PRESS RELEASE
Red Turnip Theater is back for
another season! Their splashy debut season gave us the much talked about hits
CLOSER and COCK, which was followed up with the critically-acclaimed sophomore
season of RABBIT HOLE and last February’s TIME STANDS STILL. All four
productions have gone on to reap multiple awards and nominations from the Aliw
and BroadwayWorld Philippine Awards, with COCK topping critics’ lists as the
Best Play of 2014. True to form, this
band of 5 actors (Ana Abad Santos, Topper Fabregas, Jenny Jamora, Cris
Villonco, Rem Zamora) promises to push the envelope further as they show
another facet to Red Turnip this year.
Opening
the Third Season is 33 VARIATIONS by Moisés Kaufman.
33 VARIATIONS tells the story of a
renowned musicologist, Katherine Brandt, who is on a mission to discover why
Beethoven composed the Diabelli variations, considered as one of his greatest
masterpieces. Her daughter, Clara, is on a mission to find her place in her
mother's world. Together, they maneuver through Beethoven's colorful life,
their own challenging relationship, and somehow find their answers within his
music. Shifting between periods and places, 33 VARIATIONS is the story of
mothers and daughters and the legacies we long to leave behind.
33 VARIATIONS made its Broadway
premiere in 2009, famously marking Jane Fonda’s return to the theater after a
46-year absence in the role of Katherine. It went on to garner several Tony
Award nominations, including Best Play and Best Actress for Fonda. It had
previously won the Edgerton New American Play Award in 2007 and the Steinberg
American Theatre Critics Association Best New Play Award in 2008.
Leading the Manila cast are theater
icons Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino and Teroy Guzman. Fresh off her heralded
turns in Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Juego de Peligro” and the CinemaOne Original
indie “Lorna”, Shamaine steps into the role of Katherine. This is sure to add
to her list of memorable performances that already include Queen Elizabeth
(“Mary Stuart”), Elizabeth Proctor (“The Crucible”), Masha (“Three Sisters”)
and Jocasta (“Oedipus Rex”) just to name a few.
Teroy Guzman plays Ludwig Van
Beethoven. He is most recently known for his King Lear in the PETA adaptation
“Haring Lear”, Tiyoy Berning in Tanghalang Ateneo’s “Rite of Passage” and the
title role in Anton Juan’s “Screen: Macbeth”. Notorious for shying away from
the spotlight, Red Turnip is glad to give Guzman center stage in his return to
the contemporary drama.
Theater stalwarts Paolo O’ Hara, Rem
Zamora and Roselyn Perez make up the supporting cast. O’Hara (“Hedda Gabler”,
“Titus Andronicus”, “Tatlong Mariya”) and Zamora (“The 39 Steps”, “Skin Deep”,
“Glorious”), complete the Beethoven flashback scenes as Anton Diabelli and
Anton Schindler respectively. Perez (“Equus”, “Frozen”, “The Normal Heart”) is
Gertrude Ladenburger, Katherine’s stern and loyal confidante.
Rounding out the cast are fresh
faces Ina Fabregas and Franco Chan. Fabregas is Clara, Katherine’s estranged
daughter who slowly starts to fall in love with her mother’s male nurse, Mike
Clark, played by Chan.
33 VARIATIONS also marks Red
Turnip’s first show to incorporate live music: critical moments in the play are
underscored by the Diabelli Variations themselves, played live and on stage by
Ejay Yatco (“Sa Wakas”, “Dani Girl”, “The Boy in the Bathroom”). Although he is
mostly known as a composer and musical director, the 24 year-old has also
competed at the 2013 World Championship of Performing Arts under the Classical
Piano category, where he made it to the final 3 instrumentalists of the world
and took home one gold and three silver medals. Yatco will be playing the
Variations on a baby grand piano, provided by LYRIC.
Jenny
Jamora makes her directorial debut.
“We had decided on this
show almost two years ago, we knew it was what we had wanted to open the Third
Season with. This play has been simmering in my head since then. ’33
Variations’ is such an elegant, intricate piece of work and I am excited by the
challenge of bringing it to life. I’ve also surrounded myself with a powerhouse
cast and a young, energetic production team. I cannot wait for everyone to see
what they’ve all brought to the table.
It’s going to be unlike anything you’ve seen from Red Turnip so far.”
33
VARIATIONS opens July 24 and runs weekends until August 23 at Whitespace,
Makati.
Tickets are available through TicketWorld
(891-9999 or www.ticketworld.com.ph) or Red Turnip Theater
(redturniptheater@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/RedTurnipTheater)
Lighting Design / Technical Direction:
John Batalla
Set Design: Ed Lacson, Jr.
Costume Design: Raven Ong
Sound Design: Teresa Barrozo
Choreography: PJ Rebullida
Dramaturgy: Mahar Mangahas
33 VARIATIONS is presented in
cooperation with Whitespace, Lyric, FILA, and PLDT.
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