In Duncan Macmillan’s play People, Places and Things, he takes a darkly humorous look at the circuitous path people take on the road to recovery from addiction — and to heal enough to find their truth and identity beyond it. Closing its 11th season, The Sandbox Collective brings this story to life as a staged reading from 15 to 16 August, at Proscenium Theater’s Blackbox in Rockwell.

At the crux of this story is Emma, a successful actress who checks herself into a rehab center, where she is left with no choice but to watch her carefully constructed life unravel. As she confronts her addiction, she must ask profound questions about her recovery and what it means to push forward when the lines between performance and reality begin to blur.

Playing a character like Emma, who goes through the ebb and flow of introspection, raw emotion, and mental acrobatics, requires an actress whose body of work attests to her skill at telling such a compelling story. More so as it is live theater. And Sandbox found two actresses who are seemingly perfect for this role.

As serendipity would have it, they even share a surname. While they may not be related by blood, what Bela Padilla and Gabby Padilla have in common is an ability to take scripts and characters off the page and give them a life all their own on the stage.

Multi-awarded actress, director, and screenwriter Bela Padilla is breaking new ground as she makes her theatrical debut as Emma in this production. Over the past decade, she has built a stellar career as an actress, starring in films that told love stories through a different creative lens, such as 100 Tula Para Kay Stella, Meet Me in St. Gallen, and On Vodka, Beers, and Regrets. In 2017, she added screenwriter to her résumé by way of the film Last Night, about two people who meet while staying in adjoining hotel rooms as they both contemplate suicide. The film starred Piolo Pascual and Toni Gonzaga. Fast forward to 2022, and she established herself as a triple-threat creative by directing the heartbreaking drama 366, which she also starred in alongside Zanjoe Marudo and longtime leading man JC Santos.

Known for her work in theater and independent cinema, Gabby Padilla is widely considered to be one of the most compelling actresses of her generation. She is able to portray complex characters with a quiet intensity that shows a mature understanding of the craft. For the 2018 indie film Billie and Emma, recognized for its sensitive depiction of a same-sex coming-of-age romance, Padilla was nominated for a FAMAS Award and a Star Award for her performance. The Cinemalaya film Kono Basho, a drama on the dynamics of a blended family, won her a Best Actress trophy for her portrayal of the central character, Ella. Her recent theater credits also highlight her versatility on stage, playing multiple characters in I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and Tiny Beautiful Things.

Playing the male lead in People, Places, and Things, as Mark, is actor Jake Cuenca, who makes his return to the stage (and to Sandbox) after appearing in 2018's Lungs. Completing the company of players for People, Places, and Things are Philippine theater royalty Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Audie Gemora; director and actor Robbie Guevara; Gawad Buhay-winning actors Reb Atadero and Brian Sy; actor and arts executive Mariella Laurel; writer Pamela Imperial; actor and director Miel Abong; and dramaturg Salve Villarosa van Schoonhoven as the Narrator. This show also marks Sandbox's artistic director Sab Jose's first time in the director's chair.

Widely regarded as one of the most important contemporary plays of the last decade, People, Places, and Things, which navigates addiction and the fragile journey toward finding sobriety, fits right into Sandbox's focus on advocacy theater, holding space for discussions on mental health and other important issues through thought-provoking storytelling. The show will have a strictly limited run of four performances on 15 to 16 August at The Blackbox at the Proscenium Theater, Rockwell, Makati. Follow The Sandbox Collective on their socials for ticket details coming soon.