Tag: Theater Review

Theater Review — ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ While Enjoyable, Ends Up Highlighting the Difference Between Americans and Filipinos in Dating

‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ by Joe DiPietro (book and lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music) is light-hearted musical comedy about love and relationships and all the struggles and hurdles that come with it. There’s no overall narrative at work, the play is a series of vignettes between a man and a woman (though there are some quartet work and one couple variant are two married men) that detail some of the inner thoughts that enter our heads when it comes to dating, to our self-worth and self-image (in relationship to relationships), to sex, to being in a relationship, to getting married, and all that happens after marriage. It’s quickly paced, witty and clever and upbeat, and says quite a lot of things that not a lot of people say out loud (but you know they think it) and over-all is quite a fun and amusing play.

Directed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change officially opened
REP’s 88th Season at its new home theater in Eastwood. Photo Credit: Noah Del Rosario

Sitting in the new Repertory Theater in Eastwood, I remember laughing and seeing how good the four performers were. I caught the cast that composed of Barbara Jance, Krystal Kane, Marvin Ong, and Gian Magdangal and these four actors are shifting and switching roles per vignette. At one point, he’s a guy who is boring her during their date and in the next scene, they could be a married couple with a new infant wondering what happened to their sex life. Most of the play is sung through, but in the few moments when they engage in dialogue and trade lines, you can see the honesty in their work. They are all fabulous singers, and you can tell they are having fun. And with a fun show like that, it is thrown back to the audience.

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change also touches on how friendships and romantic love change
when kids enter the picture. Photo Credit: Noah Del Rosario

But the thing about the play is that I do remember laughing. I remember enjoying myself and having a good time. But the moment I was out of the theater, I don’t remember much. It’s the way that the play is written. It’s making a lot of fun (and in its own way, creating a critique about our world in terms of dating and relationships) at the complex ways with which we think about romance and love. It does say some pretty interesting things in some parts while others take a more traditional stance but, in the end, it wraps everything up very neatly and manages to say much at all. I’m not saying that all plays must be thought-provoking and profound. This is definitely a great time in the theater but what it did was made me think about how different Americans see relationships and dating in comparison to us.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Repertory Philippines (@repertoryphilippines)

There are similarities, sure, and this is wonderfully done by one scene early on about a guy and girl who are attracted to each other but don’t think they are attractive enough to be wanted. Beautifully done and so authentically performed. But the show is primarily done in duets which sort of emphasizes the loneliness and isolation of American culture. These exact same moments, in a Filipino setting, would not be duets, but songs sung and performed in front of their barkada or their one or two closest friends. Filipino culture is so rooted in family and community and the stories that unfold in ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’ would play out so differently if it were done with the Filipino mentality in place. This is the disconnect I felt with the material.

But the show itself is so enjoyable and well put together. Director Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo utilizes projectors and scrims to really create a vibrant, dynamic backdrop that keeps changing according to the narrative of the vignette. With only two actos on stage, most of the time, and with four at the most, I’m surprised how that stage never feels empty. The movements, that projector and the scrims, it’s a dynamic world that keeps the energy flowing and you don’t get lost from the transitions from moment to moment. Kudos to projection designer GA Fallarme, Set and Costume Designer Joey Mendoza, and Light Designer Meliton Roxas Jr for keeping the world on that stage vibrant and breathing.

My Rating:

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change will run until March 9, 2025 at the REP Eastwood Theater. Get your tickets at Ticketworld and Ticket2Me.

February 27, 2025
Theater Review — An Exquisite Total Theatrical Experience, ‘Sintang Dalisay’ Is Must-See Theater

‘Sintang Dalisay’ is a marvelous work of sheer genius – from the immersive direction of the late Ricardo Abad and Guelan Varela-Luarca, to the adaptation and translation of Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by National Artist Rolando Tinio, the exquisite choreography of Matthew Santamaria (and fight choreography by Brian Sy), and the stirring musical direction of Jayson “Dyandi” Gildore – as it reimagines the tragic story of the star-crossed lovers in an imagined Muslim community in the Southern Philippines. Romeo and Juliet are transformed into Rashiddin and Jamila and the entire experience is told through dance and song and the poetry of Shakespeare’s words adapted into the most lyrical of Filipino verses. It’s a total theatrical spectacle the trims down the original play into a tight 2 hours filled with joy and sadness, love and loss.

Taking all the narrative beats from the original, Rashiddin and Jamila are from two rival families, Mustapha and Kalimuddin, who are constantly feuding in the town. During a forced truce, Rashiddin sneaks into a feast held by the Kalimuddin family for Jamila and in brief instant, they fall in love. They secretly marry despite Jamila is betrothed to another. They elope with the help of the Imam, the spiritual leader, who hopes that their union may broker peace but when a duel goes awry and Jamila’s cousin, Taupan, accidentally kills Badawi, Rashiddin’s friend; Rashiddin takes vengeance and slays Taupan in retaliation. With the Kalamuddin putting the blame on Rashiddin, the two lovers hatches a plan to leave home and start anew but it does not go their way.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

Rolando Tinio’s adaptation of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (and a 1904 poem by G. D. Roke), which sets it comfortably in a Muslim community plays into our colonial ideas of a war-torn and hostile Muslim land. The constant bickering of the Kalimuddin and the Mustapha plays into that hegemonic ideology. But while that’s at work, Tinio gives us a chance to also witness the beauty of that world – the songs and the music and the dancing – that amplifies the rich and deep culture of the Muslim people. This adaptation creates a space to humanize them and turn them familiar as many people who are not given a chance to engage with this community may have a distant understanding of their world. ‘Sintang Dalisay’ makes it very easy to connect with them.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

It’s Dr. Abad’s and Guelan Varela-Luarca’s stage direction that keeps the energy from dipping, allowing us to feel the imminent danger of that rivalry that always seems ready to burst. At the same time, there are moments of levity but, most importantly, there are moments of pure, innocent beauty in the form of the growing love between Rashiddin and Jamila.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

It’s the intricate choreography that adds that layer that makes ‘Sintang Dalisay’ such a delicious show. The dancing enlivens the scenes, but it also amplifies the emotions of each character. So, while Taupan and Badawi speak loud and tough, Rashiddin is somewhat soft and fluid, not a fighter at all but one that feels more romantic, just based on the movements alone. So, when Jamila and Rashiddin first meet each other at the feast, in the midst of a great dance performance, everything stops the moment their eyes meet. The choreography adjusts to them. While no words were uttered, we believe that it’s love at first sight. It’s the power and magic of theater and I haven’t seen it so elegantly done and in such a surprising way.

The music is also extremely note-worthy. This cast are incredible singers and the live band playing kumintangs, flutes, and other indigenous instruments create a sonic landscape that really enhances every scene and transports the audience to that place and time.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

Unfortunately, Karl Borromeo, who plays Rashiddin, is drowned out by the largeness of the play’s scope and design. Borromeo tends to shout instead of projects, so it removes the nuances of Rashiddin’s scenes. His quiet scenes, his comedic scenes, and his fight scenes have all that same tonal quality. Borromeo is an incredible dancer, and he shines completely when performing with Maliana Beran, who plays Jamila. Their duets are impeccable. But in his scenes with Jerome Dawis as Taupan and Roldine Ebrada as Badawi, Borromeo gets lost under all that excellence. Dawis and Ebrada (as well as James Reyes as the Imam) are just fantastic. They fill the stage with their presence.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

But the real star of the show is Maliana Beran. As Jamila she is charming and innocent and commanding. You can see why Rashiddin falls in love with her at a glance and her movements are so precise that it’s as nuanced as her performance. She’s radiant and is capable of creating so many layers for Jamila to exist in this play.

Photos by Jules Ballaran

With the gorgeous designs of the late National Artist Salvador Bernal and Tata Tuviera, the richness of the Filipino Muslim culture, the intricacies of Tinio’s translations, and the creativity of Abad and Varela-Luarca, ‘Sintang Dalisay’ is an unforgettable theatrical experience that you must see, at least once.

My Rating:

Sintang Dalisay will run until February 23, 2025 at the Hyundai Hall of Arete, Ateneo de Manila University. Get your tickets here.

February 19, 2025
Theater Review — Inside the Bi-Polar Mind: A Review of The Sandbox Collective’s ‘Next to Normal’

I had no prior knowledge about the Tony award winning musical ‘Next to Normal’ before I came to watch The Sandbox Collective’s open rehearsal first and then the show at Circuit during preview night. As someone who grew up with traditional musical tastes from Rogers and Hammersteins to Sondheim, Kander & Ebb to Ahrens and Flaherty, I’ve always had a resistance to contemporary musicals (though that’s changing now). But to hear a musical that’s rooted in rock music and tackling such a heavy topic like mental illness and grief the way that ‘Next to Normal’ does, and with such fervor, it’s quite a shock to the system.

Written by Brian Yorkey (book and lyrics) and Tom Kitt (music), the play is about a family that’s falling apart. Diana, the mom, is suffering from several mental conditions brought forth by an extreme sense of grief. Trying desperately to hold it together is Diana’s husband, Dan, while their kids, Gabe and Natalie are growing up and dealing with their mother’s condition in unique and different ways. While Natalie meets the stoner Henry, who has taken an interest in her, she’s afraid to commit because of the trouble at home while Diana decides to get off her meds which leads to disastrous results. When Diana switches to a different doctor, Doctor Madden, she goes into a journey that threatens to shake the very fabric of this family and forces them to face the demons they’ve been avoiding for years.

Photo Courtesy of Loreta Arroyo

Under the direction of Toff De Venecia, the play sort of exists in some liminal space that is both the family’s home and also Diana’s mind and mental state. The stage is practically bare except for several chairs and a piano bench and one box that can be a sofa or a table that is constantly being arranged and re-arranged depending on the delicate balance of the relationships in the home. This is De Venecia’s best directorial effort, in my opinion, where the busy-ness of the stage movements find themselves in synch with Diana’s decline in her mental health. Constantly, characters are fixing the chairs and putting them down and standing them when making large declarations that the whole space is in a constant state of flux. The few moments when Diana has any semblance of lucidity and peace, is when the play gets to calm down and go quiet. The play’s direction and the choreography of Stephen Vinas and production design of Mark Dalacat, allows us to see this narrative through Diana’s point-of-view.

Photo Courtesy of Loreta Arroyo

The cast does everything else. The cast that I got to see are all exceptional singers, acting through the performances, and really hitting the emotional notes in each of the songs. Shiela Valderrama shines as Diana (alternate Nikki Valdez), who is constantly just trying to keep it together. Her clarity as she is emoting through each of her songs is incredible; she’s breaking down, but each word is getting across to the audience even as her world is crumbling around her. OJ Mariano plays Dan (Floyd Tena alternates) with so much heart; a man that is trying his best to keep that family from breaking, but you can tell he is at his wit’s end. Vino Mabalot plays Gabe (alternate Benedix Ramos), who has some of those most emotional songs (second to Diana) and he can sing the hell out of these moments. But the ones that really stole the show in the performance I saw was Shiela Belarmino as Natalie (alternate Jam Binay) and Omar Uddin as Henry (alternate Davy Narciso). Belarmino and Uddin manages to create a space for their character’s romantic subplot to wonderfully contrast the heavy parts of Diana’s struggle. The counterpoint breathes some fresh air into the piece and Belarmino and Uddin’s comedic timing, charisma, and joyous approach to their scenes creates a wonderful layer that keeps the show from tilting completely into dread and doom. Belarmino manages to amplify Natalie’s narrative without taking away from Diana’s struggle, which is at the heart of the play. It would be very easy to direct everything towards Diana and have everyone’s individual arc be in service of Diana’s, but Belarmino suffuses Natalie with so much spirit that their story feels intertwined. Diana’s journey informs Natalie’s.

Photo Courtesy of Loreta Arroyo

My only gripe is that the venue does not lend well to musicals and large productions. The sound system was off, with the microphones not giving the clarity that the show needed. The full band set-up, directed by Ejay Yatco, could sometimes drown the singers (except Valderrama) and I hope that they can fix the audio problems for future shows.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Sandbox Collective (@thesandboxco)

This is not an easy play to digest. While it can be funny and charming, it is also alarming and scary and honest and authentic. The way it shows the full extent of how difficult bi-polar disorder can be, how grief can be so destructive when left unchecked, and how the people who are caught in the crossfire can feel so defenseless. All of this is in full display in this musical and De Venecia’s direction brings it all out for us to come to grips with and even enjoy.

My Rating:

Next to Normal will run until February 23, 2025 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater. Get your tickets here.

February 11, 2025
THEATER REVIEW: A Total Theatrical Experience, ‘Nanay Bangis’ is a Triumph in Every Way

Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Dulaang UP) opens their 47th season with ‘Nanay Bangis,’ an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s ‘Mother Courage and Her Children.’ The production is directed by J William Herbert Sigmund Go and written by Rody Vera. The play utilizes Brechtian epic theater aesthetics, where the play creates a distance between the audience and the characters. The audience is meant to focus on the issues and not on the drama of the character’s misfortunes and suffering. To do this, there is heavy use of breaking the fourth wall, where actors often speak to the audience and even break character to reveal that they know they are actors in a play. By emphasizing the fictional nature of the narrative, the play allows us to view the atrocities committed on stage for what they are: representations of our reality.

‘Nanay Bangis’ is set in Mindanao in 1971 during the armed conflict between the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and Marcos’ Philippine Army. Caught in the crossfire is the eponymous Nanay Bangis and her three children: Elvis, Christine, and Kesong Puti. Nanay Bangis is wily and crafty, peddling goods, and profiting off the war and justifying it as survival; though as the play unfolds, this justification is put into question. The family push their cart of goods (that also serves as their home) from area to area where they can make the most money. Nanay Bangis doesn’t care if it’s a muslim village or an army camp. Nanay Bangis calls it survival and seems like the only person in the whole play who doesn’t want the war to end. In the process, she will lose all three of her children. This is not a spoiler. This is the play. How it happens is the meat of the story.

Photo courtesy of Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

J William Herbert Sigmund Go’s staging and direction really amplifies the piece and ensures that the unfolding of events are as impactful as they are funny and riveting. The stage are to arching platforms that intersect and create a giant X at the center of the IBG-KAL Theater in UP-Diliman. The audience are seated on three sides while the fourth is taken by a chamber orchestra and a foley. At the foley, there’s a table with various items and a mic, and members of the ensemble take turns creating sound effects for the play, much like a radio drama. For a scene with a blazing fire, they take an empty bag of chips and crumple it in front of the microphone creating the crackling sound of flames. For the bombs, a giant drum. The orchestra plays the score and also plays music for the musical numbers. Accompanied by precise lighting directions, the play’s production feels whole and complete. It creates a landscape that builds this world made of violence and strife.

Photo courtesy of Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

As you enter the stage to find your seats, the fourth wall is immediately broken. The actors are on stage. They are stretching and joking with each other. Some even talk to the audience, impressing upon everyone that this is all a play. But when the play starts, they are focused and driven to tell this story, though they do sometimes break character to remind us in-between the multitude of deaths that are happening within its almost two hour running time.

Photo courtesy of Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

The cast are in fine form. Geraldine Villamil is powerful as Nanay Bangis. The play revolves around her and her resolve to push against the odds to make money as the world burns around her. She is a terrifying force on stage that commands our attention and brings all the other players to revolve around her. Though the real standouts in this show are the three children: Ethan King as Elvis, Khay Eva as Christine, and Raymond Aguilar as Kesong Puti. King and Aguilar are charismatic and have a magnetic stage presence, humanizing their characters in a way that their loss is truly felt. Eva has the unenviable task to play the mute Christine and has to convey her whole character with grunts and garbled speech. Being the only girl amongst the siblings, she has the most complex relationship with Nanay Bangis and she literally doesn’t have the words to express the full range of her character’s struggle. It’s quite a feat. Jigger Semantilla, who plays the army chaplain, Brother Mike, is also a standout. He has a lot of the comedic moments, and he executes this with perfect timing and then quickly shifting to the play’s more serious themes at a moment’s notice.

Photo courtesy of Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

The rest of the ensemble are also quite strong, filling in the spaces, shifting from soldiers to Muslim villagers and helping create this palpable world.

Photo courtesy of Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

Rody Vera’s script is incredible as it adapts Brecht’s play and suits it perfectly into the Philippine setting, managing to relate a bloody episode of our country’s history and showing aspects of the horrors of the Marcos dictatorship yet still manages to paint a clear picture of why Mindanao is still an unstable part of the country. The treatment of the government to the natives of the southern-most region of our country is still questionable. The play is about profiteers in times of calamity and much like the goal of epic theater, it shows us what wrongs are being committed and that our protagonist is not someone we should emulate.

Photo courtesy of Marc Stanley Mozo / Dulaang UP

‘Nanay Bangis’ is very clear with its message but manages to be equally parts funny and tragic at the same time. The musical numbers make perfect sense and some of Go’s direction is just pure theater magic. In one moving song, someone at the rafters start throwing plastic tied up like parachutes. They fall to the floor on to the stage and create a visual image of the military occupation that underlines the atrocities committed and a justification for the Muslim anger.

I was always a bit cautious and wary of Brecht but after seeing ‘Nanay Bangis,’ I definitely want to see more.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Dulaang UP (@dulaang_up)

My Rating:

Nanay Bangis will run until December 1, 2024 at the IBG-KAL Theater, University of the Philippines Diliman. Get your tickets here.

PG-10 (Children age 10 and above must be accompanied by an adult)

November 27, 2024
THEATER REVIEW: Made for Children, ‘Mga Kuwento ni Juan Tamad’ is a Ballet Filled with Joy

Alice Reyes Dance Philippines held a one-day performance of a new ballet, ‘Mga Kuwento ni Juan Tamad’ early this month at the Samsung Performing Arts Theatre in Circuit Makati. It was a wonderful, joyous celebration of dance that was specifically targeting the younger audience. With book, direction, and choreography by Erl Sorilla, ‘Mga Kuwento ni Juan Tamad’ was an hour-long performance that was funny and romantic and full of gorgeous Filipino imagery. It was light and fast-paced and showed off the wonders of ballet with a little hint of contemporary, modern dance to keep the target audience glued to the stage.

Image from Alice Reyes Dance Philippines FB

It’s a simple enough story about how Buwaya stole a golden coconut, which brought good fortune to a village. Juan Tamad goes by his dad being lazy until he meets Maria Masipag, the daughter of the village elder who held the golden coconut for the village. While Juan and Maria fell in love, her parents won’t let her be with someone so lazy. To dissuade him, they task him to find the missing golden coconut. If he brings it back to the village, he can be with Maria. Despite his name, Juan Tamad goes off with his animal companion, Matsing, in search for the prize. On the way, he meets other animal companions until his big battle with the Buwaya.

Photo courtesy of Kiko Cabuena/CCP

Sorilla’s choreography is fun and big and clean. He makes full use of his ensemble of seven dancers that the village feels like a full village, and he incorporates Loy Arcenas’ inventive and ingenious costume designs into the performance. The villagers look like they are straight off an Amorsolo painting but when he gets to the animals, they are complete with tails and headpieces. The crocodile has a huge tail that swings around when he spins and it’s to the company’s skill and handwork (and Sorilla’s blocking and direction) that no one ever gets hit (unless intended). Loy Arcenas also designed the set and makes clever use of three wheeled panels that look like coconut trees, and they are wheeled around to show Juan Tamad and Matsing searching through the forest for Buwaya and it feels like they are really moving from place to place despite it still being the same stage.

Photo courtesy of Kiko Cabuena/CCP

It’s fun and ingenious ideas like this that makes the play so enjoyable, and it was such a treat for all the young people in the audience, some of them as young as Grade 3 or Grade 4. I was also happy to see two whole blocks of children from two different schools who were present, and they were squealing with joy, especially from the antics of Matsing.

Photo courtesy of Kiko Cabuena/CCP

While Renzen Arboleda was terrific as Juan Tamad. He was charming and his movements were precise, his jumps were impressive. On his duet with Maria, performed beautifully by Karla Santos. But it was Dan Dayo as Matsing who really stole the show. Matsing’s choreography was more hyper. It allowed him to be playful and silly and required more jumps and cartwheels. It was a showier character. While not as showy as Matsing, Ejay Arisola had a much harder time as Buwaya. His costume was detailed with a maw and a long tail that he incorporated fully into his performance. The fact that he was able to do all of the amazing things he did on stage speaks so much of his skill. The other two standouts were Monica Gana as Kuneho and Krislynne Buri as Paboreal. Gana, as Kuneho, was funny and spritely. She really looked like a rabbit on stage while Buri had the unenviable task of dancing in Paboreal’s costume, a full-on skirt of shiny material to serve as her peacock feathers. Luckily, she and Buwaya performed a ballroom-inspired duet that was so interesting to watch with their tail and skirt flying with their precise shifts in movement.

Photo courtesy of Kiko Cabuena/CCP

Knowing that it’s ballet for children, I could understand that the choreography had to be big and fun and playful. I even welcomed some of the movements almost resembling modern urban dance before it returns to its ballet roots. It keeps it familiar for the kids. I do have a bit of issue at the start when the ballet attempts to establish Juan Tamad as lazy. We see the villagers asking him to do things for him and instead of doing them, he just lies down and sleeps. More than lazy, it paints him more as unreliable or irresponsible. And on the other hand, Maria Masipag is meant to be hardworking and we see her do a lovely solo dance sweeping around her house and other chores and this gives off responsible and diligent. These are abstractions, of course, but something I wish was given a little more thought to in the process.

Photo courtesy of Kiko Cabuena/CCP

But other than that, what a wonderful show and I hope Alice Reyes Dance Philippines continues to produce more shows like this because dance is such a wonderful avenue for kids, both as entertainment and something that they might want to try out for themselves.

My Rating:

Mga Kuwento ni Juan Tamad by Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, an all-original production choreographed by Erl Sorilla, premiered last November 10 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater.

November 21, 2024
THEATER REVIEW: Beautifully Broken – A Review of ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’

CAST (Company of Actors in Streamlined Theater) caps off their season with the play ‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ by Rajiv Joseph. It’s a deceptively simple play with only two characters in just roughly a little bit over an hour but there’s a wealth of humanity that is loaded within as it explores the literally painful love story of two friends over the course of 30 years. I say literally because we meet the two friends – Kayleen and Doug – in five-year intervals, from 8 to 38, and one of them is always hurt. It wasn’t kidding when it included “gruesome” in its title.

Photo courtesy of CJ Ochoa

Directed by Nelsito Gomez, the play makes full use of Mirror Studios’ wall mirror for actress Missy Maramara to write down the character’s ages and the location of each scene before it starts. The two actors, with Topper Fabregas playing Doug, change in front of the audience, going down to their underwear, making them vulnerable and exposed as the characters seem to fall into whenever they meet each other. The actors barely ever leave the stage (except for one scene shift when Fabregas leaves entirely), which means we get to see them put on their make-up and prosthetics for whatever injury their characters have gotten into before the scene begins.

Photo courtesy of CJ Ochoa

From 8 to 38, we see Kayleen and Doug navigate through very tough life experiences. Doug seems to get himself into situations where he can fall from very high places or maybe even lose an eye. Kayleen’s personal life – with her boyfriends and her parents – leads her to self-harm. In the scenes that makes up the play, set in a non-linear order, we catch the two find solace and comfort in each other and yet unable to say how they really feel, unless the timing is all wrong. These are characters who are so used to being broken, whether physically or emotionally, that they seem to be more comfortable leaning into the hurt than moving towards the safe space that they’ve made for each other.

Photo courtesy of CJ Ochoa

Despite the blood, the pain of their circumstances, and their inability to be truly honest with each other (and with themselves), the play is actually hilarious. Kayleen and Doug, on paper, are really sad and miserable people but when they are together, they bring out the best in each other and their wit and their candor are as true as any two best friends can be that it fills the stage with so much warmth. This is predicated by the effortless performances of Topper Fabregas and Missy Maramara.

Photo courtesy of CJ Ochoa

What’s incredible about the two as he easily they shift from 8 to 38, catching the joys and foolishness of our teenage years to the desperate rush of our 20s when we feel like everything is at stake, to the exhausted and jaded 30s when your life is not what you imagined it to be. All of these complex layers of people in these ages, the two actors are able to personify so perfectly while still adding on the added layer of these two specific broken individuals into the plate. It’s amazing to watch. And the fact that the play moves back and forth through time, means that Fabregas and Maramara must go from an adult back to a teen and then back to an adult again.

Photo courtesy of CJ Ochoa

The effect is captivating.

‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ is not an easy play to digest. It asks you to laugh with (not at) these two poor individuals as they try to sort out their lives while dealing with disappointment and pain, scene after scene. The characters make fun of their injuries, some of them almost fatal, but it’s a coping mechanism that they both cling on to. They try to find humor in the brokenness of their lives but what ends up being amplified is how badly these two people really want to live. This is a daring play, and I honestly would never have thought to have been able to see a play like this in the Philippine theater scene. It’s bold. It’s mature. It’s surprisingly what we need now as world events are constantly making us think about our mortality.

My Rating:

Gruesome Playground Injuries will run on November 29, 30, and December 1, 2024. Get your tickets here. For inquiries about reservations or partnerships, contact gruesome.mnl@gmail.com.

Please note that the show includes themes and imagery of violence, self-harm, suicide, sexual assault, abuse, injuries, and blood.

November 19, 2024