Above, under & beyond the rainbow: The Last 5 Years: Story of Love, Joy, Pain and Hope

To celebrate their 5^th year in the theater industry, 9 Works Theatrical is now offering a Jason Robert Brown musical entitled The Last 5 Years. A musical about love, its joy, pain and the lesson that hope is never absent no matter what.

Under the artistic hand of Robbie Guevara, the whole presentation took a path less taken. Along with other creative minds, this 9WT production is indeed a collaboration of those who answer the call of their sworn Muse.

Synopsis:

Cathy and Jaime’s relationship has lasted for 5 years. As the story begins, Cathy is at the beginning of the relationship and Jaime is at the end. With inter-cutting scenes, we watch Jaime move forward in time as Cathy move backward.

Cathy has just found a note from her husband, Jaime, signifying the end of their marriage. While she still struggles with their break-up, she feels he has easily moved on without her.

As the play progresses, It shows the different events in the eyes of both Jaime and Cathy. Jaime tells his story of their relationship from the time that he and Cathy met in the summer of 2009 till the time that they parted ways in 2013. Cathy tells her side of the story from the time that they parted in 2013 moving back to when it all started in 2009 ; all this happening in New York and Ohio. As they tell their tale, we see things in the eyes of a male and a female in a relationship; their joy, their pain, their guilt and that of hope.

As Cathy struggles with her career, Jaime progresses with his which resulted to conflicts unspoken and walls built between them. The love that they had slowly faded away and all 5 years have come to an end.

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My Review:

Indulge me as I do this review with me touching on my theater knowledge and experience of years ago.

The treatment or approached made is not that of the conventional means but rather an approach of one that is true to his muse’s calling. There are two things, both artistic and technical in nature worth mentioning – the timeline treatment and the scene make-up.

The timeline approach made is quite brave for both actors are moving on opposing timelines. They are both seen onstage but moves in different time. Because of this, the emotional approach of both actors is different too. Playing the role of Cathy is Nikki Gil, whose opening scene is the break-up moment. From the present, she moves back in time to tell their love story. Her opening scene is a challenge by itself since it calls for her emotions to be ripe to show of pain and suffering onstage without any scene development. From an emotional level that intense, she will then diffuse that emotion and manifest and end on the other end of that emotional spectrum which is the joy of knowing that you have now seen and met the love in your life. Moving opposite her is Jaime, being played by Joaquin Valdes. He starts his scene with how they, Cathy and he, started out and ends the play with their break-up. His approach is of the conventional way, developing emotion to that point of their break-up but what is challenging for him is that he develops that emotion on his own. Since there is no direct interaction between the two actors, they have to imagine the other party present. The only scene that they interact directly is the wedding scene. The middle scene in the whole timeline.

Moving in different timelines but making the audience feels that the other party is there is no easy feat. From my years and experience in theater, this approach is not that easy since I got that feedback from actors after applying a similar approach to their piece. Though the approach that I applied to them was for them to be onstage all at the same time and have the same timeline but different point-of-view direction. They deliver their lines as if the person that they are talking to is in front of them, even if they are not; something similar to the different timeline approach. Character and scene development is not easy with this technique. Kudos to the two actors for you where able to do all the scenes comfortably! Kudos to Robbie Guevara for taking this brave approach and bringing this piece a reality on Philippine stage!

The other thing that is worth mentioning is the technical side of the production or what other would say as the non-acting element but bears an important weight in the whole scale. This would include the stage set-up, music, lights and other effects. The stage approach is quite minimalist. You see ramps, a table, some chairs, a bed, black screens that goes up and down when needed and 5 frames/arches with chairs attached to it. Both the screens and the frames/arches denote the time element of each scene. That time slice, that time pocket, that moment. The bed element also adds to the time element of the play since it can be turned around; showing whether it is a time moving forward or back depending on the rotation made. For some, depending on your seat location, the frames/arches may be a nuisance because it blocks one’s visual but if one takes the time to think about it, the frames serves as your knives in time. They cut through the line of time to give you glimpses of the life of Cathy and Jaime for the last 5 years. The effect is quite 3D is you think about it and not flat.

The frames and hanging chairs

The music is a product of a very imaginative mind! It doesn’t have that much fanfare but has a haunting element. I am not a music major but the way the music was created, it has that connecting notes and transitioning bars that runs throughout the musical, making each scene distinct but part of a whole at the same time. Applause to the musical director for instrumentation, Joseph Tolentino and the 9PO for making the music fly! Let us not forget Lionel Guico, musical director for vocals, for making Nikki and Joaquin understand the demands of some pieces. Kudos!

Whoever thought of using those black cloth screens as means of throwing some images is a genius! The rain effect was fabulous! It was seen and felt but not distracting.

The only thing that I would say that has bothered me is the body size of Joaquin Valdes. Seeing him off staged showed me that he is not that tall and wide. He is simply built right. Onstage is another thing. Since an actor needs to project that he is big onstage, Joaquin as Jaime looks way too big in my view. He was like bouncer big. It’s a minimal thing and I adjusted to that effect and still enjoyed watching Joaquin as Jaime.

Did I enjoy the whole musical? Did I fell in love with it? Was it worth watching in the first place? Is it worth another look into?

The answer to all of that is YES!

I enjoyed watching the whole musical unfolds it story and beauty. The experience of watching it for the first time is great, making you desire to go for another viewing and have it on a different angle in terms of seats. I fell in love not with the musical itself but with the characters Jaime and Cathy. The struggles and their pain is something that I am familiar with since I just came from a break-up myself. I see parts of me with Jaime and parts of me with Cathy.

This is not a tear-jerker play. It is simply a story told in a guy’s and a girl’s point of view. It will not make you shed tears but makes you think about your life. We always hear the saying “It takes two to tango and one to end the dance.” - but is it 100% true or not?

Who is to blame for their break-up? Is it Cathy, because of her frustrations in her life not properly addressed? Is it Jaime, because he philandered? Or both?

I won’t say who is to blame. What I would say is for you to go and get a ticket! Bring a friend!The show is running this August at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium - RCBC Plaza, Makati City. For inquiries you may reach 9 Works Theatrical through email: info@9workstheatrical.com and/or call them at 632-586-7105. See their season schedule through their Facebook account - facebook.com/9workstheatrical.

Listen to how the story is told. See how it the story unfolds; then you tell me who is to blame over a cup of coffee and I will tell you why I felt connected with both Jaime and Cathy.

Photos:
(All photos used for this article were personally taken by me during the press review of The Last 5 Years)