Games of guts, gall and gumption

Man has marched a long way away from the cave and the muck. He has laid aside his penis sheath and has put on a pair of trousers. He has laid down his club and now wields only a ball pen. Civilization, it seems, has worked wonders on this creature who has ceased to be a barbarian and now applies sophistication to work his will.

But underneath his linen suit, has he not remained the denizen of the wilderness? The female of the species is no different. You don’t see fangs behind the lipstick and the talons under the manicure but don’t be deceived by appearances. She may not bite and scratch but her weapons are just as lethal, if not more.

Man or woman, they are everywhere, these predators. Even in the most sophisticated asphalt jungle on this planet – New York City.

In Metro Manila, these types are onstage at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, Podium 4, Tower II, RCBC Plaza in Makati City, in Repertory Philippines’ production of Power Plays by Elaine May and Allan Arkin.

The second show in the Rep’s 66th Theater Season is a triptych that depicts in one bold relief the gambits that individuals play in various situations to gain control over one another. The name of the game is really one-man-up-ship.

The title of the first part is "The Way of All Fish" which has an obvious reference to Samuel Butler’s novel, but suggests the watery world of big business where people need powerful gills and gumption, sheer guts and gall, to not just stay afloat but to swim to the top.

The conflict is between Miss Margaret Asquith (Joy Virata), a top business executive, and her secretary, Miss Joan Riverton (Liesl Batucan). The cancellation of a dinner date prompts the boss to share an impromptu take-out supper with her girl-Friday. What promises to be an informal meal between two souls who work in the same office turns out to be an emotional and verbal brawl that undresses their weaknesses and strength. Theirs is not so much a fishy story about the bigger fish swallowing the smaller one but a cat-and-mouse affair in which the feline fools around first with the rodent before she pounces for the kill.

When Miss Asquith proposes a getting-to-know-you evening to Miss Riverton, she suggests that they ought to call each other by their first names after toasting to their friendship with red wine. Alcohol has a way of loosening the tongue and after downing a glass or two, Joan is soon quibbling that Margaret keeps calling her "Jane." Now, that’s a put-down, but even a mouse can scratch or bite. She demonstrates with push-ups on the floor how she has gained strength with the heavy stuff she is ordered to lug around in the office.

When the talk gets around to intimate dreams and ambitions, Joan uncovers hers – to win infamy by committing murder. It doesn’t have to be mass murder like Jack the Ripper’s. Can’t her victim be simply someone powerful like, say, a high-powered executive such as Ms. Asquith is? The table turns when a rabid rodent bites the cat. But Ms. Asquith is not top-notch for nothing. She is every inch a feline that can outmatch any mouse.

"The Way of All Fish" is not a suspense-thriller. It is pure comedy with twists and ironic turns that’ll keep you in stitches.

The second play, "Virtual Reality," is set in an abandoned warehouse where late one night, delivery man Lefty (Joel Trinidad; alternate: Lorenz Martinez) is supposed to deposit some heavy crates to warehouse foreman De Recha (Miguel Faustmann). Lefty is forced by De Recha in a surreal battle of wills over the shipment in a sort of dog-eat-dog confrontation in a nightmarish expressionist inscape heavy with the threat of violence and death.

The conflict is between the will of the deliveryman to finish the transaction and leave and the will of the warehouse foreman to detain him by forcing him to rehearse in minute detail his actual delivery.

Black comedy, you may want to call it – but it’s also theater-of-the-absurd in the flesh – or should one say "dog meat," to sustain the metaphor. The grim humor is not for the dog-eaters only. The combatants are not yelping Chihuahuas but deadly Dobermans.

The contrast between the first two parts of Power Plays is evident even to the moron. The feminine touch of Elaine May confers a silken texture to the confrontation between Ms. Asquith and Miss Riverton. Their cat and mouse wear scented silk gloves. De Recha and Lefty are sweaty males from the working class who play their game of one-man-up-ship with smelly gloves.

The concluding play in the trilogy is "In and Out of the Light" in which a quartet of characters enacts, somewhat dimly, its power game.

In his dentist’s clinic, Jewish Dr. Kesselman (Faustmann) can’t wait to get his paws on the shapely gams of his hygienist-assistant, Sue (Liesl), a former stripper. He has her book a reservation for two at La Bernadeen for an evening of fun when his plot threatens to go down the drain with the unexpected arrival of son Harry (Trinidad; alternate: Martinez) who has an urgent confession to make to his Dad, and pesty patient Wanda (Joy) who needs an immediate root-canal.

All the complications in this farce are not likely to sink the Titanic but there are enough laughs to give one a bellyache. Dr. Kesselman may have held a mild stroke or heart attack or severe flatulence, and may not make it to La Bernadeen for a kosher dinner with busty bombshell Sue, but Wanda will get her Novocain to ease her pain and Harry will get to march the following day in the gay rights parade on Fifth Avenue.

Director Carmen Barredo and her cast have sprayed their audience with laughing gas.

Says she in her director’s note: "We transact with people everyday. What we probably don’t realize is that sometimes we transact to gain power. In varying degrees and shades, and for a variety of reasons."

Who can disagree with this observation?

Joy and Faustmann deliver a sterling performance – this hardly needs to be said. But the evening belongs to Liesl and Trinidad who are simply awesome.

That these talents can keep the audience glued to their seats for two hours or rolling down the aisles clutching the belly as they please, that is most incontestably power play in action. And you and I – doggone it – are the willing victims!

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