In what seems like the most intense political landscape that the Philippines has ever experienced, Floy Quintos’ new play is a sobering reminder of what our dinners and gatherings might look like in the remaining five years.
Tensions were high at the Power Mac Center Spotlight (PMCS) Blackbox Theater last weekend. To a full house, the cast of “Reconciliation Dinner” gave us a gripping, vulnerable, and emotionally charged reminder of the complexities of human relationships and how they stand within political issues.
And why wouldn’t audiences be on the edge of their seats? Beyond the compelling performances of the play’s leads—headlined by Stella Cañete-Mendoza as Dina Medina, Randy Medel Villarama as Bert Medina, Frances Makil-Ignacio as Susan Valderama, and Jojo Cayabyab as Fred Valderama—”Reconciliation Dinner” pushes us to the limit and forces us to ask: how do we reconcile political differences when our most precious relationships are on the line?
It’s this volatile tension that the play explores through the lives of the Medinas and the Valderamas: once close families whose respective political inclinations got revealed at the height of the 2016 elections, with the events leading to the 2022 national elections further widening the rift between them.
Indirect jabs (and eventual low blows) on social media soon follow, and even the children—Mica Pineda as Mica Medina, Nelsito Gomez as Mica’s husband Ely, and Phi Palmos as the drag queen and LGBTQIA+ activist Norby—get into the muddle. Now, a year after the recent elections, the Medinas and Valderamas try to hold a reconciliation dinner and set aside their differences once and for all—but is that even possible?
Regardless of your inclinations, “The Reconciliation Dinner” serves as a sobering wake-up call to evaluate how far we are willing to sacrifice principles for relationships (or vice versa), and what consequences await us if we do so.
Catch “The Reconciliation Dinner” on May 20-21 and May 27-28, 2023 at the PMCS Blackbox Theater. Shows run at 3PM and 8PM on all dates. Visit ticket2me.net to book your seats now.
