The anticipated play Request sa Radyo is set to premiere at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in less than a month. Filipino acting legends, Tony and Lawrence Olivier-Award-winning Lea Salonga and Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee Dolly de Leon reunite with the play’s co-producers, director Bobby Garcia, creative director Clint Ramos, and Samsung Performing Arts Theater Executive Director Chris Mohnani in New York to officially begin rehearsals.
Request sa Radyo, is local adaptation of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s landmark theatrical piece Wunschkonzert (trans. Request Program). Salonga and de Leon will be alternately playing the protagonist as they bring to life this theatrical piece’s subtle yet powerful undercurrent. Delving into the poignant solitude of a woman through her meticulous evening routine, the audience witnesses her palpable emotions while navigating her quiet, solitary life. Her actions and her favorite radio program reveal the profound loneliness and yearning for connection that lies beneath.
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After a five-year absence from the Philippine scene, Tony-nominated producer and director Garcia, best known for founding the prolific stage company Atlantis Productions and Atlantis Theatricals, makes his awaited homecoming. He shares, “Like all shows I direct, the approach has always been to work with the actors and the creatives to tell the story as authentically as possible. My goal is to understand what an audience connects with and to unearth that. Theatre is about the performers and the audience having a dialogue. And my approach has always been to ensure that the audience is included in that conversation.”
Garcia, Salonga and de Leon took to the source material to unpack the myriads of complicated feelings present in most overseas workers. Garcia loops us in behind the scenes of the rehearsals, “It was very unique to prepare for this show cause it’s not text-based. It was all about discovering the tasks the character sets out to do for the evening and working with each actor to make it all feel organic. The play’s author said, ‘Great human struggles are played out in silence and in the inability to express oneself.’ We wanted to make sure we honored that.”
Working with two of the country’s top performers, Garcia intimates, “They are each giving extremely rich and layered performances. Even though they are performing the same show, how they approach it is so different that it almost feels like there are two completely different shows. It’s very exciting to work with both and help them shape the story in a way that’s honest to each of them.”
What is the audience to expect? He continues, “This show unpacks a lot in 70 minutes. We see the struggles of loneliness and isolation that our OFW workers go through. We see human struggle, which is what great theatre has always shown us. We also get to see the theatrical form used in a very unique way.”
Garcia alludes to the never-been-done-in-the-Philippines immersive stage design by Tony Award-winning creative visionary Clint Ramos. Ramos will be completely transforming the 1,500-seater Samsung Arts Theater with each performance having a maximum capacity of 400. Ramos describes it as a hybrid of theater and performance art. The genius behind Eclipsed, Once on this Island, and the groundbreaking all-Filipino ensemble Here Lies Love, just to name a few, Ramos garnered over 300 production credits to his name in Broadway and the West End, not to mention six Tony nominations. Request sa Radyo is Ramos’ first work in his home country in over a decade.
Request sa Radyo runs from October 10-20, 2024 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater. Salonga and de Leon will have ten performances each.
Request sa Radyo is presented by Ayala Land, GMG Productions, John B. Echauz & Joanna Silayan-Echauz, Bobby Garcia and Clint Ramos, BPI as the official bank partner. Support provided by Ayala Corporation, AC Health, Ayala Land Premier, Alveo, Philippine Airlines, the official carrier, and Seda, the official residence.
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