Floy Quintos’ Palanca-winning plays return in a gripping twin bill that proves some stories, and systems, never change.
Currently running at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, the twin bill of two Palanca-winning one-act plays by the late Floy Quintos returns to the stage nearly two years after his passing, led by Ana Abad Santos and Shamaine Buencamino.
Titled “Miranda and Yolanda,” the production draws from Quintos’ plays “Evening at the Opera” and “Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna,” centering on two complex women navigating power, grief, and identity.
“Evening at the Opera,” first staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Virgin LabFest 7 in 2011, sees Abad Santos reprise her original role as Miranda Beloto. Set on the night of a major cultural event, the play follows Miranda as she prepares for the opera she has organized—only for tensions with her mother and her husband, Governor Bingo Beloto, to unravel the polished façade of a powerful dynasty.
For her, revisiting the role feels like coming home. “Full circle, that’s how it feels, so much more weight literally and figuratively. I feel Floy’s words every ripple, every layer, every bump I feel, and I see it all in a way that I can only do it now.”
“Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna,” first staged at the Virgin LabFest 4 in 2008, featured Buencamino as the original Yolanda—a role she now returns to with a deeper perspective.
Set inside the presidential palace the morning after the declaration of Martial Law, the play follows a hairstylist summoned to attend to President Yolanda Cadiz, whose obsession with image and protocol reveals the psychological toll of absolute power.
Buencamino says: “I feel blessed to be able to do the role again after 18 years. I am closer to Yolanda’s age, so I didn’t have to make any new adjustments. I just leaned on my current age and experience.”
Two relevant characters reflect political scenarios
Apart from the rich and multi-dimensional characters, the audience is guaranteed an enjoyable experience in Dexter Martinez Santos’s direction of the twin-bill alley staging.
“I miss Floy very much, but I am lucky that he left a very specific direction for me: to play the role truthfully and let the situation bring out the comedy,” said Buencamino.
“His notes on his book also guided us against making Yolanda’s character suggest a current political figure. Something he regretted was that people thought it was based on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when it was first staged.
“Miranda and Yolanda are both women with power, but in two entirely different situations. The play aims to show not only how power corrupts. In the words of Floy: the transformative madness that power brings.
“It should all disturb us that his plays, written close to two decades ago, still reflect our current times. Why aren’t we improving? Why can’t we learn from our mistakes? Why is our system still so corrupt?”
Ana’s thoughts on Miranda: “I love Miranda when I’m playing her. I don’t judge her.
“Bingo, on the other hand, revolts me.
“Ask me when we close right now, I am her, and she is me, so I love everything about her, even the ugly things; like she says, ‘All the hatred, all the ugliness made beautiful… dramatic.’”
Doing the play without Floy Quintos
Quintos passed away on April 27, 2024, at the age of 63, due to a heart attack.
Today, Abad Santos thinks: “Without Floy it is bittersweet, but his writing will live on for generations to come. Truly grateful for Encore and their vision and passion to restage Floy’s work. It is necessary, it is integral for his work to be heard and seen.
For Buencamino, ”I would like to stress how Floy always uses socio-political situations, often supported by a lot of factual research, to build his stories.
“They are based on our nation’s history, and the characters are written with logical backgrounds. Take the kingdom of May-i, for example.
“Floy did not invent a make-believe kingdom as some of the audience think. Google says—May-i is a term that refers to a pre-colonial sovereign state in the Philippines. After all, Yolanda is a history major from Vassar College!”
They both speak of the people’s psyche
Martinez Santos shares: “In his notes about ‘Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna,’ Sir Floy mentioned that it was his dream of one day mounting a triple bill of all his Virgin LabFest works – ‘Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna,’ ‘Suor Clara,’ and ‘Evening at the Opera’ – under the title ‘Miranda, Yolanda and Clara: Three Quintosian Women.’
“During our script reading, Encore Theater executive producer Stella Cañete-Mendoza mentioned to the company that she chose to mount ‘Miranda & Yolanda’ because they both speak of the psyche of people in power set in contemporary times.
“What I appreciate about Sir Floy, as evident in our collaborations, is his belief that the play is alive. There was never a rigid boundary between us as ‘director’ and ‘playwright.’ We listened to one another, and no idea belonged solely to him or to me. At times, he would ignite a thought in me; at other moments, I would do the same for him. In the end, the play always gained from our exchanges.”
“Miranda & Yolanda,” runs every Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. until May 3. Tickets are available via Ticket2Me and Encore Theater’s authorized sellers, with updates on Encore Theater’s official Facebook and Instagram pages.
[Floy Quintos’] notes on his book also guided us against making Yolanda’s character suggest a current political figure. Something he regretted was that people thought it was based on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, when it was first staged.
Ana Abad Santos
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