Back in 2015, I caught the first production of Artist Playground, “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” a one-act play by Eugenio Deriada (translated to Filipino by Jim Bergado). Directed by Paul Jake Paule, the one-act play was creative and maximized the medium in such a small space. Eleven years later, I’m at the open rehearsal for Artist Playground, co-produced by Kho-Lab Productions, for the upcoming staging of “Double Take: Reverse Card” and “AL.TER,” two queer-centered, one-act plays dealing with revenge and grief.
“In Artist Playground, we are creating projects na hindi kami after na kumita kami,” explains “Double Take” director Paule. This is evident from their very first production, “The Riddle of the Sphinx,” and their many other offerings over the past decade. But now the theater industry has boomed and the company can afford to play more.
“We create, through the truth of the vision of our artistic director Roeder Camanag,” explains Paule, “that we go through the process—the process is more important for us than the output—and now, with the industry doing well, we can do more performances.”
This is the most expansive staging that Artist Playground has produced, with 20 shows and multiple alternate casts for both one-act plays. Opening this weekend on May 29 and running for four weekends straight into Pride Month, it feels like the right set of plays to offer for the month of June.
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“AL.TER”: Of poignant grief
During the open rehearsal, we got Johnrey Rivas and James Ramada performing for “AL.TER” while Drei Arias and Inah Evans playing for “Reverse Card.”
Written by Jaoquin Pablo, “AL.TER” is the story of a man who suffers a tragic loss, and a chance encounter at a mall with a man who looks exactly like his deceased partner helps him find closure. In a fit of desperation, the young man asks his lover’s doppelganger if they can have a conversation and help him move on.
It’s an emotionally-charged play that, if pushed to its limits, can feel melodramatic. Rivas is still finding balance, but Ramada is excellent as the doppelganger. He embodies a man who has to believe that he looks exactly like this stranger’s recently passed ex. But the doppelganger is a dual role because as Rivas’ character shares his past, Ramada has to play the lover in the scenes, too. There’s no leaving the stage; he has to shift instantly, and he does so with great skill.
“AL.TER” is a poignant piece that starts off with a strong opening and then peters out into quiet normality before rushing into an emotionally-charged ending. Once the kinks have been refined, this can be a very strong work.
“Reverse Card”: A story of revenge
“Reverse Card,” written by Chase Kyle Loza, is the story of Marvin (Inah Evans) and John (Drei Arias), former high school batchmates with the uber-macho John having bullied Marvin in the past. But when the play begins, it has been years since graduation, and John goes to Marvin’s house to do more than just catch up. Loza’s script feeds the audience with all the necessary details in little increments—allowing us to think the best or maybe the worst—and then proving them all true and then some.
Like “AL.TER,” the play shifts from past to present, with both actors shifting to their past and present versions through the scene, and then further complicates when they read and act out a script written by Marvin.
Though never said outright, “Reverse Card” is a power play between the bullied and the bully, whose present has changed the circumstances of their current situation. Marvin is not helpless anymore, but John has an ace or two up his sleeve. Evans and Arias show great chemistry and, during the rehearsal, throw themselves completely into the work—fully committed to the emotions and the violence that transpires.
It’s only their third full rehearsal—and both actors have been rehearsing with the different alternates—but Evans and Arias just work so well together that the rehearsal felt almost like a full staging.
Unlike “AL.TER,” “Reverse Card” is a piece that explores vengeance and retribution, a dark fantasy for many queer people who grew up bullied.
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Refining the process
After the open rehearsal, Paule asks the audience for feedback. The sequence of both plays comes into contention with one artist saying that the rehearsal sequence—“AL.TER” and then “Reverse Card”—leaves the audience with more to think about, whereas others, myself included, feel that the staging should end with the more hopeful “AL.TER.”
In our interview, Paule recalls how this restaging of “Reverse Card,” which they had produced last year, came about. Marco Rivera of Kho-Lab wanted to co-produce a restaging of the play but felt they needed another one-act play so the audience wouldn’t feel short-changed.
“The original idea was to find a short play that would lighten the mood,” says Paule. “‘Reverse Card’ is so heavy, and our artistic director, Roeder Camanag, suggested we do something light.” They came up with the idea of “AL.TER,” but the original playwright still handed a very heavy script, so Paule took it upon himself to write it under his pseudonym Pablo Joaquin.
“‘AL.TER’ is based on a real-life experience that Camanag experienced,” explains Paule. “He met someone who told him that he looked like his dead ex. That person asked Camanag, as a favor, if he could talk to him like his ex.” This was the origin of the play that Paule expanded to include the issues of double lives.
The duality of gay experience
Together, the two plays deal with the duality of gay experiences: active and passive roles and a reconciliation of one’s past, though one is through healing and the other through vengeance. It is strength expressed in two different forms, and feels like a proper exploration of the gay experience—well-suited for the upcoming Pride Month in June.
