REVIEW: ‘Miranda & Yolanda’ exposes the pageantry behind people’s desperate clinging to power
Miranda & Yolanda brings together two plays by Floy Quintos that explore the insidious ways power corrupts people. Evening at the Opera was first staged in 2011 and Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna in 2008. Watching both hits differently in 2026, when there is public outrage at politicians and their families making lavish displays of wealth and corruption. The way both plays scrutinize their powerful female characters seems sharper and clearer than ever today.
The brilliance of this twin bill production (both directed by Dexter M. Santos) lies in their thematic complementarity despite being very different in tone and scope. Evening at the Opera is a portrait of a woman forced to confront the indignities she has had to endure to maintain her proximity to power and comfort. Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna, also focuses on a woman, this time a fictional president struggling to stay on top amidst a national upheaval.
Power Play
Miranda & Yolanda’s greatest assets are its two leading ladies, playing very different but fascinatingly complex characters. Both Ana Abad Santos and Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino imbue their characters with humanity and pathos. They never conceal their villainy, but also never stray into caricature. They both succumb to their tragic fates with dignity.
Abad Santos’ Miranda is a study in carefully controlled rage, her deep hatred for her brute of a husband and his dealings is palpable in every arched eyebrow, pursed lip, and cold silence. She is haughty and condescending, the epitome of the high society lady.
L-R: Ana Abad Santos, Frances Makil-Ignacio; Photo Credit: Irvin Arenas
She is also haunted by the ghost of her Mamang (Frances Makil-Ignacio) who had forced her to marry the Governor in order to maintain their social standing. Makil-Ignacio matches Abad Santos in aristocratic arrogance and condescension but also shows some vulnerability when her ghost witnesses the violence her daughter experiences in her domestic life.
Joshua Cabiladas is marvelously monstrous as Miranda’s husband, Governor “Big Boss” Bingo Beloto, a crude, crass, and petty dictator both in his own province and in the home. He considers himself a “man of the people” and rails against having to get all dressed up for the opera. But for all his assertions that he is a man of simple tastes, he is also pragmatic and calculating. He spends most of the play attempting to mollify his wife but when she finally provokes his anger, the vicious imbalance of power between them is revealed.
Joshua Cabiladas, Ana Abad Santos; Photo Credit: Irvin Arenas
Nouveau Monarch
Centenera-Buencamino’s turn as Yolanda is layered. She puts up a front of calculated affability, first appearing wearing a sort-of military uniform and supporting a mop-top haircut. Ridiculous though her appearance may be, she has absolute authority in this fictional version of the Philippines that she’s dead-set to turn into a monarchy. She commissions hairstylist to royals, Marcel de Alba, (Topper Fabregas) to help her reinvent her image and to style herself as royalty.
Fabregas is utterly convincing as an accomplished and cultured individual who finds himself slightly out of his depth when faced with a figure as volatile as Yolanda. He expertly goes from being terrified to fascinated by the attention the President gives him and the respect she shows for his craft. In the end, they form a strangely earnest though complicated bond, and he is one of the few who mourns her as she marches to her doom.
Topper Fabregas; Photo Credit: Irvin Arenas
Jules Dela Paz plays the dictator’s bumbling lackey, Ministro, who elicits some laughter from the audience with his frequent linguistic faux pas. The Henerals (Red Nuestro, Jon Abella, Alfritz Blanche), make a few short but memorable appearances in the piece, mostly delivering a grandiose and strangely sinister rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” (Judy Garland version) that Yolanda decreed as her new nation’s anthem.
Set Opulence
The sets for both plays (designed by Mitoy Sta. Ana) reveal the way the two lead characters must maintain an appearance of opulence to reinforce their own position in their societies. Miranda’s bedroom is clearly that of a wealthy woman, with a closet full of designer apparel, jewelry, and even a liquor trolley. But for all its adornments, the bedroom is a gilded cage where she remains trapped in her marriage.
There are several sets for Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna, first the President’s office, an austere and official room with a desk and a few settees, simple, almost militaristic. There is a throne room of sorts with arches inspired by indigenous designs and a closet full of elaborate wigs that de Alba presents to President Yolanda, inspired by various iconic royals in history. Her transformation to a self-styled monarch gives audiences a visual payoff for her dazzling crown, long gown, and a cape featuring a stylized Philippine flag.
Present and future
Interestingly, Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna can be seen as the natural progression of the state of affairs begun in Evening at the Opera. As politicians accumulate more wealth and power through nefarious ways, the less connected they become to reality.
Political leaders can distract with pageantry but the people can only be deceived for so long. Eventually, as the finale of Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna shows, they will rise up and reclaim the nation.
This reviewer watched the 7PM, April 11 show.
Tickets: P1,200-2,500
Show Dates: April 11 to May 3 2026
Venue: Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Ayala Malls Circuit, Makati City.
Running Time: approx. 2 hours (with a 15-minute intermission)
Producer: Encore Theater
Creatives: Floy Quintos (playwright), Dexter M. Santos (director), Mitoy Sta. Ana (production designer), John Batalla (lights designer), Arvy Dimaculangan (sounds designer), Steven Tansiongco (graphics designer), Marvin Olaes, Davidson Oliveros (dramaturgs & publicity managers), Krina Cayabyab (music arranger), Mikko Angeles (assistant director), Meliton Roxas Jr. (technical director)
Cast: Evening at the Opera: Ana Abad Santos, Frances Makil-Ignacio, Joshua Cabiladas; Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna: Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Topper Fabregas, Jules Dela Paz, Red Nuestro, Jon Abella, Alfritz Blanche
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