I never got to see the 2007 film ‘Endo’ by Jade Castro so I was coming in without preconceived expectations. I know that playwright Liza Magtoto made big changes in the premise when adapting and modernizing the material, focusing more on today’s gig economy rather than just on contractual workers.
Endo. The Stage Adaptation centers on Leo (played by Royce Cabrera or Esteban Mara), a rider juggling multiple odd jobs to provide for his father and younger brother. His girlfriend Candy (played by Iana Bernardez or Kate Alejandrino) quits her job to be a content creator, an ambition that ultimately leads her to a decision to break up with Leo.
Coincidentally, Leo keeps connecting with Tanya (played by Jasmine Curtis-Smith or Rissey Reyes-Robinson), a nursing graduate who does a multitude of jobs including online live-selling. Leo and Tanya catch feelings but their tenuous economic situation leaves very little room for planning a proper future. Tanya is more secured with an actual college degree and a plan, which runs counter to Leo’s own mindset of “just getting by” survivalist mindset.
While the play deals with grounded, such real-world themes, playwright Magtoto and director Melvin Lee choose to present this version of End as a hyper-realistic modern theatrical fantasy. Leo, Tanya, and Candy feel more like archetypes than fully fleshed out characters; the narrative never really sinks too deep into them. Instead, they feel like representations and by doing so, the play creates allowances for improbable coincidences, heightened drama, and a plot that is teetering into the edge of melodrama: because of course, Leo’s father is a diabetic and this will play out later or how every other character they meet are hustlers of every shape and form.
Director Melvin Lee also imbues the whole play with a bit of a ballet as transitions. An ensemble that acts as “proteans” constantly shifting to play various characters that they meet or becoming physical embodiments of the social and economic forces that keep Leo away from Tanya. In one dramatic scene, Leo tries to reach out for Tanya in a crowded street and the ensemble, as the crowd, suddenly picks up Leo and carries him away.
The set design is equally metaphorical: the whole center stage lifts up, buoyed by a spring that keeps it from ever feeling stable. It is definitely a metaphor on how unstable the lives of these characters are. Love scenes are portrayed as a choreographed duet between Leo and Tanya.
The overall effect of these theatrical techniques is that it takes this very grounded story and turns it into something like a dark, urban, modern fairytale. Leo, Tanya, and Candy are just characters in a story that is meant to show us how the system is failing these characters. This stylistic choice softens the inherent bleakness of the material – which it gets – making it more palatable and accessible to a larger audience rather than if it were a straight-up play in the realist mode.
As a “pretentious” lover of theater, I don’t mind the heavy-handed serious stuff, but I understand why they took this approach. It allows for a younger audience – maybe kids as young as Senior High School students – to be able to come and watch this show. As realistic as it gets, it still has moments of humor, of romance, and of hope.
The show I attended featured Royce Cabrera as Leo, Jasmine Curtis-Smith as Tanya, and Iana Bernardez as Candy. These are incredibly fine actors, and it took me awhile to realise that they were working on archetypes, playing out the most identifiable features of their characters rather than working on nuanced levels. They each synced with the tone and aesthetics of the play, which helped bring out the intention of the play.
Cabrera is a powerful presence on stage; capable of that tunnel vision of the typical Filipino male while also bringing out Leo’s vulnerability in the key moments. Curtis-Smith’s Tanya can appear looking very naive and Curtis-Smith is not afraid to put that on full display but there’s a strength that’s there inside which she is able to release at the play’s climax. Bernardez is all narcissistic, chaotic energy turning Candy into a storm that ruins Leo’s peace.
It is an interesting approach to the material, and one which I understand. It talks about the inability of people who are lacking in any real job security to dream and hope. By turning it into a theatrical modern urban fairytale, PETA Plus successfully draws a crowd, keeping them entertained while subtly forcing them to ponder the systemic failures that leave so many of our countrymen behind.
My Rating: 4 Stars
Come for the star power of Cabrera, Curtis-Smith, and Bernardez; stay for the powerful story that refuses to be ignored. Book your tickets for Endo. The Adaptation. The show runs until May 10! Get your tickets via: ticket2me.net/Endo
