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Inside Look: Lea Salonga, Dolly de Leon Start Rehearsals for ‘Request sa Radyo’ in New York

Inside Look: Lea Salonga, Dolly de Leon Start Rehearsals for ‘Request sa Radyo’ in New York

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Request sa Radyo, the 70-minute, wordless, one-woman play starring Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon, is set to premiere at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in less than a month. Rehearsals are currently underway in New York with director Bobby Garcia, creative director Clint Ramos, and Samsung Performing Arts Theater Executive Director Chris Mohnani.

The production is a local adaptation of Franz Xaver Kroetz’s theatrical piece Wunschkonzert (trans. Request Program), where Salonga and de Leon will be alternately playing the protagonist. Delving into the poignant solitude of a woman through her meticulous evening routine, the audience witnesses her emotions while navigating her quiet, solitary life. Her actions and her favorite radio program reveal the loneliness and yearning for connection that lies beneath. 

After a five-year absence from the Philippine scene, Garcia, best known for founding 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 myriad 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 because 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.”

When it comes to working with Salonga and de Leon, Garcia shares, “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 can audiences 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.”

Tony Award winner Clint Ramos, who describes the play to be a hybrid of theater and performance art, is set to completely transform the 1,500-seater Samsung Arts Theater to a maximum capacity of 400. Request sa Radyo will be Ramos’ first work in his home country in over a decade.

Request sa Radyo will run from October 10-20, 2024, at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater. Salonga and de Leon will each have ten performances.

Tickets are available via TicketWorld.

 

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