Weeee!  Yehey! We were not late!  And I'm sooo grateful we weren't.  Thank God for Manila Day!  The traffic is not that heavy.. Although, of course it was a big plus that we were able to get up earlier.. :p

So, here are the things we missed in the past few days:

• the national anthem - I love singing the national anthem before a play starts.  I'm patriotic that way.  Maybe because that's the least thing I could do in expressing my love for my country. 
• the title of the set - it was being explained before the first play starts: it's relation to all three plays

And Set C was entitled: Pecado Mortal and as explained the three plays today would feature three mortal sins, although we think the first one and the last one are the same.  So, there was no need to search for what "pecado" means.  My vocabulary is sooo poor! :(

The order of the plays shown were not as the same as the order they were printed on the festival bill, that's alright.  I don't really mind.

First up was Suor Clara.  I love their set.  It was really beautiful and the stuff their, like the candle, the books, they all seem appropriate.  We were not seated on the seats that we wanted because Huseng Batute was packed!  (with more celebs too :p) 

Again I did not read the description or plot in the programme, so, I did not really kno what will happen.  The story just unfolds before me.  I love the story and the concept. 

I like how Frances Makil-Ignacio portrayed the role of Suor Clara.  I first loved her talent when I saw her in Three-Penny Opera, and I don't love her any less now.  Ronan Capinding is also good as the now older Salvi.  Although, his voice was failing during the first part.  I'm not sure why though.  Is it because he wanted to make his voice older or he really just was not feeling well.  The one thing that was off though, was the slippers he was wearing.  I think that's too modern.  And I did not like the long-all-white hair of Clara.  Because she speaks and acts younger that someone who usually has that hair already.  And for me, her voice and actions were just apt for what could have been the age of Clara at that time.  I think it's better if she would have black hair with about 25% of gray streaks.  Start counting hair strands now! Hahahahaha!  Salvi is older than Clara anyway, so, he should be the one with more white hairs.

It can seem to be dragging because it was just a long conversation, but I was hooked!  I was listenning to every word and watching their action and movements and facial reactions.

This really is a good twist from the works of Jose Rizal.

During the break, I went out to check if there will be Fragments shown in between sets.  I was able to see JK Anicoche and it was so sweet of him to remember me.  He said there will be no showing in this set.  Sad.  But I sure hope I would be able to catch even just one! 

The next one was Package Counter.  Yong Tapang and Exzell Macoma were okay.  However there are things that I had problems about.  The "smell" they were talking about, especially during the time when they found out where it was coming from should have been constantly felt, but even if after they got hold of the bag, it seemed that the smell comes and goes.  And now knowing what was inside the bag, it must be terribly reeking! 

Another thing was the real smoking.  I have asthma, and I was afraid that I might get sick afterwards.  Yes, I do smoke, but I can't handle second hand smoke.  So, if you're smoking, I might as well do the same.  I was covering my nose and mouth for a little protection.  It's a good thing we were seated at the back. 

Also, after opening the bag, and knowing its contents, and having your hands stained, would you not immediately wash them?  Okay, so the nearest sink in Husent Batute could be sooo far away, they could improvise and have a basin of water ready at the back stage where he could wash off. 

And the last one was Matyag.  I'm not sure what my proble is with this one.  Mayen Estañero was okay, but she had very much little to do in the play.  And she exited through, what at first gave me the impression that it was supposed to be a wall. :p  Well, Randy Villarama was in the way of the too, so, I guess that's okay.  Isab Marinez played the role of the child.  I don't normally ask questions in the open forum part, but I just had to ask this one, because I was sooo confused.  What was the age of the kid?  It is indeed difficult to play the role of someone very much younger.  It's like treading on very thin ice.  You can either do it convincingly or you would look like someone mentally challenged.  I really was not able to decide what was her age.  There are factors that made me think she's older, while there are instances that she seem to be very very young.  In the program, it was written that the child was barely 12 years old.  Marinez answered my question with, eight or nine.  Her reason behind this, is that this is the age wherein kids still don't have an idea about sex.  So, I try to go back to the time when I was at that age bracket.  Did my parents or the people around me just broke my innocence at an early age?  Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone who is at that age right now that I know personally.  I'm not sure now, how much research was done.  Or maybe this was the type of kid who was extremely sheltered.  But, if she was, I don't think his dad would refer to her crush as uncircumcised.  Sheesh!  Too conflicting for me. 

So, for this set, my favorite is Floy Quinto's Suor Clara! 

You can still catch SET C on the following dates and times:

July 2, 3:00 PM
July 4, 8:00 PM

at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute in CCP


You may check http://www.culturalcenter.gov.ph/ for the complete festival schedule.


And as promised, here are the photos of our VLF6 festival pass:


give me 5! :) Share