‘Closer’ runs for final 2 weekends, has Sunday night shows

Published by Inquirer
Original Article can be found HERE

 

MANILA, Philippines—Critics, theater aficionados and those who loved the movie version are one in praising Red Turnip Theater’s maiden production, the staging of Patrick Marber’s acclaimed play “Closer.” 

Now those who haven’t seen it only have two final weekends, with additional 8 pm Sunday shows.

Directed by Ana Abad Santos, the cast features Angel Aquino, Marc Abaya, Bart Guingona and Cris Villonco.

While it has enjoyed numerous productions all around the world, general audiences may be most familiar with the work due to its 2004 film adaptation by Mike Nichols that starred Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen. With this production, Red Turnip Theater offers audiences the chance to experience “Closer” the way it was meant to be: as an intimate, gripping theater performance.

The story revolves around two couples who weave in and out of each other’s orbits. It’s a study of lust, seduction, deceit, the myriad little lies we tell others (and ourselves), and the cowardice that keeps us from being honest.

Patrick Marber debuted “Closer” in London in 1997, and the play won him a Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play the following year, as well as the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Foreign Play when it was staged in New York the year after that (it was also nominated for a Tony). 

“‘Closer’ is one of those works that excites us as actors and lovers of theater,” says Villonco. “It’s provocative but not for mere shock value; it’s a compelling human drama. It’s an example of the kind of shows we want to do, which is why we formed Red Turnip.”

This production also marks acclaimed film actress Angel Aquino’s debut in a stage play. Aquino was most recently seen in Erik Matti’s “On The Job”, which debuted at the Directors’ Fortnight at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.  “It’s wonderful material to be part of, especially since this is my first time. It’s beautifully written. I think it’s something that every actor would aspire to be part of so I feel it’s a privilege,” she says. 

 

Bart Guingona is no stranger to the material, having directed it himself in a production several years ago.

TV and film actor Marc Abaya, son of pioneering director Marilou Diaz-Abaya and frontman of rock band Kjwan, also makes his stage debut with “Closer”. 

“We’re very happy with this cast,” says director Ana Abad Santos. “They each bring their own touches to their roles and have different experiences with the material. It’s very interesting watching them play off of each other. There’s also a unique dynamic with this particular production because you have two theater veterans with Bart and Cris, and two theater first-timers [Angel and Marc] who are nonetheless acclaimed actors.”

Italian sportswear and lifestyle brand Fila has come onboard as the major sponsor of Red Turnip Theater’s production of Closer, as part of their commitment to the arts in line with their vision of l’arte nello sport (or The Art of Sport).  Closer is also made possible through the support and generosity of VMV Hypoallergenics, BPI, National Bookstore and Powerbooks, Indie Pop Films, and Sugarleaf.

 

Catch Red Turnip Theater's CLOSER

OCT 26 2013 | SAT | 3PM| Whitespace, Makati

Patron Ticket Prices: 1000 

 

Contact:  Onay Sales 0917.908.0565 or Jayme 0927.202.2017

   

“Closer” by Red Turnip Theater – Best of Filipino Theatre Arts

Posted by Marcelle Villegas
Original Article can be found HERE

In the entertainment industry, true talent is best shown in a theatrical setting where a story is told without the elaborate special effects or movie editing. Life for stage actors is not easy because each performance must be perfect. There are no “take two” or short cuts for a scene. Therefore, actors who perform live on stage are artists with exceptional talent and stamina to deliver consistent quality in acting.

This month in Manila, the ongoing local stage production of “Closer” is definitely a venue where one can find actors with exceptional acting abilities. “Closer” is an award-winning play by English dramatist Patrick Marber. The play made its debut in 1997 at the Royal National Theatre’s Cottesloe Theatre in London, England and it won Evening Standard “Best Comedy Award” and the prestigious “Laurence Olivier Award” in 1998 for “Best New Play”. This play had a movie version in 2004 of the same title by director Mike Nichols and stars Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Clive Owen. 

“Everything is a version of something else.” 

The Manila production of “Closer” is brought to us by a new theatre company called “Red Turnip Theater” and directed by Ana Abad Santos.

The venue is at Whitespace Theater along Chino Roces Avenue Extension (formerly Pasong Tamo Extension). The stage is not the conventional elevated platform. The stage is at the centre of the room while the audience is seated around the stage. The actors are very close to the audience (just a few feet away) thus, there is an effective interaction between the audience and the actors. One can really imagine being part of some emotionally intense scenes that are loud and alive, and just a few feet away from you. 

An Expat’s Guide to Philippine Theatre Arts

Top left, clockwise: The Philippine production of “Closer” with Angel Aquino, Bart Guingona, Marc Abaya and Cris Villonco

These actors are more than pretty faces or famous names on TV or stage. They are Filipinos who dedicated several years of their lives in perfecting their craft and even travelled the world to train further in the performing arts.

• Angel Aquino as Anna – She is a multi-awarded actress and model with an acting career since 1999. Just recently, she won “Best Supporting Actress” award for the movie “Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita”.

• Cris Villonco as Alice – At age nine, Cris started her singing career and eventually performed on stage. She is an actor and recording artist. In 2011, she won “Gawad Buhay Best Actress in a Musical” as Maria Clara in “Noli Me Tangere”. She has a degree in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Music and Economic Development from Sarah Lawrence College, New York. In 2000, Cris was featured in TIME Magazine (International Edition) as “Hero for the Planet”.

• Bart Guingona as Larry – In 2003, he won Aliw Awards for Best Stage Actor. He is also a directory for Repertory Philippines. He had two theatre grants in London, one for theatre direction. He is currently the artistic director and president of Actor’s Actors Inc. Just recently, he won as “Best Stage Director” and “Best Actor” for Aliw Awards for the The Necessary Theatre (TNT) production of “Red”.

• Marc Abaya as Dan – Marc has been acting since 2005 and has done numerous films and TV shows. In 2010, he won “Best Actor” for the role of Pido in the movie “Dagim”.

Synopsis

Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice: This is the memorial tablet of Alice Ayres found at Postman’s Park, London which is one of the topic of conversation in “Closer”. One of the characters in the play calls herself “Alice Ayres” and patterns her actions and personality based on the details from this tablet. This historical tablet was designed by William De Morgan.

The story of “Closer” revolves around the lives of four people. On the first act we find Alice walking in the streets of London and she got ran over by a cab. She met a stranger named Dan who brought her to the emergency room. From there, the two became star-crossed lovers. At the ER, they also met a doctor named Larry whom they encountered in interesting future events. Dan makes a living by writing obituaries. He eventually wrote a book about the life story of his lover, Alice. During a photo shoot of his book’s cover, he met and fell in love with the photographer, Anna. Alice was aware of the secret deception while Anna tried to avoid getting involved with Dan. Eventually, with Larry in the picture as Anna’s husband, Dan’s selfishness eventually lead towards a destructive web of lies.

The story of “Closer” touches the issue on how betrayal and infidelity can ruin a person’s life. Some people survive from a breakup, while others don’t and they suffer in silence. It was quite fascinating though that one of the characters had self-destructive tendencies but ended up putting sense and order in the messed-up lives of the other characters. A simple lesson about relationships – “Do the right thing.”

From the play, we also see the difference between a man and a woman based on how they react towards an unfaithful lover. Men are more verbal about their shattered ego and they want to know even the dirty details on how they got cheated on. As Dan says in one part, “Because I want to know everything. Because…I’m insane. Tell me.”

Women tend to be in raging anger at first, the suddenly silent about it. Women would rather just walk away as they feel unsafe being around a liar.

Some of the lines of the script are witty, funny or sometimes sarcastic but in a nutshell, it tells the difference between love and selfishness. It is surprising that one of the characters in the story lived with a lover for years without even knowing that person’s real name or that person’s psychiatric condition. Therefore, the play shows us that in the real world, there are many selfish people who start a relationship only to please themselves rather than to give unconditionally to another person. The script conveys that many people use love as an excuse for their selfish motives, and most people do not know the difference.

Life Lessons

When you watch any play on stage, it is wise to pay attention to the script of the actors. It is the heart and soul of the play because it is the writer’s medium in sharing important life lessons to the audience. From “Closer”, there are a lot of memorable lines that most people can relate with. “Closer” brings justice and clarity to anyone who has ever loved, got betrayed and survived betrayal or still struggling to recover from it.

Here are some of the memorable lines from the play:

About falling in love:

Alice: That’s the most stupid expression in the world. ‘I fell in love’—as if you had no choice. There’s a moment, there’s always a moment; I can do this, I can give in to this or I can resist it. I don’t know when your moment was but I bet there was one.

About moving on:

Larry: Of course I’ll forgive her. I have forgiven her. Without forgiveness, we’re savages.

Interesting Merchandise at Whitespace

When you come and watch the show, you’ll find a lot of interesting things at the lobby of Whitespace Theater.  Before the show, why not purchase their informative souvenir programme? This is available in glossy print and it contains photos of the actors and the cast and crew. This is a cool way to get to know their impressive credentials in the entertainment industry. The souvenir programme includes a CD with video of the online trailer of “Closer”. This beautiful video trailer is directed by Marie Jamora.

Souvenir programme for “Closer” for a better look at our talented actors, cast and crew. This includes a CD with video of their online trailer. You may purchase this at the front desk of the theatre’s lobby.

Another cute souvenir item on sale is a tote bag with the “Red Turnip Theater” logo. It comes in two sizes: medium and large. This is a perfect souvenir to bring home after the show.

Red Turnip Theater tote bag. Available on sale at the front desk of the theatre’s lobby

The best part of the hanging out at the theatre’s lobby after the show is the chance to meet and greet the cast.

“She was…disarming.” (a quote from “Closer”) Meeting the lovely cast of “Closer” after the show, (left) Angel Aquino and (right) Cris Villonco.

 

Catch Red Turnip Theater's CLOSER

OCT 26 2013 | SAT | 3PM| Whitespace, Makati

Patron Ticket Prices: 1000 

 

Contact:  Onay Sales 0917.908.0565 or Jayme 0927.202.2017

   

Angel Aquino pushes herself to the limit with full-length theater debut in ‘Closer’

By Edwin P. Sallan, InterAksyon.com
Original Article can be found HERE

 

Angel Aquino. (Photo by Jojit Lorenzo)

“I like to challenge myself as an actor.”

That’s Angel Aquino’s quick response when asked why she continues to accept offbeat roles in films, television and, this month, in theater with her casting in Red Turnip Theater’s maiden production of “Closer”, a faithful staging of Patrick Marber’s award-winning play.

“Closer” was also adapted into the big screen by acclaimed filmmaker Mike Nichols (“The Graduate”) in 2004 and starred Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman.

Asked by InterAksyon how she reacted when she was first offered the role of American photographer Anna Cameron played by Julia Roberts in the film version, Angel admitted that she initially did not take it seriously.

“I was like, ‘Wow! Let’s go for a reading’. But as we got into it, I began to wonder, what did I get myself into?” she recalled.

Although Angel had her first taste of theater back in 2002 when she was included in the cast of New Voice Company’s production of “The Vagina Monologues”, “Closer” is actually her first full-length theater debut.

 

Angel (third from left) with 'Closer' castmates Marc Abaya, Cris Villonco, and Bart Guingona.

“I have this huge stage fright. I do hosting jobs and sometimes I screw up my lines. Hindi puwedeng ganun in a dialogue-heavy play like ‘Closer’. I really need to do this right,” she confessed.

To her credit, Angel has done a really good job of bringing Anna to life and, together with fellow stage greenhorn Marc Abaya, holding her own against theater veterans Bart Guingona and Cris Villonco.

“But it’s a wonderful material. It’s beautifully written and I think it’s something that every actor would aspire to be part of so I feel it’s a privilege to play Anna,” she added.

As acting challenges go, “Closer” is not the only project that pushes Angel’s acting ability to its limit. She has been essaying some of the most memorable characters in recent memory, such as the title role in Topel Lee’s psychological horror drama, “Amorosa: The Revenge”; a transgender in Adolfo Alix, Jr.’s provocative Cinemalaya 2013 feature “Porno”; and the unfaithful wife of a hired killer in Erik Matti’s “On The Job”.

And then there’s her recent CineFilipino Best Supporting Actress turn as Pilar, the mysterious new woman in a small town in Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s acclaimed lesbian coming-of-age drama, “Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita”.
“I was in Lucena doing a fashion show so I wasn’t able to attend the awards night. But I kept telling everyone involved in the film to keep me updated and they texted me all night, and I was so happy with the awards we won,” she exclaimed.

Under the sheets with Teri Malvar in 'Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita'.

Angel admitted that she was surprised that “Ang Huling Cha-Cha” was one of two films to be honored with the festival’s Best Film award. “But I’ve always believed in the film. The first time I read the script, I really wanted to do it, it was such a great material and Pilar was a great character to play.”

She said she was also very happy for her young co-star Teri Malvar, who won Best Actress. “The vehicle was really good for her and brought out the best in her acting. I really wanted her to win because she worked so hard,” she admitted.

One of the film’s highlights was a kissing scene involving their respective characters. For Angel, doing delicate scenes is part of one’s growth as an actor.
“A kissing scene is a kissing scene. Kahit sino pa yan, dapat halikan mo siya the way you should kiss that person in real life, whether it’s a man or a woman, whether you like it or you don’t, you just have to do what needs to be done when you’re playing a role,” she pointed out.

As for being regarded as a sensual actress, Angel chalks that up to years of experience.

“When you’ve been acting for several years as I have, you learn a few things, develop a few tricks and experiment on some traits you’re not very familiar with like, yes, sensuality. You just have to bring that to the fore.”

Directed by Ana Abad Santos, “Closer” runs every Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until October 27. Venue is at Whitespace located at 2314 Chino Roces Ave. Extension (formerly Pasong Tamo Extension), Makati.

 

Catch Red Turnip Theater's CLOSER

OCT 26 2013 | SAT | 3PM| Whitespace, Makati

Patron Ticket Prices: 1000 

 

Contact:  Onay Sales 0917.908.0565 or Jayme 0927.202.2017

   

The ‘Closer’ I get to you

By Tim Yap (The Philippine Star)

Original Article can be found HERE

 Red Turnip Theater's first offering: Closer opening on October 4  

Photos by DIX PEREZ Sittings by DAVID MILAN        

      

MANILA, Philippines - I never did like Disney. Preying on innocent minds and making us believe in fairy tales and happily ever after is pretty cruel, don’t you think?” said Ana Abad Santos, hands down my favorite theater actress slash director and now the founder of The Red Turnip Theater — the new kid formed by not-so-new kids around the theater block that’s bringing the play Closer close to us this October. 

In between surfing, doing movies, organizing events and marketing for a sports brand and shooting teleseryes, Ana Abad Santos is now back in her element, with a vengeance that is palpable as I hear her talk about her new theater company’s new project.

But first I was curious. Why the name Red Turnip Theater? “The late great Bibot Amador used to say, “You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip... But you can damn well paint it red.” Ana turns pensive as she recalls that turning point.  “As we were building the company, that quote kept running in my head.

“Maybe as a reminder that love and passion are not enough. You gotta have guts and nerves of steel. And boy, did that woman have all of the above!” Ana emits a different glow whenever the topic turns to where she started and where she intends to go.

Pursuit of love and other drugs

“Both as a salute to a great mentor and a symbol of passion, and humor — we named our company Red Turnip Theater.” Ana formed the company with other theater veterans Rem Zamora, Cris Villonco, Jenny Jamora and Topper Fabregas.

Their first project? Closer. Some of us might be familiar with the movie adaptation of the play that was based loosely on an opera, but this one proves to be even more exciting. “Closer is a painfully humorous dissection of the human heart and it’s tirelessly sad pursuit of love.” Call it jaded but don’t we catch ourselves swinging to and fro that pendulum depending on the moments of our lives?

 

Ana shared with me some of the stellar lines from the play.

“Try lying for a change. It’s the currency of the world.”  — Dan. 

Or this, “The poor are more generous.” — Larry.

 “Have you ever seen a human heart? It looks like a fist wrapped in blood!”  — Larry.

“I don’t want to lie. I can’t tell the truth.  So it’s over,” said Alice. With a script that’s as amazing as this, and with a cast so brilliantly assembled as pictured above in this exclusive PhilStar Supreme shoot, how can you not want to see the show this October?

Oh and the exciting part about this run is that the show will be staged at Whitespace, with Friday night shows starting at 9 p.m. There’s also a bar where you can get drinks and have a glass of wine while watching the show, and food from Cibo (upon order), too! Now that’s what you call adjusting to the times. 

I then look at Ana and I see her aura turn into a deeper shade of red. “In spite of its modern tone, it has a very classic rhythm. Very poetic. Imagine Romeo and Juliet hundreds of years later is still ruining our lives. Love remains elusive. Why do the greatest love stories end in tragedy? Death keeps it alive.  It cannot survive in everyday life. We don’t have the space.”

Catch Red Turnip Theater's CLOSER
October 26 | Sat | 3PM | Whitespace, Makati
Patron Tickets at Php 1000 each

Contact Onay 0917.908.0565 or Jayme 0927.202.2017