THEATER REVIEW: THE DRESSING ROOM (DULAANG UP)

Reviewed by Robert Encila

Photographed by Jaypee Maristaza (2016 Staging

In “The Dressing Room: That Which Flows Away Eventually Becomes Nostalgia,” playwright Shimizu Kunio creates an exemplary alliance between Japanese classical theatre and the Western influences of Chekhov and Shakespeare. First produced in 1977, it’s a conclusive culmination of the playwright’s out-of-the-box experimentation with the spate of European works that swept the Japanese cultural scene in the 1960s.

Dulaang UP’s production is an adaptation by Chiori Miyagawa from John Gillespie’s original English translation (there is an alternating Tagalog version by another set of actors from the same company, translated by Nick Pichay). In both versions,the play summons in optics the Noh and Kabuki traditions while indulging in Western dialogue that proves overtly garrulous.

It also presents an existential dilemma, resulting in a weirdly entertaining ninety minutes of colliding realities. Aside from the contrasting dramatic styles, the titular setting is that liminal space—a metaphor, if you will—inhabited by actors from different realms.

Think of our world as a massive dressing room where we wait for a yet-undisclosed mystery play beyond our corporeal borders. In the interim, we have the legacy of memories to render meaning to our ephemeral existence.

“The Dressing Room” is a long one-act play featuring four actresses immersed in the magical details of their beloved craft. Actresses A and B are revealed to be the older, seasoned performers, preparing in front of the mirror in traditional Japanese garb and makeup as they await their entrance for an unspecified play. They seem to have been waiting a long time.

(I’m guessing that right about now you might be thinking of another familiar play by a certain Samuel Beckett.)

As a way of passing the time, both actresses get caught up in reminiscing their “accumulation” of experiences on the stage. In fact, much of the comedy is centered on the outrageous one-upmanship of these two delightful players as they manage to re-create their interpretations of Lady MacBeth and some other iconic roles in production history.

Their absorbing histrionics are occasionally interrupted by present-day Actress C, an overly dramatic persona who plays the coveted role of Nina in Chekhov’s “The Seagull.” They watch her as she saunters backstage between scenes to practice her lines, and through her long-winded soliloquies we become privy to her recurring doubts in her skill as an actress. She also thinks there are ghosts that “hover“ in the dressing room.

Actress D is the youngest and least experienced of all characters. She has been confined in a hospital bed due to a certain illness but returns to the theatre as Actress C’s prompter. She, too, covets the role of Nina and winds up in a physical altercation with Actress C in her desperate attempt to claim the role. Actress D loses the fight and returns to the hospital where eventually she dies, subsequently joining the ghostly duo that “haunts” the dressing room. Her entrance into that world is met with unwelcome disdain, at least until she blows the cover of the older women--whose endless backstage preparation, it turns out, leads to no real play at all.

A fitting denouement finds all three actresses re-enacting the final scene of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters,” where Actress D discovers her niche as Irina, the youngest one. In epic Russian sensibility, Olga, Masha, and Irina gather close together to defy the series of tragedies that befell them, with oratorical affirmations of survival as they acknowledge the only reality of which they’re unanimously certain: They are still standing and have each other to lean upon.

Indeed much of the action relies on the execution of the plays within the play, recalled from memory by the older actresses in their passionate retelling of revered classics. “The Dressing Room” is, in fact, a play about memory and change, and how such themes can impact perceptions of our current reality.

Ohm David is to be commended for a stunning set design that succeeds in disrupting our perceptions of time and space: the pronounced angles of giant beams, the slightly raked pathway into the presumed “acting area” upstage, and the arresting architectural dynamics that make for a fluid relationship between the indoors and the outdoors. The scenic abstraction blurs the line between past and present--between actors and audience--drawing us so close to the illusions that at times we forget we’re watching a proscenium piece.

Add to that the fierce lighting acumen of Meliton Roxas, Jr, who combines his eerie, muted colors with Steven Tiansongco’s video projections and Arvy Dimaculangan’s otherworldly sounds. Together they’ve managed a production design best suited for a transcendent script.

Lest you think I failed to notice--there’s the performance of the four actresses, with whose expertise and facility Shimizu’s text is elevated to a stylistic elegance. Frances Makil-Ignacio and Ces Quesada are an electrifying pair, driving most of Shimizu’s narrative (if we can call it that). It’s hard to go wrong with thespians of this caliber (which is not meant to undermine Alexander Cortez’s direction; he knows his actors’ range and navigates a delicate balance in shaping their performance). Missy Maramara astounds and bemuses as Actress C, and through her vocal prowess we are reminded that text is paramount and speech is action. As Actress D, Maxine Ignacio is comparatively inferior in terms of vocal and physical projection, though we find her emotional commitment truly convincing.

Supporting this stable quartet is a fabulously choreographed samurai ensemble, thanks to the always reliable Dexter Martinez-Santos. Their movement, alternately sweeping and stealthy, is a stylistic feature that breathes life on a stage otherwise grounded by the weight of the actors’ hefty speech.

Dulaang UP has given us a fine re-staging of a proven classic. “The Dressing Room” is not your run-of-the-mill college production; as a point of emphasis, I consider it one of the most creative endeavors I’ve seen on any stage all year. This here is a complete theatrical experience and ought not to be missed.

The play runs from November 7 until 25 with an all-female cast (English) on 7, 8, 9 (7PM), 10, 11 (10AM AND 3PM), 21, 23 (7PM) 24 (3PM), 25 (10AM) and an all-male cast (Filipino) on 13, 14, 15, 16 (7PM),17, 18 (10AM AND 3PM), 22 (7PM), 24 (10AM), 25 (3PM) at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, 2nd floor, Palma Hall, U.P. Diliman.

For tickets and show-buying, contact Joshua Chan (0917 677 5141) and Gio Dexter Santos (0916 555 2782). For sponsorships, contact Erika Lava (0906 224 1034). You may also contact the Dulaang UP Office (Tel. : 926-1349 / 981-8500 local 2449; 2450 /  dulaangupmarketing@gmail.com).