Boots ‘unsweetened’ this time

Ask any actor, director or industry insider. Stereotypes can be as limiting as the four walls of a cramped prison quarters. It leaves the “prisoner” craving for freedom, for release from the chains that bind him oh-so-tightly to a place he’s sick and tired of.

That’s exactly why the play's writer and director Nestor Torre decided to release Boots Anson-Roa from the shackles of stereotyping when he cast her as Padre Pio’s (Ricky Davao) strong-willed mother in the play Padre Pio ng Pietrelcina (The Life of Padre Pio).

He made this epitome of sweetness and light shed her nice lady image for  that of a fiery  character in the play, to be staged on Wednesday, Jan. 16, 18 and 19 , 8 p.m. at People’s Village, Tiendesitas, Frontera Verde, Pasig City.

“Padre Pio’s mother married a farmer. You don’t expect her to be as refined as my previous characters are,” observes Boots. So she junked her trademark finesse to play it rough and tough. If Boots had to shake Ricky as Padre Pio in one scene, she did, with all the strength she can muster.

Jan. 16, the opening date is significant for Boots since it marks the 68th birthday of her late husband Pete Roa, who passed away last year. It will also kick off other events of PRIME  Foundation, which Boots put up after her husband died.

Pete, recalls Boots, turned into a dyed-in-the-wool Padre Pio devotee just several months before he passed away. Boots looks back with amusement at how it was only the saint from Italy who made her husband say his novena.

“It was the first time since we got married that Pete recited a novena ,” says Boots. “Those who knew him well couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw him .”

But pray to Padre Pio Pete and Boots did — every day at 4 to 5 a.m. — as the latter gave her husband his regular insulin shots and as the stillness of the early morning hours made them mull over questions of life and death.

Thanks to Padre Pio, Boots never heard her suffering husband complain and ask God, “Why me?” Instead, Pete quietly accepted his fate. And when it was time to go, Boots and the children let go of their beloved willingly.

They whispered to Pete’s ears that they’ll be all right, that he need not worry about them. So, five weeks after the doctor pronounced his case beyond repair, Pete died peacefully, clutching  an image of Padre Pio.

Before the end came though, Boots asked Pete what he would like to do with the extra money they still had for his medical bills. Pete’s answer: Help stroke patients like him, promote the education of broadcasters and propagate devotion to Padre Pio.

A year after he passed away, Pete’s widow has granted her husband’s wish. Boots, with the help of board members Dr. Abdias Aquino, Fred dela Rosa, lawyer Raffy Evangelista, Bibsy Carballo, Marichu Vera-Perez, Jose Mari Chan, Nestor Torre and Ed Roa, have put up PRIME Foundation to make Pete’s dreams come true.

And its first salvo is the Padre Pio play. It will show that — despite their halos and spotless lives — saints are human, too. Like ordinary humans, Padre Pio is prone to fits of righteous anger, especially when a parishioner lies or omits a sin while in the confessional box.

When this happens, Padre Pio does not spare the rod on erring parishioners. He goes ahead and shouts at them. But when the minute he forgives, you bet the gesture is total, and your sins are wiped out from the face of the earth. At his best, Padre Pio was warm, humorous and devoted to his mother.

“Playing Padre Pio is the biggest challenge of my career thus far,” says Ricky. “Every rehearsal is like a heavy workout. It’s physically hard, since Padre Pio also had to ward off demons who came near him just to tempt him.”

The other side of the coin is not as trying, however. Playing the saint who bore Christ’s stigmata on many parts of his body has strengthened Ricky’s faith. After all, you can’t play a role well if you don’t absorb it, heart, body and soul.

This spiritual shot-in-the-arm applies not only to Ricky, but to cast members Boots, Sicam, Andy Bais (who plays Padre Pio’s father) and writer-director Torre.

Coming close on the play’s heels is a series of seminars for broadcasters like Pete. To be held in cooperation with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP), Metro Manila Chapter, the whole-day seminars will feature talks by such broadcast luminaries as Ted Failon, Korina Sanchez, Jessica Soho, Cheche Lazaro, Dong Puno, Mel Tiangco and Karen Davila.

The first of the quarterly seminars is on Jan. 18, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Teatrino Greenhills.

Pete, wherever he is now, must be grinning from ear to ear.