June 3, 2026
Playwright: Anthony Kim Vergara
Director: Norbs Portales
Bert (Noel Rayos) heads the Black Team, in charge of an underground company that executes online systems penetration and ransomware for a price. His team includes Gado (Miguel delos Reyes), Jae (Nicole Manlulo) and their newest recruit Nix (Earvin Estioco). One day, Bert was presenting their operations to Andre (Gio Gahol), the son and heir of their CEO. That same day, a major customer Mr. Garcia (Gie Onida) was there to close a big deal.
It was not that easy to get into this play at first, especially as the script was very heavy with information technology jargon, writer Vergara is in IT after all. However, it did not take long for us to pick up that we were watching people who were experts in illegal operations, like hacking, scamming, and even election cheating -- very disturbing stuff. At that point, we get totally engrossed as the plot escalated into a very tense standoff situation, as skillfully executed with nail-biting suspense by Portales and the ensemble led by Rayos, Gahol and Onida.
Playwright: Floyd Scott Tiogangco
Director: Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan
Reformed drug addict Daddy (Lian Silverio) was just released from jail. His wife Mommy (Donna Cariaga) were very thankful for the anti-drug operations of the former president, for knocking sense into him so he was able to change his ways. While waiting for their teenage son Billy to come home so they can celebrate his 18th birthday, the couple talked how happy they were that the UniTeam won, while their bed was infested with bedbugs.
This play had a very predictable plot, as you can see how it will all wind up from the get-go. However, it had a very unconventional route towards that end. We get to see how people living with drugs from below the poverty line still idolize the government waging a war against them. With her sensitive treatment of the material, Nuevo-Tadioan made us care for this poor clueless couple, allowing Silverio and Cariaga to delight us with their sweet, silly antics for most of the play. It was a cute naughty comedy, until it was not.
Playwright: Elijah Felice Rosales
Director: Nelsito Gomez
Ish (Justine Peña) won an international award for an article she wrote about the widows of the victims of EJKs during the previous presidency. She threw a despedida party for her friends before she left for a one-year all-expense-paid fellowship in New York City that came with the award. Her former colleague Doy (CJ Navato) engaged her in a tough discussion about how he felt about her winning article and how she treated one of the women interviewed.
Like it was in the first play, playwright Rosales is also a newspaper journalist, so he had inside knowledge about the topic in his play -- ethics in mass media. This was a pure two-hander, only two characters engaged in a very serious conversation. At first, we saw Ish and Doy as good friends, until their bitter exchange of accusations soon expose their flaws. As Peña and Navato both argue their points with passion and intensity, we realize we can never really get the complete story in the news we read.
