Written by Daryl Pasion
Directed by Erika Estacio
Oka was a jobless farmer forced by financial circumstance to join the CAFGU, a paramilitary group organized to augment the military effort against rebels. After one such encounter, he was able to take a leave to visit his wife Liling, who was now eight months pregnant. What was supposed to have been a much-needed reunion turned into an emotional roller coaster when impossible requests had to be decided upon.
Even if his play tackled issues of real-life violence, the words written by young Daryl Pasion were of literary quality, almost poetic, many times quotable in its gut-punching eloquence. Eshei Mesina had the showier role of Oka. At one point, he delivered an emotionally brutal story about his life-changing experience with his friend Andoy. I will not be surprised if this powerful monologue would be someday be an audition piece of choice for dramatic stage actors. At first, Lhorvie Nuevo as Liling lent her wifely support as her husband wallowed in his self-pity. However, that climactic moment eventually came when she owned center stage to make the most difficult decision of her life.
Director Erika Estacio had delivered the most polished online staging of a VLF play so far. The virtual background of the couple's house looked as if it was straight out of a rustic Amorsolo painting. The rendering of the actors's images on top of these backdrops were very clean, no visual glitches at any time. The music and sound design of Teresa Barrozo was absolutely topnotch, I can even say it was perfect. That the soundtrack may have been mixed in live made it even more of an impressive achievement. From the chirping crickets to that pulsating beat that raised the level of atmospheric suspense to another level. Those disembodied voices of unseen characters gave such extraordinary hair-raising impact.
Written by Floyd Scott Tiogangco
Directed by Giancarlo Abrahan
A young gay man suddenly suffered a particularly difficult panic attack while riding the train to work and had to rush immediately to the emergency room to manage his mental distress. At home, his very concerned, but frazzled parents try to their desperate best to help get him through one of his most extreme manic-depressive episode.
The main plot of Tiogangco's "living his truth" script may seem simple and even familiar, even if suffering from mental health issues and the struggles of families to cope are definitely not simple nor easy to understand. This type of "stream of consciousness" script really depended on the performance of the cast to effectively bring it to life, and the casting . Phi Palmos was bursting with nervous energy as the troubled young man as he made us all experience his confusion. As his harassed parents, Missy Maramara and Jojit Lorenzo were both clutching at straws to offer him whatever they could give, from food to movies to prayers, to no apparent avail. You felt their desperation and their love through their son's uncontrolled tantrums, chain smoking and risky Grindr hookups.
Director Giancarlo Abrahan was known more to for his acclaimed family-oriented indie films such as Dagitab (2014) and Paki (2017). His virtual staging of this family-oriented play was impressive for its technical precision despite the messy scenario he was portraying. The play started as a monologue by Lloyd telling about his experience in the hospital and the handsome doctor there. The scenes in the house were shown in multiple screens, with at least two cameras showing each actor from different angles. One of the impressive gimmicks was the passing items (like mobile phone, clothes and most notably, a dildo) from one character to another. The family dynamic remained very palpable despite the scenes being split into six screens.
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