It was a balmy Saturday evening at the Ayala Triangle Gardens, where a crowd of 600-strong gathered for a bit of Shakespeare. Shakespeare In The Park, that is! With picnic blankets and snacks in tow – including some champagne and charcuterie - families, groups of friends, and even pets were spread out across the grassy knoll to catch CAST PH’s staging of Twelfth Night. As the sun starts to set, and the actors sing their way to the stage, expect one riotous romp under the stars, with a side of the Backstreet Boys. No cap.
Twelfth Night is one of William Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. In a nutshell, it follows the story of twins Viola and Sebastian, both of whom presumed the other was dead when they were separated in a shipwreck. In a hilarious case of mistaken identity, Viola pretends to be man, calling herself Cesario. She gets sent to court the Duke Orsino’s lady love Countess Olivia, who falls in love with him, well, her. As with all Shakespearean tomes, there is some trickery involved, this time through the workings of Malvolio, a steward in Olivia’s household. When Sebastian resurfaces, even more chaos ensues as everyone tries to figure out both who is who, and who’s in love with who.
CAST PH artistic director Nelsito Gomez, who also took on the directorial reins for this play seemed to be in the mood to just take the quirkiness of this story and run with it. For one, he strips it all down, with everyone in modern day wear, and minimal props. Save for Dean Daniel Rosen, who, as Malvolio, strutted across the stage in yellow tights and lace up shoes! A brave soul indeed! Let’s just say Gomez capitalized on his best asset in this show – an extremely talented cast, which included the likes of Altair Alonso, Cathy Azanza-Dy, Jillian Itaas, Rafael Jimenez, and more. To be honest, it just looked like they were having a great time up there. That they managed to keep a straight face from start to finish is a feat in and of itself. Major props go to Tarek El Tayech, who, quite literally had everyone in stitches. Once he broke out the Karaoke machine, he had everyone ROTFL. Having last seen him in Othello, this was quite a revelation. In a good way.
Speaking of the karaoke machine, Gomez took his interpretation of Twelfth Night to a whole other level by way of Vanessa Carlton, The Backstreet Boys, Paramore, and Extreme. It was one of those things that had you torn between ‘what is going on?’ and ‘omigosh, this is actually making sense.’ How he picked the songs, and how he seamlessly weaves it into the story is just theater gold. Again, no cap.
At the end of the show, the voice over announces that the cast would be walking around to pass the hat, albeit they were pretty baskets “bought at the Salcedo Weekend Market.” A proverbial ‘tip jar,’ if you must. It felt like a nod to the way it was done back in Shakespeare’s day when donations helped fund a show and purchase a pint from the local pub. Quite apt, I’d say.
Judging from the Saturday afternoon turnout, and the crowd that braved the impending storm the night before, Make It Makati’s Shakespeare In The Park is the evening under the stars we didn’t know we needed. The air was buzzing with frenetic energy – coming from the laughter around the garden, and the riotous antics onstage. That director Nelsito Gomez turned this show on it’s head, let’s just say these actors were adamant on showing everyone the Shape Of My Heart, or rather theirs. Judging from everyone’s reaction, with much success. According to Chris Mohnani, artistic director for Makati Estates, the goal is to make this project an annual undertaking. To which we say, yes, please, we want some more!
Make It Makati’s Shakespeare In The Park featuring CAST PH’s Twelfth Night has one more show this afternoon, at 5:00PM, at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. The show is open to the public, so grab that picnic blanket and set yourself up for a laugh-a-minute evening under the stars.