UNI-BASED REVIEW: Dulaang ROC’s ‘Sierra Lakes’

UNI-BASED REVIEW: Dulaang ROC’s ‘Sierra Lakes’

“This one-act play by the late Tony Perez finds creative if limited uses of music to shed light on relationships and one’s inner demons.”

Little seems to exist in writing about the late Tony Perez’s Sierra Lakes and its past adaptations, making the prospect of producing it today a journey through still-uncharted territory. Made up of just four characters and eight scenes, the one-act play follows a group of friends in a band who confront each other about long-concealed feelings over the course of one night. However, what the University of Asia and the Pacific’s Dulaang ROC does with the material’s brevity and narrative limits is embrace the mystery rather than root it to a specific milieu. 

The result is a show that, at times, feels like it’s still trying to arrange its stray musings into a more cohesive central theme. And yet, its creative (albeit limited) use of music and its actors’ smart character work allow this production to remain truthful and potent—always fully in tune with the emotions of every given moment.

OPEN ENDINGS

The open-ended nature of Perez’s script is the biggest challenge that the production has to take on, and by the end, this Sierra Lakes isn’t entirely able to achieve a cumulative effect. Each succeeding scene focuses on a new pairing of characters who confide in or come into conflict with each other during private conversation, but the show’s general themes of romantic yearning don’t necessarily grow in complexity. Where the play becomes potentially far more interesting is when its confessions and confrontations shed light on why these characters create art—songs as outlets for their insecurities, and theater as a way to idealize reality.

This production is bookended by two musical numbers (Kamikazee’s “Narda” and Radiohead’s “Creep”) by the full band on stage. And while it still feels like there should be much more music woven into a show like this, the performances we get to see are plenty energetic and possessed of that go-for-broke, rough-around-the-edges charm that many amateur bands have. Even if the play leaves Perez’s script without a full resolution, the songs are more than cathartic enough to compensate, especially after so much tense, emotionally charged silence throughout the rest of the show.

BEHIND THE MUSIC

Visually, Sierra Lakes keeps things simple, with Janina Villamayor and Haru Manjares’ set sticking to the essentials of a band stage: drums, microphones, and amplifiers on a wooden, carpeted platform adorned with band posters and LED string lights. More impressively, the theater itself has been fashioned into a gig space, with tables near the front where audience members can mingle with the performers during songs, and aisles where the actors move through for more interaction. Junee Templo’s lights are what transform the set into a more introspective space, with intentionally low lighting and spotlights keeping these characters in the dark from each other.

Director Cheese Mendez easily manages this transition from the energetic escapism of live music to an almost suffocating intimacy—constantly blocking his actors so closely together that any movement becomes amplified. But Mendez’s direction really transcends the play’s limits when, at several points, the troubled Jusel (played by Manuel Casapao) essentially dissociates, staying in conversation with his scene partners but his body finding its way behind the drum kit. Here, Jusel’s inner demons cry out in a flurry of crash cymbals and rolls across the toms, which are sometimes met with indifference by the person he’s talking to, and sometimes manifest physically as violence against them. It’s a haunting, smartly deployed device. 

COME AS YOU ARE

It’s another limitation imposed on the production that Perez’s script never really allows all four members of the cast to interact with each other outside of the musical performances. Still, seeing each of them adjust their attitudes and body language to every new scene partner speaks volumes about who these characters are underneath the types they’ve been saddled with. Faith Mendoza’s Girlie deflates her bright, cutesy tone when she isn’t around her crush; Den Lagman’s Arlene reluctantly but hopefully opens herself up to the possibility of new love; and Ten Escara’s Carlos conveys something new with every terse, comically effective repetition of the word “yes.”

However, it’s Casapao’s Jusel who emerges as the most promising revelation of Sierra Lakes. Casual, charismatic, and bracingly vulnerable one second and terrifying in his self-loathing and disregard for boundaries and common decency the next, Jusel becomes both the play’s beating heart and its most volatile element. Casapao doesn’t even need to be the focal point of a scene to make an impression. Even just in the background on the drum kit, a kaleidoscope of emotions flashes across his face as he watches the others and realizes how distant he is from them. It’s in this performance where Perez’s mystery seems to take its most definite shape.

 

Tickets: P100–P250
Show Dates: Sep 25 – Oct 4 2025
Venue: Telengtan Hall, ACB Building, University of Asia and the Pacific, Pasig City
Running Time: approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes (without intermission)
Creatives: Tony Perez (Playwright), Cheese Mendez (Direction)
Student Creatives: Gio Escoto (Technical Direction, Sound Design), Icey Mangalindan (Assistant Direction), Junee Templo (Lighting Design), Marco Tingzon (Sound Design, Score), Janina Villamayor (Set Design), Haru Manjares (Set Design), Coleen Pantoja (Costumes and Make-Up), Niko Baguitan (Costumes and Make-Up)
Student Cast: Manuel Casapao, Ten Escara, Den Lagman, Faith Mendoza