Monday, February 29, 2016

Review of Repertory Phils ALMOST, MAINE: Quaint and Quirky

March 1, 2016




It was a Saturday night when I went to catch this show on its second weekend. While I have attended shows where the Onstage Theater was not full, but this one was the saddest attendance I have seen. I was dismayed to see that there were less than twenty people inside when I entered the auditorium. The Rep really needs to improve their publicity it seems, especially for shows with a relatively obscure title or playwright. There was so little I see about this new play of theirs in regular or social media. Nevertheless, the stage looked very good, so I was determined to stay and enjoy their show, as I usually do. 

The stage only had one big square platform in the middle, and every other surface was coated in white to simulate snow. I thought this set design by Coco Anne and Baby Imperial was simple yet very well done. Together with the windy sound effects (by Jethro Joaquin), the bluish lights and the "steam" behind the characters (by John Batalla), the winter illusion was complete and realistic. The emptiness of the auditorium made the desolation of the setting even more felt.

"Almost, Maine" by John Cariani is a collection of unrelated vignettes about 21 characters who lived in an imaginary town in the northeasternmost tip of the US, where winters were harsh and where the Northern Lights play in the sky. There were only two characters in each scene, except one with three. All the scenes tackled various aspects of love -- falling into love, falling out of love, regretting love, hurtful love, hopeful love, affirming love. These 21 characters were played by 4 actors, upon whose charisma the success of this simple yet whimsical play rests.

Reb Atadero is really very good in playing eccentric characters, just like he did in his breakthrough role of Benjamin Braddock in "The Graduate" (also by Rep 3 years ago). Among the four actors on the stage, I thought Atadero was best able to project the strangeness of the situations being depicted in the vignettes assigned to him. He was very good as East in the scene called "Her Heart" and as Danny in the scene called "Story of Hope". He had this Jesse Eisenberg vibe going on which makes his stand out from the rest.

Jamie Wilson is such a veteran already with all these unusual roles he is given to play. Only he could have pulled off the role of Pete in that weird "Prologue-Interlogue-Epilogue" scenes or as Steve in the scene called "This Hurts" with his trademark teddy-bear innocence and charm. Wilson's age may sometimes get in the way of roles like Chad in "They Fell" or Dave in "Seeing the Thing", where a younger millennial actor may have been better cast.

Caisa Borromeo was in three straight scenes in the first act. Her performances were good, but nothing that really grabs you. Her best scene would be that in "Story of Hope" where she really shone as Hope, the girl who goes back to her hometown to finally answer the question of a suitor she left hanging years ago. This was the only scene that I felt chemistry between Borromeo and Atadero, barely felt in their two other scenes together. "Getting It Back," the last scene of Act One also with Borromeo and Atadero, did not work for me.

Natalie Everett works very hard to make her roles pop, but with inconsistent results. I thought the role of Rhonda in "Seeing the Thing" was not really fit for her as her acting efforts were very evident. That scene was not comfortable for me to watch and it was even the very last scene. However, in total contrast, she was really so good as Marci in the scene called "Where It Went." Her subdued, natural yet powerful performance in that scene alone made up for everything else. 

Overall, Rep's production of "Almost, Maine" as directed by Bart Guingona is an "almost" success. The general feeling is good, but it was a mixed bag. When it works, it really works; but some scenes did not really fly. Being love stories, this depends heavily on the chemistry between the cast members, which was not always there. The various roles assigned to the cast members did not always feel right for them -- be it by look, by age, or by personality --which may affect the success of their scene as it toes the line between cute and corny. 

Still, the script and production as a whole were very charming in their own odd little way, and is certainly worth checking out for fans of quirky rom-com films and plays. This should be seen by more young people for whom themes like these would definitely connect more. That empty Saturday night when I watched it was just a one-off fluke. That really should not happen again in the next two weeks of this play's run. It deserved more love than that.


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“Almost, Maine” plays Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 pm, with Saturday and Sunday matinees as 3:30 pm, until March 13 at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Roxas cor. Legazpi St., Makati City. For tickets, call Repertory Philippines at 8433570 or TicketWorld at 8919999. Ticket prices range from P400 to P800.





14 comments:

  1. Very good review. i have never watched stage plays like this. I am curious and maybe I will try soon. Thanks for the details.

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  2. Great review. Thanks for sharing this with us. I hope to catch something like this soon!

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  3. Beautiful... Sounds very beautiful... I'm not a big fab of stage plays and haven't watched many. But I really wish I do more jus to support the art!!!
    Somehow this is the 3rd post on love I'm reading in the last hour that I've been blog hopping... Its not even Valentine's around the corner!!! All are writing about love!!!

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  4. I just read about this stage play here in your blog. I agree that it should have been heavily promoted for more people to know about it.

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  5. Great review Fred. I haven't really watched too many stage plays but I do admire and respect that art. They should definitely work on creating an online presence and get excited for that event. People work hard to perform and give it their all. They deserve to be seen and recognized. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Hahahaha....I thought it's all about Maine Mendoza! Lolz...

    Anyway, I love watching stage play...I admire them the way they act is different from what we always see in the movie. Very Impromptu. No cuts. No editing. Just them..the real actor indeed!

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  7. In the world of digital entertainment, stage plays should not become a thing of the past!! Good to see that in the Philippines, they are preserving the beauty of the plays.

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  8. I will probably be needing your input for a review assistance. Love your dexterity on this review piece. Keep it up, Fred!

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  9. Can you just imagine how much more difficult it is to produce a stage play? It must take a lot of talent because unlike movies, you're live on stage with no room for mistakes.

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  10. I hope they do more play theme like this so the younger audience get to appreciate theatre. They'll surely appreciate it.

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  11. It sounds like an interesting story, it's too bad that it's an almost success. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!

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  12. I always love something more when I can relate to their characters. Why not provide a Facebook Page or website of them if there is so that it's easier for reference?

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  13. Maybe the cast needs to have more connection in order for them to execute that they're in love or just show more feelings. Maybe the show will get better in the coming performances since they will be needing more time to practice for every run.

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  14. I do like the idea of this film. I wish there were many stage plays near me rather than being in London only

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