Tag: Theater

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: 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
THEATER REVIEW: ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’ and the Power of Vulnerability

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to the open rehearsal of The Sandbox Collective’s new production ‘Tiny Beautiful Things,’ a play based on the book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. Directed by Jenny Jamora, the rehearsal was already a powerful, moving experience that brought me to tears and I’m excited to see the actual run at the PowerMac Spotlight Blackbox Theater in Circuit this coming weekend.

Image Courtesy of The Sandbox Collective/@TheSandboxCo

The book is composed of a series of advice columns by a woman called Sugar and the play creates a space for the columnist to interact with the people writing the letters and asking for her counsel. As written, these letter writers (performed by three people playing multiple parts) share the same space as Sugar on stage, but not in reality but the furniture and the food and the drinks are all shared by them. Letter after letter, advice after advice, Sugar becomes more emboldened to give of herself – her life story, her darkest deeds and thoughts, the private parts of ourselves we usually keep hidden – and in the process the following letters are equally as exposing creating a whirlwind of emotions. In that space, healing can begin.

Set in the round, the audience circle the stage, which means the actors have nowhere to hide and while the three letter writers do have moments when they can exit the stage when someone else is interacting with Sugar, our protagonist never leaves the stage. She is a constant presence in their lives, and in the duration of the play, she becomes a constant in ours.

Image Courtesy of The Sandbox Collective/@TheSandboxCo

Taking the role of Sugar is Iza Calzado, her second foray into theater and she imbues Sugar with a genuine tenderness that can sometimes contrast some of the dark parts of Sugar’s life that she shares with her readers (and the audience). What it creates is a complex character who has seen much, been through hell and back, and is grateful for the opportunity to turn these experiences into nuggets of wisdom that might be able to heal someone else. Calzado makes use of her screen presence and transforms it into a power on stage that keeps the focus on her and permits the sincerity to bridge the gap with her perspective on life, which may not always be like yours, but the insight is something so deep and profound that it touches you.

Image Courtesy of The Sandbox Collective/@TheSandboxCo

The three actors during the rehearsal were played by Rody Vera, Gabby Padilla, and Ketchup Eusebio (with Brian Sy and Regina De Vera as alternates) and they have the great task to shift characters after every letter. When not portraying a letter writer, they stay on the stage, either engaging in the conversation Sugar has with one of the senders or taking space at some part of the stage and just doing ordinary things. This direction keeps the stage alive and vibrant, like life is bursting through regardless if the sender’s story is a funny one or a sad one. The three players can shift to any gender or age, but they don’t assume an overdramatic rendition except for some special moments. When one of Ketchup Eusebio’s characters is a little boy, he fully embodies it and transform but when he has to play the part of a transman, it’s not an affected performance. It’s like there’s a baseline for all the characters that they play that they don’t stray too far away from. It feels connected to the fact that none of these people use their real names. All the letters are anonymous, and even when they ask for Sugar’s real name, she doesn’t give it either.

Image Courtesy of The Sandbox Collective/@TheSandboxCo

It’s the tiny nuances like this that adds an extra layer of depth into the production. It was an open rehearsal – so the set design approximates what will be on stage at the PowerMac Spotlight Blackbox – and no spotlights or lighting effects were used, but already the play felt so full and powerful. The set is a full-on working home with a coffee machine that makes actual coffee, and I can imagine what that smell would do for that scene in the actual theater. It’s this fullness that pulls you in further as you get swept into the world of Sugar and her letter writers.

Image Courtesy of The Sandbox Collective/@TheSandboxCo

And the brilliance of the script, pushed forward by its very capable cast and the clear directions, allows for the play to hit hard at the end and you’ve come to realise that the vulnerability that was slowly growing onstage, from Sugar to the senders of the letters asking for her advice, is the same vulnerability you are experiencing as you are connecting to one of those stories.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Sandbox Collective (@thesandboxco)

The play underscores how vulnerability is an essential part of healing. As someone who is going through therapy now and trying to get over something, this play touched me in a very profound way. And even if you are not going through something, there’s a story there that is going to remind you of someone – or yourself – and you’re going to nod your head and smile.

My Rating:

Tiny Beautiful Things will run from November 16 to December 8, 2024, at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Black Box Theater in Circuit Makati. The intimate venue is the perfect setting for a play that thrives on human connection and emotional vulnerability. Tickets are available through Ticket2Me.

November 15, 2024
THEATER REVIEW: ‘Six’ is Fun-Filled History Lesson on Women Empowerment Disguised as a Pop Concert

I’m a musical theater puritan, growing up and raised on Stephen Sondheim, Maury Yeston, Kander & Ebb, and Lerner and Lowe. Later on, I discovered Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. So, I’m not the kind of guy who truly enjoys a jukebox musical, much less new musicals that stray so far away from what I am used to. I didn’t like the thought of ‘Hamilton’ until I finally got to see it and it completely changed my mind. So, I find it funny that I was against coming in to watch the musical ‘Six’ because of its usage of pop music as its aesthetic and motif; but I was – once again! – made to eat my own words and when I saw the show and realised how amazing it is.

SIX UK Tour 2023 | Pamela Raith Photography

The 2017 musical by Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow reimagines the six wives of Henry VIII – Catherine of Aragon, Ann Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Ann of Cleves, Katherine Howard, and Catherine Parr – as an all-girl pop group, who are in a concert and decide to hold a competition to decide who would be the group’s main vocalist. The winner will be determined by who suffered the most under Henry VIII.

The whole show takes on a full pop concert aesthetic. The backdrop is a dynamic LED light board that plays off on the songs. The band, called “Ladies in Waiting” are on stage with the performers and also part of the show in their own nuanced way. The bright, structured costumes are a mix of 70s Eurythmics and Devo inspired outfits with added touches of Victorian-era designs. And the five actresses come out, singing their hearts out and calling out to the audience, in our case “Hello, Manila,” as if they were straight out of a tour (which they are).

SIX UK Tour 2023 | Pamela Raith Photography

The opening song, “Ex-Wives” got me afraid, and proved my point about how pop songs aren’t fit for musical theater. The song is in the narrative mode and tries to establish the characters and the setting in a pop song and it sort of comes off clunky and verbose. Musically, it feels all over the place and it made me feel smug and petty.

In-between, the actresses are doing an amazing job at bringing these characters to life. The women are feisty, filled to the brim with personality, and are all leads in their own way. To prove they suffered the most, they each get a song – a monologue, if you will – to explain the hardships they endured, and this is when my feelings about the show shifted.

Pamela Raith Photography

Each individual song, after the opening, tells a story about the sort of oppressive world women have to live through each day. There’s sexism, unfair beauty standards, and oppression of all sorts that somehow work so well in each individual story. The songs, when focused on just one person’s story works so well and each wife has their own distinct musical style that was purposefully inspired by an existing pop star (according to some online articles).

Pamela Raith Photography

The touring cast is insanely talented, and they take each song and just knock it out of the ballpark. Billie Kerr plays Catherine of Aragon and I love how she never hid her thick Scottish accent while playing the English queen who hailed from Spain. It creates a layer of artifice that fits so well to the show and adds another layer of humor that just fits perfectly. Yna Tresvalles plays Ann Boleyn, and she is so full of charm and spunk. In my opinion, her character has the funniest lines, and she keeps it going throughout the whole show. Jane Seymour, the only woman who King Henry VIII supposedly loved, is played by Liberty Stottor, who gets to sing the emotional power ballad. Her soaring vocals creates a truly emotional moment that helps break the hilarity of the first two songs. Hannah Victoria kills it as Ann of Cleves, whose song is ready for the Top 40 supremacy. Lizzie Emery channels Britney Spears as she portrays the provocative Katherine Howard, whose song is more an acting piece than a vocal piece and Emery sells the story of sexual exploitation so convincingly that it brings you back into the story (the way Jane Seymour’s song does). Finally, Eloise Lord nails Catherine Parr and has the unenviable position to play the character that turns the show around. Her incredible vocals turn her R&B flavoured song into a showstopper.

Pamela Raith Photography

I had to mention all the six actresses because they were all phenomenal. ‘Six’ is pretty much a monologue play that is sung-through and despite it’s silly pop-concert conceit, manages to really bring to light the sort of challenges women continue to face every day. They use the stories of the six wives but told with modern touches – lingo and jargon, dating apps, and the like – to show that the way the patriarchy has objectified women hasn’t much change in 500 years.

Pamela Raith Photography

Except for the first song, which I’m not a fan of, the rest of the songs fit perfectly as both narrative exploration of character as well as rousing pop songs that will get you clapping to the beat. It’s such a fun show that I was taken completely by surprise and fell immediately in love with the musical. In fact, I don’t want to listen to the album on a streaming site because I want to remember how it sounded with this touring cast in my head. I wish I could see it again and I wish more women get to see it for its message of reclaiming your identity from the patriarchy.

My Rating:

SIX the Musical is currently running for a strictly limited engagement at The Theatre at Solaire until October 20. For more updates and exclusive peeks behind the royal curtains, keep your eyes on gmg-productions.com and follow @gmg.productions. This October, the queens of “SIX” aren’t just rewriting history—they’re making it.

October 16, 2024