Closer

I would imagine that most theater companies would’ve preferred to open with a bang to announce itself to the world. But the newly formed Red Turnip Theater company chose a different route and opted for more intimacy with their initial offering, Closer, which had its run at Whitespace. Written by Patrick Marber, Closer had its premiere at the Royal National Theatre’s Cottesloe Theatre in London back in 1997. It was awarded as the Best New Play at the 1997 Laurence Olivier Awards.

Angel Aquino

Most people, including me, are more familiar with Closer through the 2004 film adaptation starring Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law and Natalie Portman. Having seen the film before helped me a lot in understanding and appreciating this play. It didn’t pose any difficulty for me establishing who’s who: Cris Villonco as the stripper Alice, Marc Abaya as the obituary writer Dan, Angel Aquino as Anna the photographer, and Bart Guingona as Larry the doctor. This was Angel Aquino and Marc Abaya’s first foray into theater while Cris Villonco portrays probably her most daring role to date.

Bart Guingona

Cris, appearing more svelte and spunky with her pixie haircut, embodied the carefree nature of Alice. Angel’s Anna felt too reserved and tamed at the start but this was just the façade that would later be shattered when she spurted lines that would make grandmothers faint in shock. Marc shed his rock star image (he is the frontman of the band Kjwan) with Dan, a fumbling writer. And Bart was the same old reliable Bart whom I last saw in Next Fall. The characters were complex, conflicted and flawed that it was hard to envision a happy ending for any of them.

Cris Villonco

The play, which was directed by Ana Abad Santos, consisted mostly of vignettes with the four characters either pairing or splitting up or even exchange partners. The scenes dealt with the vital turning points in their lives, with time advances not clearly stated which left a huge chunk of the story out. The audience had to pay close attention and listen carefully in order to fill in the gaps. And with the arena type staging, I felt that I was a voyeur snooping into the lives of these four people, even during their intimate moments. It’s been said that this play is a modern and dark take on the opera Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. And this production gave a nod to this by playing the overture from the opera during one of the funniest scenes in the play when Larry and Dan (posing as Anna) were having a not so wholesome chat over the internet.

Marc Abaya

The material might be too hard for some to understand especially those who expected to have a relaxing time with the cast and crew doing all the work. But Closer is not one of those plays. Even though I’ve seen the film and already knew beforehand what would happen, the play still posed as a challenge for me to listen actively to the lines. I did have a difficult time figuring out some of the words because of too much reverb in the venue.

Rem Zamora, Jenny Jamora, Bart Guingona, Angel Aquino, Cris Villonco,
Marc Abaya, Ana Abad Santos, and Topper Fabregas

I am extremely pleased that Red Turnip Theater, founded by Jenny Jamora, Topper Fabregas, Cris Villonco, Rem Zamora and Ana Abad Santos, really went for a more cerebral production instead of bombarding the audience with yet another eye candy which is already being served by other companies. The company’s next production would be the intriguingly titled Cock by Mike Bartlett to be staged in February 2014.