CCP "regular"... and more Blood Sports.

"Taga-CCP ka diba? O sa Tanghalang Pilipino?" Tito Danny had asked me during our last rehearsal reading of La Cancion del Olvido.

"Ay, hindi po. Lagi lang akong nandun," was my simple reply.

Sometimes I still regret that I passed up the chance to work as SM in Virgin Labfest for the 3rd year in a row. But I guess it's sort of all for the best, due to my given circumstances (mostly because my mom is afraid of being alone in the house, especially at night). I sometimes felt that twinge of envy when I visit CCP and see all the artists and stage managers scrurrying about, while I have to sit through it all (well, at least there's a consolation, hahaha). Plus I didn't get to see all the festivities. I only got to watch one set of plays, which was, of course Set C: Blood Sports.

I went back to CCP last Friday afternoon to watch the very same set again. Of course, I didn't want to take advantage of the fact that I was a CCP/TP/Labfest regular, so of course I purchased a ticket, hahaha. I didn't even tell Tad that I was watching again. Hahaha, I was the very first person in line upon open house, so I could guarantee that I got the bleacher seat that I had preferred.

I was so glad I did watch again, because I noticed new nuances from Mailes in Kitchen Medea. That was one of the best things about watching live theater. You'll never watch the same thing twice, because in time, the actors tend to learn something new about their character as well as about the play that they could use for the next performance. And Mailes had confirmed this during the "Talk Back" session after all 3 plays. It was quite disturbing really, that due to the husband leaving his wife for another woman, the wife ended up losing her children as well because of how the situation drove her crazy.

I had previously blogged that I felt that there were some forgotten lines when I first watched Asawa/Kabit last week. This time, I finally found out that they had forgotten really huge chunks of lines. There were actually not just one (which I saw last week), but 5 "rounds" of the asawa and kabit verbally and physically battling it out. The students who were watching the show were already counting how many times that "boxing bell" rang as the verbal arguments evolved into different catfights ala-Ally McBeal. During one point, there was one kid who asked, "Sino nga ba ang asawa, at sino diyan yung kabit?" Kind of makes you think that it could also be the other way around as well, as you kept listening to the witty dialogue, hahaha. Makikita mo talaga kung paano ang relasyon ng bawat babae dun sa lalaki. I was quite amused by the students because they were becoming more receptive as they got more hooked into watching the plays, because they were more occupied with fiddling with their phones and things during the first play. Respeto naman diyan, please. Nagbayad man kayo o hindi, huwag niyo naman sayangin ang pagpunta ninyo sa teatro. Nakakainsulto sa mga artistang nakatayo sa entablado eh. Ayan tuloy, na-karma yung mga ibang katabi ko dahil nahulog ang mga bag nila sa ilalim ng bleachers.

With the students' bags safely lodged in the darkness underneath our seats, they were more focused in watching Doc Resureccion: Gagamutin ang Bayan. Even though Tad had complained after the show that the platforms were unsteady (because they weren't securely in place) and were distracting him, he and Riki still pulled off a great performance as the 2 lead characters. Dito ko mas nakita yung pagka-ipokrito ni Jess bilang kandidato for mayor. The way he moved around the set was apparent that he was gingerly touching things despite the fact that he was trying to hide the hesitance of actually touching it. And talagang ang baboy talaga ng character ni Boy Pogi, pero ganun lang naman talaga siya eh. At least hindi siya plastic, maski malinis ang itsura ni Jess. The way Boy Pogi put out his cigarette with his tongue made the audience react loudly, and even more when he took Jess' eye out with the fishing hook, spurting blood all over the stage floor (and some on the Writers' Bloc people on the 1st row?).

During the "Talk Back" session after all 3 plays, people were too shy to ask questions, so Rody Vera went ahead and asked the playwrights and directors about how they were inspired to write and direct those plays. Then Lao suddenly spoke up and asked about Doc Resureccion's look of the squatter's area, if it was exaggerated or whatever, because of the uber-madumi feel of the play. Maybe it was intentional to show how dirty politics can be, no matter how much kang magmalinis?

After the show, I went straight to buffeteria to meet Tad, and that's where I found out from Isab that there will be a Fragments vignette (un-announced site-specific performances scattered throughout CCP in between Labfest plays) in that very venue that will begin in a few minutes. So I stayed put while Tad went off to the dressing room. Suddenly the big red "X" (that marks the spot for Fragments) was put in place by the door, and the actress dressed as one of the staff of Barbara's emerged from the kitchen, delivering this monologue about how the food served can be "altered" to sell again if it wasn't bought and consumed that day, hahaha.

I finally got to catch one of those Fragements shows, so thank goodness that I decided to watch again last Friday afternoon.

I just found out that Rich, my former Trumpets Playshop student, watched the same show on the same day, hahaha. Too bad I didn't get to see her. Too many people na rin naman that day, so, oh well.

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Nikki had her day off again yesterday, so because we never get sick of CCP, we met up there after my class. We were supposed to hang out at Starbucks in Harbour Square, but because it was too crowded (who the heck were all those people in yellow anyway? Most of them didn't even order and were just sitting there), we stayed at the buffeteria for a while. After we had finished a light snack (a plate of baked macaroni was light for me that day, hahaha), we decided to go back to Starbucks to see if there were already vacant seats. So annoying, the big yellow group was still there, but a middle-aged man was kind enough to offer us a couple of couches because he and his friend were on their way out.

Nix is the type of girl that you can pig out with because she doesn't seem to get fat, hahaha. She even told me recent stories of her PAL experience, which involved buying and eating local stuff of every province that she goes to. Huwaw, a kilo of tuna sashimi for only P300? I can't wait for her next GenSan trip, hahaha!

When the sun had set, we decided to have dinner at good ol' McDonalds, and more talk ensued, including her return to theater when she finally finds the time next year. Haha, she wants to take musical theater workshops again, because she still iffy about taking the beginning acting workshop. Whichever you choose, I can't wait to see you up on that stage again, Nix!

All that talking made me think of trying out something new, which I've only told a handful of people, because it's quite a drastic career change. I still don't see myself enjoying a desk job, anyway. We'll see.