Livin' High and Takin' it Easy

Bakit Wala Nang Nagtatagpo sa Philcoa Oberpas
written by Carlo Pacolor Garcia
directed by Riki Benedicto

Stage Manager: Reynald Dimaranan Jeciel
Music: Marco Harder
Choreographer: Roeder Camañag

Cast:
Paolo Rodriguez as Ebanghelista
Kat Castillo as Snatser
Kat de Leon as Tindera
Mayen Estañero as Babae
Michael Ian Lomongo as Lalaki
Russel Legaspi as Manggagantso
Jonathan Tadioan as Pulis
Crispin Pineda as Bulag

Atop the Philcoa Overpass, life goes on as usual; a vendor waits for her toys to be sold, a street hustler invites passersby to solve a puzzle that doesn’t seem to have any solution, and an evangelist shouts hallelujah and asks for some meager change so that everybody’s soul can be saved.

Balunbalunan, Bingibingihan written by Debbie Ann Tan, directed by Issa Manalo Lopez. Bembol Roco as Gilbey’s, Missy Maramara as Brandy, PJ Paule as Whiskey. Here is a slideshow of the photos from the entire set. They’re all really dark, even though I already cranked up the curves… I like to think of them as studies on chiarascuro. The photos were taken as photo documentation for Teatro Pilipinas and Tanghalang Pilipino but all photo copyrights belong solely to me.

Isagani written by Alex Dorola Yasuda, directed by Vince Tanada. Cast: John San Antonio as Isagani, Kierwin Larena as Lalaki. A stand-up comedian in one of those tawdry sing-along bars in Malate harbors a secret. Only the mute Miraculous Grotoo beside Baclaran church hears his stand-up lament after his comical stint at the bar. His prayer turns into a confession to a drug pusher, who peels off his comic mask slowly revealing a dark and terrible past. Unable to run away from the past that just keeps catching up with him, he cannot extinguish with all his comic quips and gags the horror he seeks to deny. No matter how profoundly he expiates for his crime, he ritualizes this scene every night much like his performance in the bars. This is a story of religious faith and a profound desire for change, a solipsistic reflection on remorse and the difficult striving to be whole again.