July 7, 2024
Mitch (Ice Seguerra) has been a tomboy all her life. Since her childhood, she only saw herself as a boy, with the games and toys she played with. At age 10, she saw nothing wrong about going shirtless with the other boys. She had crushes only on girls. In high school, her biggest crush became her best friend. However, Mitch had to give her up visiting her, so that the other girl won't get a bad reputation by being seen with her.
Stella (Liza Diño-Seguerra) has been always been feminine all her life. She loved playing with dolls. She only had crushes on boys. However, her experiences with boys and men had been less than ideal. At age 10, her personal space had been violated by an uncle. In high school, her big crush became her first MU one night, and her first heartache very next day. She had been a mistress of a married man, as well as a victim of a drunken ex.
A few minutes before the play began, Ice and Liza went out to greet their audience personally. Being gala night, I believe they personally knew a lot of guests for that show. National Artist for Film sir Ricky Lee was in the house. However, they showed none of the usual pre-show jitters nor diva temperament other actors experience under pressure, especially before embarking on this two-hour-long, soul-baring, emotional roller-coaster ahead of them.
Being an LGBT story, it was inevitable that sexual matters will come up, which may feel uncomfortable for the conservative and old-fashioned. We actually see the pages of the porn magazine that teenage Mitch was reading. We hear Stella hissing with pleasure while a stream of water was projected behind her. I may be in the minority with those who did not understand was the hissing sound she was making was about.
From short vignettes, Act 2 ended in one very long argument which escalated from minor to major relationship issues. As how real couples argue in real life, there were non-sequiturs or statements that went against previous statements. I felt that the length and long-windedness of this argument somehow zapped the momentum of this play at its endgame. Perhaps, a revision of this part may be done to further improve its final impact.
This script was Liza Dino-Seguerra's first venture as a playwright. We really do not know how much of what she wrote was drawn for the actual real lives of Ice and herself. By the time we get to the part when Mitch and Stella were already a couple, defining themselves as transman and cis-female respectively, as if they were talking about themselves. Director Anton Juan recognized this, and let that feeling of authenticity flow naturally. That was what made this piece of indie theater in a class of its own.
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