“Rosas” is written by Dennis Teodosio and directed by Charles Yee. It’s about two aging gays (Bembol Roco and Crispin Pineda) in a home for the aged reminiscing about their past. We cannot sympathize with them, especially after it was revealed that one of them got imprisoned for raping another man. We can’t help but yawn while they’re yakking on stage and we felt relieved when it’s finally over.
“Ang mga Propesyunal” is written by Sari Saysay and directed by Carlitos Siguion Reyna. It’s about three scavengers, one girl and two boys, who are role playing while on their way to junk shop. Pia pretends to be journalist, Roel is a doctor and Lauro is a policeman. As they converse along the railroad tracks, they get to tackle such timely topics such as the killing of journalists, press freedom and extra judicial killing.
Krystle Campos as Pia, Arhur Castro as Roel and Jian Tayco as Lauro are all just in their early teens but attacked their respective roles with so much sincerity and energy. They might be playing a game of fantasy, but you can feel their totally committed to what their roles stand for in these tumultuous times that we are living. Siguion Reyna did a fine job in orchestrating the performances of the three teen actors, We can just imagine him honing them so that they will be perfect in their timing and render truly persuasive characterizations. We just wished that Krystle knows how to project her voice better as Pia since it trails off and you sometimes have to strain your ear to gully get what she is saying.
‘Edgar Allan Hemingway” is written by the prolific Carlo Vergara who has previously wrote such acclaimed plays as “Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah”, “Mula sa Kulimliman” and “Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady” (which Regal Entertainment bought so they can make it into a movie, just like “Zsa Zsa”). The three character play starts with a copywriter, George (Guelan Luarca), visiting the condo of his old friend Levi (Rafa Siguion Reyna) who hit it big in New York for writing a novel said to be a combination of the styles of Jane Austen and Alex Garland.
Smartly written with wit and style, the play is well served by the three cast members. Guelan Luarca is perfectly cast as the paunchy George who feels forlorn and desperate that life is passing him by. Rafa Siguion Reyna nails his role right as the seemingly successful novelist who is somehow tormented by guilt and weighed down by the gravity of his own secret.
As usual, the hilarious Ricci Chan nearly runs away with the play with his sleek portrayal of Barnes, knowing how to milk every line for maximum impact, including his outburst when he finds out that Rafa has opened up to his friend and revealed his secret as to how he wrote his novel. Actually, he’s the most shocking character in the play as he has no qualms about what Levi did and sees nothing morally wrong in it.
