Tag: Betrayal

REP Presents Harold Pinter’s Betrayal: A Dramatic Deception in March

Repertory Philippines (REP) raises the curtain for its 87th season with the Manila premiere of Betrayal, a renowned play by British theater icon and Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter, running from March 1 to March 17 at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC Plaza.

A recipient of The Olivier Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, Betrayal employs a reverse-chronological structure to tell the poignant tale of an extramarital affair involving Emma, Robert, and Jerry, who is Robert’s best friend. Inspired by Pinter’s own seven-year affair, the play is a three-hander and takes place in London and Venice over a nine-year period.

Directed by critically acclaimed actor and theater director Victor Lirio, Betrayal features a cast of London-based Filipino actors James Bradwell, James Cooney, and Vanessa White who all boast extensive experience on stage and on screen, and beyond.

New York and London-based Lirio has directed several productions in New York and London. He was most recently Resident Director on Dr Semmelweis in the West End starring Oscar winner Mark Rylance at Harold Pinter Theatre in London. He was the former artistic director of Diverse City Theater in New York.

Bradwell has performed at prestigious venues in London such as Shakespeare’s Globe and The Royal Court Theatre, and has played various TV roles including a part in Netflix’s Bridgerton. Cooney has played lead roles in several productions at The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Old Vic, and, most recently, The Almeida Theatre in London. Finally, White, also a former member of English-Irish girl group The Saturdays, returns to her theater roots having performed in the West End productions of The Lion King and The King and I.

They will be joined by Manila-based actors and Philstage Gawad Buhay awardees Regina De Vera and Jef Flores. Betrayal will feature set design by Miguel Urbino, lighting design by John Batalla, sound design by Fabian Obispo, and costume design by Becky Bodurtha.

“I am thrilled to be directing my first production in my home country and at Repertory Philippines,” Lirio says. “We will be exploring Betrayal from the second-generation Filipino immigrant experience in London and set it in the contemporary time. Though born in England, actors James Cooney’s and Vanessa White’s families are from Davao and James Bradwell’s from Naga City. My family is from Batangas. And we will mine our Filipino roots to re-tell this beautiful and complicated story.”

REP presents Betrayal as part of The Bridge Project, a collaboration among global professional theater practitioners of Filipino descent from New York, London, and Manila. Launched by Lirio in June 2020 in London and currently in partnership with REP in Manila, this global undertaking serves as a skills exchange platform. The Bridge Project will offer free Knowledge Sharing Sessions that will touch on theater topics like Shakespeare text rhetoric, text & scene study, script analysis for visual designers, voice and theater experience, as well as a speaker series forum and some staged readings. The classes will be held at MINT College, Mckinley Hill and Ortigas Campus. Registration begins the first week of February. Interested parties may download application forms at repertoryphilippines.ph and their social media channels.

“I sense a real commitment and passion from REP for a global collaboration among Filipino artists,” adds Lirio. “I’m grateful to REP President and CEO Mindy Perez-Rubio for supporting The Bridge Project’s ethos and for having the London-based Filipino actors and me. We’re all very excited to collaborate with fellow theater artists in Manila in presenting one of Pinter’s most extraordinary plays.”

For show-buying and ticket inquiries, contact REP at 0966-905-4013 or send us an email at marketing@repphil.org, sales@repphil.org or through this link: https://linktr.ee/repertoryphilippines Tickets are now available via Ticketworld.

For updates and show schedules, visitwww.repertoryphilippines.ph, or like and follow @repertoryphilippines on Facebook and Instagram.

March 8, 2024
REVIEW: Repertory Philippines’ ‘Betrayal’ puts you in a vise of repressed emotions

I have heard a lot about the playwright Harold Pinter but never actually got to read or see any of his plays produced until now. Repertory Philippines through New York and London-based director Victor Lirio has brought Pinter’s classic 1978 play ‘Betrayal’ to the Carlos P Romulo Theater at the RCBC. A three-hander, the roughly 90-minute production is a story of an affair unraveling backwards through time. It has all the qualities that have come to define what a Pinter play is: characters in enclosed spaces, the barest minimum of plot, and dialogue that is meant to highlight the changing power dynamics between the characters as they struggle to pick each other apart as they try to derive a semblance of truth.

What makes this production more appealing is that Lirio has decided to bring in three British Filipino actors – Vanessa White, James Bradwell, and James Cooney (with Jeff Flores and Regina De Vera as understudies) – and to approach the production through a British-Filipino lens. During the talkback after the opening night, Lirio says that not a single line of dialogue was touched or changed. The essence of the play that Pinter originally wrote in 1978 is intact, the only difference is that it centers now on the character of Emma and that the emotional core of the performances are tied to the actor’s understanding of the British-Filipino experience.

‘Betrayal’ is the story of an affair that happens between Emma (White) and Jerry (Cooney), the best friend of Emma’s husband Robert (Bradwell). The affair lasted seven years and as the play opens, Emma reveals to Jerry that her marriage to Robert is ending, despite the fact that affair had ended two years prior. She tells him Robert has just discovered “last night” about Emma and Jerry’s affair while revealing his own infidelity and this leads Jerry to meet with Robert. In their scene together, Jerry discovers that Robert has known for four years now and that Emma had told him back then, and now Jerry is left to wonder why Emma would “betray him” like that.

REP Philippines’ Betrayal features a cast of London-based Filipino actors

The play that moves backwards in time, to key moments that reveal the many lies that were told to maintain such a long-standing affair and the layers of deception that were at work as who knew what at what point in time starts to show the utter complexities of human relationships and dynamics.

There is a straightforwardness to Pinter’s dialogue. Surprisingly, Lirio makes a decision to remove all displays of histrionics and fiery tempers from this production. At its highest emotional points, Jerry (James Cooney) raises his voice twice while Bradwell’s Robert has a drunken moment where he almost reveals his inner thoughts and feelings. These were the most gregarious displays of emotions that the show is able to muster for the audience. It keeps things restrained, all emotions held back and kept in, and fills the show with an aura and atmosphere of repression and imprisonment.

REP Philippines’ Betrayal leads with critically acclaimed actor and theater director Victor Lirio

Lirio and the cast discussed that the British-Filipino perspective that came into the approach of this play and its characters meant that they had to draw from the attitudes of dignity and pride. Being of Asian descent meant the pressures to fit in so strongly and since the threat of racism hangs over these characters’ heads, it was important for them to be better, to be dignified at all times. It’s why there is much in the direction that everything is measured out in such small doses. And nothing is ever revealed.

It is an interesting perspective that has a double-edged effect for the audience. On one hand, there were many that enjoyed the more dignified presentation of people who are coming to terms with an affair. It is so far removed from the Filipino experience of loud, passionate displays of hurt pride and grief and loss. On the other hand, it can also keep the play from reaching any real point of catharsis. It’s a mental game rather than an emotional one, and one can leave the theater feeling very cold.

Bradwell and Cooney manage to thrive in this environment. Both actors manage to humanize their characters underneath Pinter’s measured dialogue and Lirio’s restrained direction. As they try to keep all the rage and anger and confusion inside, what they are able to telegraph from their posture, the shift of pitch and tone of their voice as they deliver the lines, betray the thoughts that are simmering inside them (pun intended). The weight of the lies play out so evidently in Bradwell’s gait and posture. Cooney, on the other hand, gains and loses his character’s sense of confidence and self-depending on the scene. Unfortunately, White seems unable to push Emma’s interiority out for us to chew on. She is so restrained, so repressed that nothing escapes. Her delivery and movements are so mannered, so precise that it looks rehearsed, bordering on the inauthentic.

I am so glad to have finally seen a Pinter play. ‘Betrayal’ is such a cerebral endeavor. It’s hard-hitting and doesn’t pull back any punches. Its non-linear narrative structure demands your full attention. The structure points to an inevitability that can be read as cynical and it can make you question the ways by which we interact with the people around us and, most importantly, the way we see ourselves. Rep’s production is different, maybe refreshing, definitely daring but not without its disadvantages. There’s no catharsis here. No release from the pent-up emotions. It’s a study on repression and it entraps its audience in its vise.

My Rating:

BETRAYAL is currently running at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC Plaza until March 17. For tickets, please contact REP Philippines at 0966-905-4013.

March 8, 2024
REP Returns in Full Force with A New Season of Dynamic Productions for 2024

Repertory Philippines returns to form for its 87th season with a full lineup, a first since 2019, marking a celebration of the enduring legacy of one of the country’s foremost theater companies and a resurgence of live stage performances all around the world.

REP launches into 2024 with exciting new productions that explore a kaleidoscope of narratives and characters that tackle the profound universality of love and yearning. This new season takes audiences to the familiar highs and lows of all kinds of relationships and inspires them to deepen their appreciation for Filipino culture. As one of the longest-running English-speaking theater companies in Southeast Asia, REP opens its 2024 season by bringing two exciting global productions to Philippine theater.

The first is the Manila premiere of Betrayal, one of the best-known plays of British theater icon and Nobel Prize winner in Literature Harold Pinter. It will feature London-based Filipino actors James Bradwell, James Cooney, and Vanessa White with Jef Flores and Regina De Vera as covers.  Running from March 1 to 17, this production employs a reverse-chronological structure to tell the story and examine the consequences of an extramarital affair on three complex individuals and how clandestine meetings turn to dramatic confrontations. A recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, the drama has featured prominent British actors like Michael Gambon, Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Tom Hiddleston.

This Manila staging of Betrayal holds many other firsts for REP. It is going to be the first Pinter play of the theater company. It marks the Philippine directorial debut of Victor Lirio, a Manila-born, New York and London based actor and theatre director, who trained at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and earned his Master of Arts in Drama Directing from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.  He was most recently Resident Director on Dr Semmelweis at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London’s West End starring Oscar winner Mark Rylance. REP will also collaborate with Lirio on The Bridge Project, a “skills exchange” program for professional practitioners trained in different theater cultures to create a congress for collaborative learning. The three Filipino-British actors, along with two New York-based Filipino-American designers and Lirio, are being flown in to Manila by REP in February not only to perform in Betrayal, but also to hold free masterclasses, lectures and readings, for Filipino theater practitioners and audiences.

From June 7 to 30, REP then goes off-Broadway with the lighthearted Joe Di Pietro (book and lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music) musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change taking audiences through a whirlwind series of vignettes on love and relationships. Perfect for fans of modern musicals and sitcoms, the revue is rife with a whirlwind cast of characters ranging from big-city singles and awkward wallflowers to suburban settlers and sassy seniors – all played by a cast of four!  The longest-running off-Broadway musical revue with tours to 250 cities worldwide, this musical also tackles everything people thought about dating and marriage, lovers, and in-laws—but were just too afraid to confront and admit.

Directed by the ‘first lady’ of Philippine musical theater Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, REP’s I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Changeensures a seamless blend of hearty humor and music. Other renowned creatives joining the production are Ejay Yatco for musical direction and Joey Mendoza for set design.

For its last two 2024 offerings, REP celebrates its roots by underlining its love for Filipino storytelling. Repertory Theater for Young Audiences (RTYA) showcases Filipino folklore in the all-new children’s musical Jepoy and the Magic Circle an adaption of The Magic Circle, a children’s short story by Philippine cultural icon and literature legend Gilda Cordero Fernando. The light-hearted musical centers on Jepoy and his dog, Galis, as they enter the whimsical balete world and befriend kapres, aswangs and tiyanaksand everything in between, to attend a tikbalang wedding.

Premiering in the last quarter of the year, Jepoy and the Magic Circle is bound to resonate with young audiences, leaving them with a meaningful and enduring message about the power of empathy and caring for the planet. This musical adventure is brought to life by RTYA Creative Director Joy Virata as its director, award-winning playwright Rody Vera, and Ejay Yatco as its musical director.

REP caps off 2024 in November till December its first-ever original jukebox musical: Going Home to Christmas featuring the music of Mr. Christmas himself, Jose Mari Chan!

For the season’s closing show, REP taps distinguished director, actor, and set designer Leo Rialp as director and esteemed theater actor Jeremy Domingo as assistant director. The musical is written by REP stalwarts Robbie Guevara, Luna Griño-Inocian, and Joel Trinidad, with additional scenes by Cathy Azanza-Dy.

Chan’s music and lyrics lend themselves to the charming and heartwarming stories; provide the perfect soundtrack for this seasonal offering; and, make Going Home to Christmas a theater experience the whole family will surely enjoy.

What makes the 2024 season extra special for REP is it also marks its nostalgic return to the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC Plaza, when they inaugurated the theater in 2001 with Celebration III, A Musical Revue before running for two wonderful decades at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt.

“This new REP season is going to be one for the books. We’re back and stronger than ever since the pandemic, having experimented with virtual theater and mounted Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Carousel as well as currently staging Snow White and the Prince for RTYA,” says REP President and CEO Mindy Perez-Rubio. “Despite dealing with close to four years of darkness, the show must go on. REP is ready for a new chapter with a fresh lineup of carefully curated productions, plus the initiation of The Bridge Project, that will enrich the cultural lives of Filipino theatergoers and artists.”

Catch the entire REP 2024 season by purchasing season passes now. Season subscribers can get access to REP productions at up to 30% off. The full season year pass includes 3 season shows + RTYA, with the Gold Year Pass at Php 6,650 (Orchestra Center), the Silver Year Pass at Php 5,250 (Orchestra Side) and a Balcony Year Pass at Php 3,710. Student and Corporate Season Passes are also available at discounted prices.

For show-buying and ticket inquiries, contact REP at 0966-905-4013 or send an email at marketing@repphil.org or sales@repphil.org.

For updates and show schedules, visit www.repertoryphilippines.ph, or like and follow @repertoryphilippines on Facebook and Instagram.

December 15, 2023