BLACKBIRD

Only 90mins to sit in Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium and you need only two characters to give you the complex thing called LOVE. The Necessary Theater's Blackbird is a very interesting play about Ray (Bart Guingona) and Una (Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante) who met again after 15 years after. Their story sparks a very interesting debate that will make you think about the factors and consequences of the decisions made by Ray and Una.

In a simple office cafeteria where they confront their past, Ray and Una gives the most graphic conversation as if you are there in the moment where they enjoy each other's company, and then you begin to doubt your beliefs and morals. Bart Guingona's stuttering could be a sign when Una already owns him in the event that Ray regrets their past and Una wearing a thigh-high dress could also mean that she is out there and ready to retaliate against any one who may do her wrong.

Again, the conversations already gives you a picture of what happened especially 15 years ago. And when Una makes her monologue, John Batalla's focused lighting makes it more dramatic and you'll feel like it also transports you through time.

While it has given away that this play is about post-rape, you'll also wonder many questions on why Una came back to him, why Ray also welcomed her back. It goes on putting yourself in the shoes of the characters while fighting your morals. It's very interesting that is really an ice breaker for discussion.

Catch the final 3 shows of Blackbird in Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza this weekend, September 8, 9 (8pm) and September 10 (3pm). Directed by Topper Fabregas for The Necessary Theater.

Photos credit to Jaypee Maristaza

Subscribe to my updates:

Read More

Bart Guingona and Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante in a love story post-rape entitled Blackbird

The Necessary Theater adapts Olivier Award winner Blackbird for a two-weekends at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater, RCBC Plaza, Makati City featuring Bart Guingona and Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante, directed by Topper Fabregas.

Guingona plays Ray and Volante as Una in a story written by David Harrower. A different kind of love story unfold in front of an audience where they will be shocked on the encounters of Ray and Una 15 years earlier. When Una was only twelve, Ray seduced Una over the course of three months and finally took her away to a hotel for the weekend. Ray spent several years in prison for statutory rape, and Una was ostracized from her community after the incident. Now, she has found him by accident, and the play delves into their complex feelings for each other. Though clearly, and definitional, sexual abuse has occurred, the play that ensues is also part of a love story -- a horrible love story, but a love story all the same.

Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Play, Blackbird is a deeply complex portrayal of two people whose ruined lives are inextricably intertwined.

Opening September 1, with shows at 8pm on September 1, 2, 8 and 9 and 3pm on September 3 and 10. Tickets sell at PhP 1,200.00 Orchestra center, PhP 1,000.00 Orchestra sides and orchestra back; PhP 800.00 Loge; PhP 500 Balcony, available at Ticketworld.

Subscribe to my updates:

Read More