture and the Arts announced that it was accepting proposals for theater productions that would tackle, among others, the implications of the Anti-Terror Act on society. I wrote intermittently because of commitments. But all told, I must have spent a month doing the first draft. The rewriting took longer,” Ilagan adds.

Directed by Joel Lamangan and produced by Tag-ani Performing Arts Society, the show tracks the lives of two college instructors seeking shelter in a friend’s ancestral home, after being red-tagged and harassed by state forces because of their book manuscripts, which are supposedly slated for publication.

I spoke to Ilagan and Lamangan via email and Zoom about Spirit of the Glass, the state of human rights in the country, and what we could do to protect creatives producing critical art. This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

The play is about two college instructors red-tagged and harassed by state forces. How important is it that we continue to stage stories like this, given the human rights situation under the current government?

Boni Ilagan: It is absolutely important to push back hard on red-tagging and all human rights violations, especially given the gravity of state terrorism by way of weaponizing laws and outright brute force. It becomes all the more imperative that artists create protest works and join in the mass movement to uphold dissent and the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. 

Joel Lamangan: It is very important because red-tagging is a means of identifying or calling people names without proper investigation, restriction of what they are doing, especially political moves, especially political plays, especially cultural expressions that would say the truth about what is happening. If you do that, you are being red-tagged and that is bad. Red-tagging is bad. Red-tagging is putting people on the spot. I mean, accusing people of things that they say they do, but they are not. They are just exposing truths. They are just saying what must be said.

Recently, both of you worked on ‘Oras de Peligro.’ How is it doing another project with each other?

Boni Ilagan: People might think that Direk Joel and I are always in agreement as we collaborate on a project, simply because we’ve gone through the same experience and continue to share the same politics. Even as we were both activists and political prisoners in the 1970s, he could come on strong on some points about which I differ. He has a way of picking one’s brain that pushes the person to think, “Teka muna, talaga bang ganoon ka-mali ang sinulat ko (Wait a second, was what I wrote really that wrong)?” We disagree a lot, not on the intention, but on the effect. Still, I know what he is after, which is the good of a project on whose outcome we both rise or fall. At the end of the day, however, we try our best to reach a common ground. 

Joel Lamangan: It’s always an honor to be working on a Boni Ilagan script because he always says something about what is happening in the country. It’s always about injustice. It’s always about oppression and things like [that]. So it’s an honor and privilege to do it, whether it’s a play, a film, or a television show. 

After reading the material, is there any difference in how you approach it as a director? 

Joel Lamangan: A play is a totally different medium. It has its own discipline. It’s totally different. I started in theater. Then I went to television and film. Theater for me is more interesting to do, though less ang mga nakakapanood nito (fewer people get to watch it). It is more powerful. You can say anything. In film, you have the MTRCB to confront. If the state thinks that what you did is a security risk, you have the MTRCB to confront. You have the government to confront. In [a] play, there’s nothing like that. You can say anything you like, expose anything you like. And that for me is a privilege. In this play, the actors are very good. I picked them up. I have worked with them before. And I think they can deliver what Boni Ilagan would like to deliver for them.

How are the rehearsals?

Joel Lamangan: Smooth naman ang takbo ng rehearsals namin (The rehearsals are going smoothly). Everything is provided for. We are being given what we need. Smooth, from the actors, to the staff, to the people behind the scenes, to the stage management, to the production management, everything runs smoothly.

We know how fragile the current time is when it comes to preserving and defending history, so what do you hope for the audience to get from this staging?

Boni Ilagan: I hope to impart to the audience a perspective on history and its lessons from the lived struggles of our people, not academic but definitely personal, something that springs from the heart and exudes feelings of fear, anger, defiance, love, and that which could connect with their own humanity.  

Joel Lamangan: Well, the audience will get that there are people na nire-red-tag (who are being red-tagged) as of now. As a matter of fact, this is more recent, about the novels that were red-tagged by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino. The audience will know na meron [nang red-tagging] noon (that there used to be red-tagging before), and they will know how to confront it. They will now know [it from] the other side, rather than the side only of the government saying [that] red-tagging is good. 

How do you think we can continue to protect artists, especially those who produce critical works, against threats from state forces? 

Boni Ilagan: I think the first line of defense of artists is their art and their perseverance in creating truthful art for the people no matter the situation. If they falter in creating, then they lose their momentum as well as their position of strength. Everybody else could help protect them by supporting their works and letting it be known that people’s artists have the people’s patronage.  

Joel Lamangan: I have been in this business for so long. I have been in this struggle for so long. I have been doing this since the ’70s — directing plays [and] movies. Now, you can only protect yourself if you are the ones creating it. By really creating the truth. I mean, by telling the truth. If the [state] forces would be against you, there will be some people that will help you in expressing what you would like to express. Sad to know na malakas ang fascism sa bayan na ito. Malakas ang hindrance sa mga artist na gawin nila ang gusto nilang gawin, lalo na ang totoo.

(Sad to know that fascism abounds in this country. Artists are very much hindered from doing what they want to do, especially if the work is truthful.) 

Nagkakaroon ng isyu kung ano ba ang totoo (What is true an what isn’t has become an issue). The real artist who talks about an issue in their work should serve the interests of many, not just a few. There are several truths around. You just have to pick and choose the truth that you would like to say in any medium of artistic expression, whether it’s film, theater, visual arts, dance, or music. There are truths around you and you can make use of this artistic expression to tell the truth of what is happening in the country. Sad to know, maraming hindi magandang nangyayari kaya ‘yun ang lumalabas sa lahat ng artistic expression (a lot of ugly things are happening, and that’s what’s being reflected in our artistic expression). – Rappler.com

Cadag was noticed on social media around four years ago for his resemblance to what people have been taught to be what Jesus Christ looked like – a man with long hair, moustache and beard – while selling tapa on Facebook.

In April 2022, the Philippines’ number one news and public affairs show, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (KMJS), featured him, which boosted his social media presence as well as his small business. 

“Hindi lang daw looking blessed si Marlon, feeling blessing din daw siya! Ang kanila kasing tapa business, dumami ang mga suki!” said KMJS in its video caption for the episode, “Lalaking Kamukha Raw ni Hesurkisto, #Blessed din ang Negosyo.”

(Marlon isn’t just looking blessed, he’s also feeling blessed! Because the regular clients of their tapa business has grown! The business of the man man who they say looks like Jesus Christ is also blessed.)

Almost two years after his appearance on KMJS, Cadag is now a stand-up comedian. He’s “Marlon Tapalord,” the newest member of Comedy Crew, a group of stand-up comedians and writers led by veteran funny man, Alex Calleja. 

Last week, they had the show “Laugh at First Sight,” in Berjaya Hotel, Makati on Friday, and in PETA Theater, Quezon City on Saturday. Aside from Calleja and Cadag, the other comedians included Israel Buenaobra, Mak Navarez, Rex Millora, Ramon Cabochan, Dawit Tabonares, Yuki Horikoshi, Anthony Andres, and Imay Dumagay. 

Other recent Comedy Crew shows included Victor Obera, Grease Junio, Jeps Gallon, David Blattner, Winer Aguilar, and CS dela Pena. 

Cadag got the name of his tapa business from netizens who suggested it after seeing his resemblance to Jesus Christ. 

“Noong una, nagbebenta talaga ako ng tapa, tapos nung pinost ko siya sa social media, ng food pages, yung mga tao nagpangalan sakin na ‘Uy, dapat Tapalord.’ So, yun na yung binrand ko sa tapa ko,” Cadag told TV5’s Gud Morning Kapatid on Thursday,  February 15. 

(At first, I was just selling tapa, and then I posted it on social media, food pages, and it was the netizens who gave me the idea for the business name, they said, ‘Hey, it should be Tapalord.’ So, that’s the brand I used for my tapa.)

From a small enterprise in Pateros town in the nation’s capital, Tapalord now has resellers not just in Metro Manila but also in Cavite, Bulacan, Rizal, Batangas, Zambales, and Camarines Sur. Some comedians also order the frozen tapa which they cook and eat during shootings.

Clean religious comedy

In predominantly Catholic Philippines, using Jesus Christ for comedy can incite religious sensibilities, but with advice from Calleja, Cadag has learned how to be religiously funny the right way. 

“Dati kasi, ‘di ba delikado yung masyadong religious….Ang ginawa namin, inayos lang namin yung kanyang pag ii-stand-up…Na parang sinasabi niya, ayoko, kasi masamang iano yun, kinukwento lang nya yung mga naranasan nya,” Calleja said in their TV5 guesting. 

(Before, it was dangerous if it’s too religious…What we did, we just fixed his stand-up, it’s like we’re saying, we don’t want to [offend religion], he’s just relating his experiences.)

One example is Cadag’s skit where he cites the negative side of looking like Jesus Christ, using the different definition of “tawad” in English (forgiveness) and in Filipino (discount). 

“Kilala ako sa social media bilang isang negosyante. Nagtitinda po talaga ko ng tapa. Nakikita pa lang nila yung profile pic ko, humihingi na sila agad ng tawad,” he quips.

(I became known on social media as a businessman. I really sell tapa. But once they see my profile picture, they already ask for forgiveness/discount.) 

Watch parts of his stand-up below in this video uploaded by Comedy Crew.

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Another skit makes light of the common view that when a person is about to die, he or she may get a message from God telling him his “time is up.” 

“Bukod po sa pagiging online seller, nagtayo po ako ng computer shop, pero nalugi, ‘di ko alam kung bakit. Ang galang-galang ko magsalita, lagi kong sinasabi sa kanila, ‘Anak, time mo na. Extend ka pa?‘”

(Aside from being an online seller, I also put up a computer shop, but it lost money, I don’t know why. I was very respectful, I always tell the customers, ‘Son, your time is up. Are you going to extend?’)

It was a photo of Carag with a large pan of fried tapa in 2020 that went viral, sparking funny quips as well as criticisms of him disrespecting Jesus Christ. But he told KMJS in 2022: “May mga nagagalit sa akin kasi ginagawa ko raw kalokohan ang Diyos. Ginagawa ko ‘tong gimik na ‘to para mabuhay kami. Ang ginagawan ko ng kalokohan is sarili ko lang, hindi naman ‘yung Diyos eh.”

(There were those who got angry, they say I make fun of God. I use this gimmick so that my family can live. I make fun of myself, not God.) 

“At dumami ‘yung suki ng tapa business namin. At alam kong ang lahat nang natatanggap kong pagpapala ngayon, blessing mula sa langit.” 

(And the loyal clients of our tapa business grew. I only know that these blessings I receive today are all blessings from heaven.) 

He also said that Comedy Crew offers a kind of comedy that veers away from skits that criticize and offend. 

“Kwento ng sariling buhay, sariling patawa, sariling experience, observation sa paligid, at mga pangyayari,” he said in a Comedy Crew video that introduces him.

(We tell stories about our life, our laughs, our experiences, our observations of what’s around us, and about happenings.) 

Cadag, who has been training by doing open mic for the past five months, is all praises for his mentor, Calleja, saying he and the young comedians in Comedy Crew have learned a lot from the veteran funny man. 

“Masaya, maraming kaming natutunan. Nainspire kami kasi isa siya sa mga unang nag-stand-up comedy,” he said. 

(It’s fun, we’ve learned a lot. We’re inspired because he’s one of the pioneers of stand-up comedy.)

Stand-up comedy has seen strong growth in major cities in the Philippines. Vin Buenaagua, a law student who does stand-up comedy from time to time, attributed this to the opening that social media provides, the entrepreneurs who see the demand for live comedy, and to a public looking for connection and fun after being cooped up in their homes due to the pandemic.

“In places like Metro Manila and other urban centers that come alive at night, more and more bars and restaurants are opening their doors and setting up their stages to host live events. There is also the abundance of ‘open-micers’ willing to perform just for stage time, exposure, and the occasional free food. And it can’t be denied that many people have been starved for live events since the pandemic locked them inside their homes. Performers and audiences alike are raring to create and immerse themselves in experiences outside the virtual realm, and it is in this peculiar set of circumstances that stand-up comedy is thriving at the moment,” Buenaagua said in an article published by Rappler. (Read the full piece below.) – Rappler.com

Filipino stand-up comedy is thriving – here’s why

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That might sound like a challenge for a husband-and-wife team, but Parker and Broderick told Reuters they enjoyed appearing together in Neil Simon’s comedy Plaza Suite.

“It’s very easy to work together I find… She’s so good, so that helps,” Broderick said after a gala performance on Sunday, January 28 night, attended by actors Martin Freeman and Marisha Wallace alongside other celebrities.

Plaza Suite was set to open in New York in spring 2020 but the curtains came down when the COVID pandemic hit. It opened in 2022 and has now moved to London’s Savoy Theatre. 

“I think we understand now what it is… in the beginning it seemed daunting and potentially a catastrophe before we ever did it because there was so much to figure out together,” Parker said.

“I wasn’t concerned about him, I was more concerned about me. But we sort of have a language as we all do in the cast and the company. It’s great, I think also especially being here it’s nervous making… but to have somebody that you feel so happily reliant upon, it’s made it very comforting.”

Both are no strangers to the stage. Parker made her Broadway debut aged 11. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off star Broderick has two Tony Awards and last performed in London in 2019.

The play, which opened this month and has had mixed reviews, runs until April 13.

Asked how it felt to bring the show to London, Parker said: “Thus far okay… it’s been really lovely, it’s been fun. And I think we’ve both been very touched by the reception of the audience. They’ve been so spirited and enthusiastic it’s been really wonderful.” – Rappler.com

On Sunday, January 28, PETA unveiled the cast lineup. Sam Concepcion and CJ Navato will alternately play the role of Popoy while Anna Luna and Nicole Omillo will be alternating in the character of Basha. 

John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo played the role of Popoy and Basha, respectively, in the 2007 movie. 

Joining them are Kiara Takahashi and Sheena Belarmina, who will share the character of Tricia, and Jeff Florez and Jay Gonzaga, who will alternately play Mark. 

Other cast members include Ada Tayao and Rica Laguardia as Krissy, Poppert Bernadas and Paji Arceo as Kenneth, Via Antonio and Dippy Arceo as Anj, Johnnie Moran as Chinno, and Jon Abella as JP. Details for each character were listed in the casting brief provided by PETA during their auditions. 

The musical, which will also feature music from the OPM folk pop band Ben&Ben, will run from April 12 to June 16 at the PETA Theater Center. Final time slots have yet to be announced. 

As of writing, ticket prices and selling dates are still yet to be disclosed. 

Directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, One More Chance follows college sweethearts Popoy and Basha on the verge of a breakup after five years of being together. The film was released in November 2007, while its sequel A Second Chance was released in November 2015. 

It was in October 2023 when PETA first announced that they were adapting the Filipino classic into a musical. The theater adaptation will be the latest of PETA’s stagings, following Rak of Aegis, Three Stars and a Sun, and Walang Aray. – Rappler.com

All honed under stage directing classes, the three plays in the roster are gently warm and silly on the surface. All of which, at its core, negotiate with relationships at different junctures in our lives: one at an early stage, another set to begin a new track, and another hoping to mend what was once a strong connection. But what defines, if not separates, this triptych from one another is depth and each material’s decision to interrogate prescient discussions head-on or evade it altogether.

Here is a closer look at each staging.

Eyeball (written by Alfonso Dacanay, directed by Shaun Salvador) 

When Eyeball leans into the right impulse, it can easily pull off its comedy. It’s all a matter of timing, as one might venture to point out, which figures in the work of Garnet Acala as Wilson, best friend of chief character Eileen (Theya Almazan), who steps out of her shell and agrees to meet Patrick (John Arcenas) at a cafe, buoyed only by their four-month encounter online and their penchant for anything John Grisham. 

Acala steals the show because of how they make the most out of what is given to them, even at times when playwright Alfonso Dacanay retreats to humor when the plotting begins to feel aimless, if not one-note. The emotional heft doesn’t quite come through because the script operates from a vantage point that refuses to really let us into the excitement, delusions, and dangers of virtual dating and what comes after it. The intrigue is there, but the show falters to make it more tempting.

For the most part, Eyeball ticks the boxes yet fails to excavate a wealth of insight beyond that. Consider how it is immediately out in the open that Patrick’s a jerk, only for the material to affirm the obvious in its endnote. It’s a barrel of laughs, there’s no doubt about that, but the comic relief can only do so much. It’s among those works that I wish had the gall to risk something more, to not shy away from sheer audacity. Nevertheless, we take what we can get and applaud the effort.

Huling Kuha (written by Mark Ghosn, directed by Francesca Holly Marie Facultad) 

What hinders Huling Kuha from completely reaching a satisfying peak is that it rushes itself to head to the next plot point. Things escalate so quickly and in ways that it doesn’t afford one to let the feeling linger, to relish the moment that could have greatly illuminated its central narrative, about a couple set to enter married life, until one cheats on the other yet again. And when it comes to adapting a work on the stage, pacing, no matter the flaws of the source material, is one thing that can be addressed through directing, a glaring lapse that is simply difficult to set aside, considering how the show hinges so much on building tension. And if its idea of tension is steeping its characters in loud, grating exchanges to tedious extent, then it clearly misses the point. The result is this floodgate of emotions that doesn’t feel quite as sweeping as it intends to. But one can admire the earnestness propelling the duo of Ancel Rabanal and John Roni Paderes, despite the excess, especially at a point when the audience erupts into raucous laughter amid a heated and critical moment between the characters. Huling Kuha would have been far more emotionally full had it only let its narrative breathe, had it not taken itself too seriously.

10 to Midnight (written by Juliene Mendoza, directed by Exequiel Camporedondo) 

Among the plays in the roster, I am most familiar with 10 to Midnight, Juliene Mendoza’s entry to last year’s Virgin Labfest, which I chiefly recall for how the playwright treats the story with sheer heart and throbbing tenderness. Of course, it’s hard to tame expectations, given how compact and reliable the material is. Yet, from the terrific poster by Mark Tisado to the impressive execution by director Exequiel Camporedondo, there is never a false note in this adaptation. Never did I try to measure the work based on its predecessor, even when I was tempted to, for it is so comfortable in its own skin that it feels like a new work altogether. 

Camporedondo knows what he’s doing. He knows that he can still drill into the heart even when he subtly tweaks the ending. He knows how to make us burst into laughter, how to keep the looming ache at bay, and when to pull the trigger and let go. So does the tandem of Jules Azaula and Jigger Sementilla as Bien and Billy, respectively, brothers whose relationship has gone sour after their father’s demise. Their characters are exact opposites, but Azaula and Sementilla make the perfect pair, for how they can individually command their parts, be playful, and still be completely attuned to each other’s emotional beats and the narrative’s rhythm. There is so much restraint in the work but it’s not tight; it is calculated but effortless. Lora Kate and Reign Fausto also did incredibly well in the set design and props and costume department to heighten the distance between Bien and Billy, and how debilitating their relationship can be, just as lights designer Third Salamat finds the right opportunity to allow the heaviness to sink in, to make the heft more volcanic.

10 to Midnight excavates many things: familial baggage, mental health issues, toxic masculinity, substance abuse, and plenty more. But what it achieves with such force is how to structure each matter it untangles in perfect alignment and how to take its time to see the whole from afar, like looking at a constellation so vivid and fascinating. First great piece of theater I’ve seen this year. – Rappler.com

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The best Filipino theater of 2023

Based loosely on Puccini’s opera La Boheme, Jonathan Larson’s Rent follows a group of young people struggling to survive in Manhattan in the ‘90s under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. 

The rock musical was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1996 and won four including Best Musical. It was also one of the longest-running shows on Broadway and was adapted into a film in 2005. 

For its run in Manila, Anthony Rosaldo will portray Roger, a struggling musician who is HIV-positive. Meanwhile, actresses Molly Langley and Thea Astley will be alternating as Mimi, Roger’s love interest. 

 Ian Pangilinan and Reb Atadero will be alternating in the role of narrator Mark Cohen. 

The role of his ex-girlfriend Maureen will be played alternately by Justine Peña and Jasmine Fitzgerald. Mica Fajardo and Fay Castro will play Maureen’s lawyer girlfriend Joanne.

Adrian Lindayag and Lance Reblando will be alternating for the role of Angel, a drag queen and street percussionist who is HIV-positive. His partner, Tom Collins, will be played by Garrett Bolden and Markki Stroem. 

Stroem will also play Benny together with Guji Lorenzana, who will also portray the role of Mr. Johnson. 

Also part of the cast are Abi Sulit (Pam), Jordan Andrews (Gordono), Misha Fabian (Ally), Chesko Rodriguez and Paul Valdez (Steve), Kai Banson (Alexi Darling), and Vyen Villanueva (Paul). 

9 Works Theatrical has yet to announce the show’s final schedule and ticket prices. 

9 Works Theatrical, which was also behind the local productions of American Idiot, Eto na! Musika nAPO!, and Tick, Tick… Boom!, previously staged Rent in Manila in 2010 and 2011. – Rappler.com

MANILA, Philippines – Producer GMG Productions has announced that Filipino-Australian theater actress Abigail Adriano will be headlining the upcoming Miss Saigon musical in Manila. 

“Introducing our incredible Kim for the [Miss Saigon Philippines] season, Abigail Adriano,” the production company announced through their social media platforms on January 15.

Following the announcement, the 19-year-old star expressed her excitement by sharing photos of herself dressed as Kim. To note, she has previously played the lead role in the musical’s Sydney Opera House production. 

“It’s official, Manila. I’m coming soon, family! Who’s ready for the heat in the Philippines,” she wrote. 

According to her artist bio in the Opera Australia website, Adriano began her performance training when she was just six years old. She also studied both classical and contemporary music under renowned voice teacher Peter Bodnar. 

Her first role in theater was playing Alice in the Tim Minchin production Matilda the Musical. Portraying Kim in Miss Saigon was her first professional lead role. 

Aside from theater, Adriano has also appeared in the Netflix/ABC television series The Unlisted and competed in The Voice Kids Australia. 

Additionally, Filipino Broadway diva Lea Salonga, who first played Kim in the musical’s 1989 iteration, also sent a message for Adriano. 

Reminding that the role is a “mammoth undertaking,” Salonga told Adriano that the young star should be “fully aware of what is required of [her] in portraying her role. 

The Tony Award winner also left a piece of advice: “Enjoy every moment of the process of creating this character. Create something that you can call that is absolutely yours.”

Salonga added that she hopes Adriano’s run would be one of the most successful. 

Aside from Adriano, GMG Productions has also announced that Seann Miley Moore will portray the Engineer, Nigel Huckle will play Chris, and Kiara Dario will play Gigi. 

Meanwhile, the production recently held auditions for the child character Tam. 

Inspired by the 1904 opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil’s Miss Saigon centers on the romance between American sergeant Chris and a Vietnamese bar girl named Kim amidst the 1970s Vietnam War. 

The latest production of Miss Saigon will be available to Filipino audiences starting March 23, 2024 at the Theatre at Solaire in Parañaque City. It will run until May 5. 

Laurence Connor will direct, with musical staging by Bob Avian and additional choreography by Geoffrey Garratt.  – Rappler.com

Inspired by the 1904 opera Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil’s Miss Saigon centers on the romance between American sergeant Chris and a Vietnamese bar girl named Kim amidst the 1970s Vietnam War. 

Tam is Kim and Chris’ child. Tam was raised alone by his mother. 

“The character is male identifying, of Vietnamese heritage with a playing age of three years,” GMG Productions said about the character. 

According to the producers, the role can be portrayed by any gender aged four to eight. However, auditionees with long hair may be required to cut their hair if cast for the musical. 

Only those who are 115 cm tall and below can audition. GMG Productions noted that while they’re flexible in the age and gender of the auditionees, they’re strict with the height restriction. 

Those interested to portray Tam must be confident and have basic understanding of the English language. They must also be able to remain still and silent as the role doesn’t have singing or speaking lines. 

GMG Productions also listed that while there’s no preparation required for the audition, auditionees can expect to play games during the casting call. 

Interested auditionees should pre-register via the form found in GMG Productions’ website until January 9, 6:30 pm. Walk-in auditionees will not be entertained on the day of the audition. 

Auditions will be held on January 11 to 12 at The Theater at Solaire. 

Rehearsals and performances for the Manila run will run from around March 21 to May 5 while June 1 to July 14 for the potential further dates in Asia, so auditionees should be available during that time frame. 

“The schedule rotates, with each child being present in the theater for a number of shows each week,” they noted. 

The latest production of Boublil & Schönberg’s Miss Saigon will be available to Filipino audiences starting March 23, 2024 at the Theatre at Solaire in Parañaque City. It will run until May 5. 

Laurence Connor will direct, with musical staging by Bob Avian and additional choreography by Geoffrey Garratt. 

Meanwhile, other details about the cast for Miss Saigon in Manila have yet to be announced. – Rappler.com