Strange Love Agonies across Time From New York to Manila

I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change is a musical comedy first played in a theater in New York in 1996 and has been reenacted all over the world until today. Almost thirty (30) years later, the play is celebrated across the world including in the Philippines as reinterpreted by Repertory Philippines launched last June 14, 2024 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati. The play's tagline is "Everything you have ever secretly thought about dating, romance, marriage, lovers, husbands, wives and in-laws, but were afraid to admit." The show is played by four (4) characters who acted in more than ten different roles at different life phases throughout the play. 

Once seated, the tall and gorgeous Mrs. Mindy Perez-Rubio, the president & CEO of Repertory Philippines, shared how the rendition was reinterpreted for the present times and the importance of community in social media for the theater industry. 

The first scene introduced the four (4) cast on spotlight with solo vocals which highlighted each of their musical prowess. There were two (2) main acts: couples dating to wedding vow, and bridesmaid role to divorced and widow role. The scenes were short and shifts frequently to another set of characters. Thankfully, the digital label above the stage indicating the title of the scenes helped distinguish settings. The actors were few and the stage was designed well to zoom in on the scenes using frame designs on stage. The stage is cut halved that the remaining spaces in front became narrow and intimate enough for audiences to connect with the short stay of each characters. The stage arrangement was simple but interestingly detailed to capture the scenes' varying mood. The view was just right at the last row with center view.

The good thing about changing scenes could be the nature of the story filled with agonies on love with dark humor. The audience does not need to settle and emphatize long for each scene's suffering and moves on to another with a fresh story. On the other side, it also became a challenge to internalize each scene due to its shortness. One has to watch and focus on details on each scene, and piece together common themes that give deeper meaning to the play's title. For the actors, each scene demonstrate their acting skills by taking on different roles and heavy remarks. There were words used that require cultural reference and knowledge of market brands to understand and appreciate intent, such in the case of a luxury brand mentioned making audience who understood gasp, while less knowledgeable audience could just watched and wondered. What is exceptional about the play is how it demonstrates the challenges of love across life phases in detail capturing intensity of distress of the characters played. There were very few but extremely colorful scenes blended with dark humor that becomes a statement piece for the overall play. While some scenes are peculiar and driven by intentional dishonesty in relationships, prudent audiences may have enjoyed scenes showing insecurities drawn from innonence in the subject matter and driven by good intent.

Notably, these include the scenes with actors in the characters of cheerful high-spirited parents shattered and agonizing over the children's marital status, and the bridesmaid who sang a maidenly sweet song.

After the show, I followed with other audiences to ask for autographs and selfie photos with the actors and company trustees roaming at the hallways. I was caught off-guard when I took photos with Mrs. Mindy Perez-Rubio, the president & CEO of Repertory Philippines, as she asked, "Did you like the show?" two times because I could not give a sharp "yes" at her first try. I just said I have some favorite scenes. 

The Philippines is a country that is dominantly Catholic by religion. The religion is among the drivers of the topic of love, relationship, and marriage. In this perspective, the faithful and prudent may find some scenes disturbing with lack of positive development to appreciate and feel-good in the audience seat. While the choice of language and words, with its dry and dark humor successfully tickled the current audience.

The choice of story is admirable as it is important to discuss love with the reality of different life phases and build maturity on engaging in a relationship. The choice of story is also challenging with the series of tragedies shown in the play if left misunderstood can make one retreat from the subject matter, love. It would be interesting to see this format developed and discuss how love agonies covert to manners of faith and trust that benefits across life phases. The show is unique and demonstrative of its intent on the subject of love. Kudos!

Review/ React : Abi Ko

Photos : AXL Powerhouse (More on Teatro Pinas)

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