Why people in a ‘dark place’ should catch Sandbox Collective’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things’

By the time you read this, Rody Vera, who plays Letter Writer #1 in Sandbox Collective’s ongoing “Tiny Beautiful Things,” has already beaten and wasted nearly a dozen eggs, thrown into the dustbin. Not out of rage or anything violent but more on coming to terms with his past. Then again, we’re getting ahead of the story.

Unless it’s about poor wi-fi connection or some glitches in your online transactions, the internet is never a safe space to share one’s personal problems and dark secrets. Even your so-called social media friends might be secretly, happily schadenfreude you have those problems, despite giving “caring” advice. 

That’s why there is a certain level of comfort in opening up to a stranger, an emphatic stranger like an advice columnist. 

“Tiny Beautiful Things,” described as a play about life in letters, comes highlighting our need to open up and if luck would have it, get the right comforting answers. 

The text is based on the bestselling book by Cheryl Strayed, adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, co-conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail and Nia Vardalos. 

The Manila staging is directed by the award-winning Jenny Jamora, whose recent directorial job includes Sandbox Collective’s “Every Brilliant Thing” and its Filipino adaptation, “Bawat Bonggang Bagay.” She also reaped praises for directing Tanghalang Pilipino’s much-acclaimed “Pingkian” the musical about Emilio Jacinto. 

There are four characters with hidden identities. There’s the advice columnist Sugar played by Iza Calzado in her very first straight play, and three letter writers identified only by their numbers. (Calzado played narrator in the 2015 dance musical “Sabel: Love and Passion,” which was inspired by the muse of the same name in the paintings by National Artist Ben Cabrera.)

The nearly two-hour play takes place for one night in what looked like a ground floor of a middle-class household, showing the living room, dining area, kitchen and restroom. 

Sugar and the letter-writers look like they are having casual post-dinner conversations, with Sugar sitting on the dining table and reading letters on her laptop. 

At the beginning of the play, we will discover that except for Sugar, all three characters have no fixed identities. Their role depends on the letters they read. 

For example, Vera as Letter Writer #1 deals with the death of his son and unable to move on. He is called the “dead living father.” He asks Sugar for advice, like to a therapist.

In another letter, Vera is a married middle-aged woman in what looked like an unhappy marriage and “crushing on a friend.” He assumes another identity in another letter.

Vera usually ends his dialogue with: “Dear Sugar, what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck? I’m asking this question as it applies to everything every day. Best. WTF.”

Gabby Padilla as Letter Writer #2 is a mother trying to cope with the loss of a daughter through miscarriage. In another letter, she is a married man fantasizing “about dating other people.”

Ketchup Eusebio as Letter Writer #3 is a married man who is contemplating on leaving his wife. The weird thing is, he considers his wife his best friend, who has been good to him. “I think I love her but I’m not in love with her,” he says.

In another letter, Eusebio’s character is a transgender, “born female but meant to be male.” He had a falling out with his parents after a gender reassignment surgery and for many years was estranged from them. One day, he received a letter of apology from them, telling him that now they understand what he did. He asks Sugar what to do, whether to reconcile or just move on. 

In all the characters the three actors (Vera, Padilla, Eusebio) play, it looks like the common theme is about letter writers stuck in an unhappy marriage.

Most letters are signed Stuck, Confused and Thief, which the three actors embody in the play. It’s the audience members who will just figure out if the character is old, young, female, male based on the letters. 

On some performances, Juilliard-trained Regina de Vera is understudy for Letter Writer #2 while the consistently magnificent Brian Sy is swing for Letter Writers #1 and #3.

At some point, Sugar’s credibility is questioned. One asked if she’s a publisher author. Another letter writer asks if she’s a therapist or in therapy.

She answers them that her goal isn’t to make anyone do anything as she’s offering advice based on her personal experiences.

Sugar has empathy, unlike other advice columnists who seem to cut-and-paste Bible verses and motivational quotes from Instagram. 

“Tiny Beautiful Things” is for people stuck in a dark place and trying to find comfort, even from strangers like Sugar.

In general, the play poses the question: “What letter would you have written to your younger self?”

Calzado may have been doing films and television all her life but in her debut performance for straight play, she shows she can handle theater as well, playing Sugar with ease and calm. It’s as if Sugar were written for her. 

The same with Ketchup Eusebio, who we always see as a comic actor in film and television. With “Tiny Beautiful Things,” he proves that theater could also be his home and we are looking forward to his future roles on the live stage.

We failed to catch Sy’s performance but knowing how excellent he’s always been in his part roles, from “Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead” to “Lungs,” we can imagine how he keeps audience members glued and almost hypnotized by his interpretation. 

Vera shows his brilliance as an actor. The last time he acted in a play in Manila was for Atlantis Theatricals’ March, 2020 staging of “The Band’s Visit,” whose regular run was aborted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As the most-sought after playwright these days, Vera’s works have been all over the place, with theater groups here and there staging his plays—original, adaptation or commissioned work—almost every month, it feels like there’s always a “Rody Vera festival” all year round. 

So, we can say Vera’s acting in multiple roles is another major reason why theater fans should not miss “Tiny Beautiful Things,” which is now on its final weekend until December 8 at Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater.

Kudos to Sandbox Collective’s Toff De Venecia, Anna Santamaria, Sab Jose and Maine Veneracion for giving us another much-needed theater therapy in these trying times.