Darkness and comedy prevail in Repertory Philippines' 2014 shows

As if to purge a year of scandals and calamities from the psyches of the collective public, Manila-based theater company Repertory Philippines will be staging and re-staging five plays that appeal to both one's inner darkness and funny bone for its 77th season in 2014.

These include the thriller "Wait Until Dark," dark comedy "August: Osage County," and comedy farce "Noises Off." The company will also re-stage the story of "Pinocchio" with Guido Gatmaitan, who was in the lead role of Trumpets' "Bluebird of Happiness."

For their Christmas special and 2013 season ender, the story of an old and cranky man who hates Christmas will be brought to life in "Scrooge" as their season ender. The show will be directed by Repertory Philippines' aritstic director Baby Barredo.

'Wait Until Dark'

According to director Miguel Faustmann, the play based on Frederick Knott's thriller is "an actor's piece, it's an actor's play."

Faustmann is also known as the director of the comedic play "Boeing Boeing," the play which earned him a nomination for Best Director in this year's BroadwayWorld Philippines Awards.

"I have directed thrillers before, my favorites are thrillers and comedies. Well, [in thrillers,] it's just keeping the tension and making the audience who are watching to be up on their seat and fill them in with the suspense," he said.

Liesl Batucan will play the role of a blind girl, Susy Hendrix. According to her, "Wait Until Dark" was her mother's favorite movie.

The 1967 film adaptation starred Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, and Richard Crenna. Hepburn was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as Susy Hendrix.

Synopsis: When Sam Hendrix carries a doll across the Canada-US border, he sets of a chain of events that will lead to a terrifying ordeal for his blind wife, Susy. The doll was stuffed with heroin and when it cannot be located, its owner, a Mr. Roat, stages a robbery in an attempt to recover it. He arranges for Sam to be away from the house for a day and then has two con men, Mike Talman and a Mr. Carlito, alternately encourage or scare Susy into telling them where the doll is hidden. Talman pretends to be an old friend of Sam's while Carlito pretends to be a police officer. Despite their best efforts, they make little headway as Susy has no idea where the doll might be, leading Mr. Roat to take a somewhat more violent approach to getting the information from her.

"Wait Until Dark" will run from January 17 until February 19, 2014 at the OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

'August: Osage County'

Tracy Letts' Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning play, "August: Osage County" will be directed by Chris Millado of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. This will be his first time to direct a play produced by Repertory Philippines.

In the press launch held at OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City, the event's hosts said Millado referred "August: Osage County" as the "soap opera from hell."

Furthermore, actress Tami Monsod will stage her theater comeback after a two-year hiatus in the said play.

Synopsis: At the Oklahoma farmhouse of the Westons, the patriarch, Beverly, goes missing. The family gathers together at the farmhouse hoping for good news, but after five days, his body is found in a lake—a presumed suicide. The play takes us through the family's pain, not just over Beverly's death, but of living in a very dysfunctional family for many years. Violet, the drug-addicted, brain-addled matriarch, her three daughters and their respective families unsuccessfully attempt to work out their problems from the time they arrive, hoping to find Beverly, through his funeral, and on into the next day. Darkly comic, but also violent and sad, "August: Osage County" explores the painful issues all American families, and then some, have to face.

The show will run from February 21 until March 16, 2014 at the OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

Coming 2014, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and McGregor will star in a film adaptation directed by John Wells.

'Noises Off'

Michael Frayn's Laurence Olivier Award winning masterpiece, "Noises Off" will be directed by Miguel Faustmann.

Synopsis: A comedy farce in three acts, "Noises Off" starts in the middle of dress/tech rehearsal for a theater company tackling "Noises On," an English sex farce in which two couples cross paths at a country manor. But that's just the starting point for "Noises Off," which adds another layer of complexity by stopping the action of the play-within-the-play to take up the love lives of the actors presenting the farce.

It will run from March 28 until April 27, 2013 at the OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

'Pinocchio'

Repertory Philippines' re-staging of the Theater for Young Audiences' musical play "Pinocchio" will be for the new generation of children who have not witnessed the story of the young wooden boy.

"The reason why we do a cycle of Pinocchio because there are new children born every day, right, and they grow up and those who have seen Pinocchio will go on to other things. And then, we have a new batch of children coming in," said director Joy Virata.

"We do it every six or seven, eight, or nine years—we always know that there are children who have not seen it—and that's why I like to do good plays over and over," she added.

Synopsis: The familiar story of a wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy is told with verve and vibrancy. Set in Italy, this version tells the beloved tale of Pinocchio, a boy-sized puppet built by the caring puppetmaker, Gepetto. Knowing of his longing for a son, the Blue Fairy brings Pinocchio to life as a reward for Gepetto's remarkably generous spirit. Pinocchio is told by Blue Fairy that if he always obeys his father, she will turn him into a real boy. But the best laid plans can sometimes go awry and Pinocchio's boyish longing leads him away from his father and on an adventure unlike any other. From the Land Of the Toys to the belly of a whale, Pinocchio learns that no love is greater than that of a parent for a child.

Liesl Batucan, who played Pinocchio in nineties, will now play the role of the Blue Fairy. Meanwhile, Guido Gatmaitan will play the role of Pinocchio.

It will run from August 16 until December 12 at the OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

'Scrooge'

For its season ender, Repertory Philippines will stage a big family musical entitled "Scrooge," the perfect story for Christmas that follows the story of an old and cranky man who hates Christmas.

Synopsis: In 1860, there lived stingy, cranky, Christmas-hating old man named Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge loathes people; he runs his bank while exploiting his employee Bob Cratchit and clients and bitterly treating his own nephew and acquaintances. However, on Christmas Eve, he is visited by the doomed ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley, who tells him that three spirits will visit him that night. The first, the Spirit of Christmas Past, recalls his miserable youth, when he lost his only love due to his greed; the second, the Spirit of Christmas Present, shows him the poor situation of Bob's family and how joyful life can be sometimes; and the third, the Spirit of Christmas Future, shows his fate. Scrooge finds that life is good and time is too short and suddenly you are not there anymore, changing his behavior toward Christmas, Bob, his nephew, and people in general. A timeless Christmas classic for all ages.

The show will be directed the by company's artistic director Baby Barredo and it will run from November 21 until December 14, 2014 at the OnStage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City. — VC, GMA News