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

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A Game of Trolls

Ramon Magsaysay Awardee PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) is on fire creating a new musical tackling about Martial Law for the millennials. A Game of Trolls, makes its rerun from September 1-30 at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City.

Very relevant in our time today when Marcos defenders are trying to bend the truth and ignores the victims of the dictator's ways, supporting extra-judicial killings through the internet and social media, as long as they play safe. The play starts by browsing Google, telling us that information is readily available in the internet. However, with the keyboard warriors existing today, it is very hard to verify which is true or not.

Then our main character meets different victims of EJKs, torture and disappearances during the Martial Law. From there, words and songs come and convene a strong message that should not be left for granted. They deliver the stories that haunted the critics of the past government and strengthens the idea that killing is never right at all aspects. A Game of Trolls deals with a very important subject but still affects the millennial generation of its light romantic lines and musical genre.

A Game of Trolls tells us that we should stick to facts. Any information that we see or hear should make us think not just once but even more than a million times. Each camp would say that the information of the other is biased but we should also be critical about it all.

I asked the creative team afterwards about what they can say to their fellow artists. Since it is a very vital for all of us to have a healthy discourse about this topic and I agree with that. Escalating it and engaging in a fight is never progressive. Since all of us have different political views, we should also learn to co-exist peacefully and base everything on facts.

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A reinterpretation of The Beguiled will be shown in Ayala theaters starting September 6

Cannes Filmfest 2017 Best Director Sofia Coppola was the first female director to take the award in 56 years. Her thriller of women in sexual tension over a man of the enemy three years to the Civil War. The Beguiled is a reinterpretation of the 1971 film which now we are seeing it based on the women's perspective. The Beguiled will be shown in Trinoma and Greenbelt 1 cinemas starting September 6.

Adapted from the novel by Thomas Cullinan, The Beguiled is a sexually charged tale that unfolds during the Civil War, at a Southern girls’ boarding school. Its sheltered young women take in an injured enemy soldier (Colin Farrell). As they provide refuge and tend to his wounds, the house is taken over with sexual tension and dangerous rivalries, and taboos are broken in an unexpected turn of events.

Sofia Coppola is reunited with two of her favorite leading ladies, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning, and directs for the first time Golden Globe Award winner Colin Farrell and Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman. These screen veterans are backed up by an ensemble of teenage actresses who are making their marks in the industry.

Laced with elements of a taut psychological thriller, the tale unfolds in 1864 – three years into the Civil War – and is tightly concentrated in and around a Southern girls’ boarding school in Virginia where a wounded Union soldier takes refuge.

The Beguiled is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Watch the trailer below:

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Don't let any strangers in your home

There are reasons why you should never, ever let anyone in your home AT ANY CIRCUMSTANCE.

Oscar-winning director Darren Aronofsky films a horror thriller starring Academy-award winner Jennifer Lawrence in "mother!" Also featuring Javier Bardem, Ed Harris and Michelle Pfeiffer. Mother (Jennifer Lawrence) and Him (Javier) live happily in a secluded paradise until two uninvited guests (Harris and Pfeiffer) comes over and disrupts their quiet life. As more guests arrive, mother is forced to revisit everything she knows about love, devotion and sacrifice. See new clips from this movie below.

I remember when there was a time when sales people are doing door-to-door and it freaked us out when we heard news about families massacred or robbed. You'll never know what their real motives are and I hope it doesn't happen to any of us.

"mother!" opens in the Philippines September 30, distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

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AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER

Climate Warrior and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore's sequel to the Oscar Winner "An Inconvenient Truth" gives an update on the world's status and it is quite alarming for all of us how we just all ignore the circumstances of our actions. Know more about how your right to suffrage can also affect Climate Change in "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" when it plays in Ayala Cinemas, Trinoma and Glorietta on August 30.

Imagine how the ice caps are melting rapidly and how it's so sad that some of the world's leaders are ignoring the bigger problem and support conventional industrialization that harm our atmosphere. The presentation of statistics is very alarming and all of us seem to ignore until we are fully affected by calamities. He has made a point that when the Earth's atmosphere warms up, it is subject to greater effects and problems that we will soon experience.

Like how we will experience more absurd atmospheric conditions, precipitation and even the outbreak of new diseases that we are not prepared to. He amazingly linked the Climate Change to the problems on-ground like drought of crop lands that can lead to famine and unnecessary migration. Note of the incidents of flooding in Miami, Typhoon Haiyan, Indian Civil War and Syria and more. Most of us can't see the link but reality is the implications are always targeting the poor.

But at the second half of the movie, he gives us hope. His advocacy has advanced to the Paris Agreement this year and hopefully our world leaders can spearhead many eco-friendly programs and increase sustainable energy sources so that we can shift to a better world.

We need to take action that will start individually, affecting or communities and going to the larger scale bit by bit. This movie is a great eye opener and tool for information that will teach us how we will be of help for the environment.

If you like to conduct private screenings of "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power" in your communities, you may contact your local Climate Change Warriors.

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EDDIE MESA is back in first major concert

Fans of the era of Eddie Mesa should all be watching the Elvis Presley of the Philippines in his first major concert in over 28 years! Eddie Mesa himself together with our loved OPM artists and of course, the whole Eigenmann clan of artists will be in one stage for "SING US YOUR SONG AGAIN: THE MUSIC AND LEGACY OF EDDIE MESA" on September 23 at the Meralco Theater.

EDDIE MESA headlines a show that will keep us rockin' and rollin' all night long as he takes us through the journey of his career spanning 4 decades. Joining him are Pilita Corrales, Christopher De Leon, Edgar Mortiz, Tirso Cruz III, Ramon "RJ" Jacinto, Ciara Sotto, The Hotlegs, and of course, the actors of the entire Eigenmann clan namely: Michael De Mesa, Ryan, Geoff, Max, Gabby, Andi Eigenmann, Sid Lucero and Cherie Gil.

The concert, which is directed by Bert de Leon with musical direction of Mel Villena, will take you back in time as the star-studded line-up perform classic songs from the 50s all the way to the current hit songs. Produced by MYOWNMANN PRODUCTIONS, INC

Get your tickets now at Ticketworld. VIP (Php 5000), Zone A (Php 4500), Zone B (Php 3000), Zone C (Php 1500).

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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.

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