ABOUT
RED TURNIP THEATER is the vision of five friends, five established actors in the local theater scene, with more than 90 years of experience between them. Topper Fabregas, Jenny Jamora, Ana Abad Santos, Cris Villonco, and Rem Zamora came together to stage the kinds of productions that are in short supply in the country: straight plays (non-musicals), engaging material with the potential for adaptation, all in a unique theater experience.
ANA
ABAD SANTOS
TOPPER
FABREGAS
JENNY
JAMORA
CRIS
VILLONCO
REM
ZAMORA
ANA ABAD SANTOS is a multifaceted actress and director with nods for her performances as Blanche DuBois in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Candida in PORTRAIT of the ARTIST as FILIPINO, Jing Mei in JOY LUCK CLUB, Miranda in AN EVENING AT THE OPERA, and her direction in DUETS and 39 steps. She was awarded Best Stage Actress at the ALIW Awards for her performance in MARY STUART; has received critical acclaim for her direction of such shows as HAMLET and most recently of CLOSER, Red Turnip Theater's maiden production; Has appeared on television and Award winning films such as the HKIF (HongKong International Film Festival) awardee "DRY RAIN", SUNDANCE awardee "METRO MANILA" and CANNES awardee "BENDS". Ana received her post Graduate in Classical Theatre from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and conducts Master Acting classes. Recently, she played Sarah in "TIME STANDS STILL", Red Turnip Theater's second season offering.
TOPPER FABREGAS: As an actor, Topper's theater credits include roles in The Producers, The Maids, Boeing Boeing, Castrato, Leading Ladies, Jekyll and Hyde, Sweet Charity, Shakespeare in Hollywood, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Sound of Music and Much Ado About Nothing. In 2010, he completed his studies at the Circle in the Square Theatre School in New York City. Since then, he has gone on to teach numerous acting workshops and served as Assistant Director for Upstart Productions' Breakups and Breakdowns and Disney's Camp Rock for Repertory Philippines. Topper marked his directorial debut to critical acclaim with Red Turnip Theater's production of Rabbit Hole.
JENNY JAMORA was last seen on stage in Red Turnip Theater’s production of Cock. She was nominated for an Aliw Award for her performance in The Blue Room and has performed around Asia for The Vagina Monologues, Aspects of Love (New Voice Company) and A Little Night Music (Atlantis Productions). She was a lead in the world stage debut of Paul Fleischman’s Mind’s Eye, and continues to appear on television and film. Most recently, she directed Reya Laplana’s Sa Lilim for the Virgin Labfest 10, and will be making her full-length directorial debut for Red Turnip’s 3rd Season opener in 2015. She holds a Shakespeare Acting Certificate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and a Master of Science from Texas A&M University. She also heads the Talent Development and Training Committee of the Theater Actors Guild.
CRIS VILLONCO has a degree in Liberal Arts with concentrations in Music and Economic Development from Sarah Lawrence College. Apart from which, she has a long list of productions from different theater companies. From 2008-2014 , theatre credits include Noli Me Tangere and Walang Sugat from Tanghalang Pilipino, Orosman at Zafira from Dulaang U.P. D'Wondertwins of Boac from PETA, Jekyll and Hyde and Hamlet from Repertory Philippines, The Sound of Music from Resorts World Manila, Red Turnip Theater's Closer; and Atlantis Productions' A Little Night Music and Ghost the Musical. She won Best Actress in a Musical in 2014 and 2011 and Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2008 in PHILSTAGE’s Gawad Buhay Awards. On top of which, Cris was hailed as TIME Magazine’s Hero for the Planet in 2000, and was awarded MTV Philippines’ Favorite Female Video in 1998.
REM ZAMORA has directed 3 plays for Red Turnip Theater: 'Cock' (2014) 'Time Stands Still' (2015) fand then 'Constellations' i(2016), all to critical acclaim.
He has played both leading and support roles in over 50 musicals, classic and contemporary plays, and comedies, as well as performed in concerts both here and abroad.
Some noteworthy performances include his roles in Skin Deep for PETA, REP’s Glorious and The 39 Steps where he was nominated for best supporting actor. Most recently, he directed Vince de Jesus' staged reading of the musical 'Changing Partners' by Vince de Jesus for The Virgin Labfest.
RED TURNIP THEATER’S FOURTH SEASON GETS STRIPPED DOWN AND STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
In just three years, Red Turnip Theater has changed the landscape of the commercial theatre scene, proving that the straight play has always been suited to Filipino audiences’ tastes, provided that the content and form are of top-notch quality.
Red Turnip Theater now mounts their most captivating season yet, kicking the Fourth Season off with the offbeat love story TRIBES and closing it with the sci-fi thriller THE NETHER. Both plays are powerfully written by the first female playwrights in the Red Turnip roster: award winners Nina Raine and Jennifer Haley, respectively.
Last season, Red Turnip travelled outwards, exploring not only different countries but time and space in the critically acclaimed productions of “33 Variations” and “Constellations”. This year Red Turnip returns to its roots, going back to what it does best: journeying inwards.
In TRIBES, a deaf young man tries to find his voice in a comically loquacious, anti-sign language family who just wants to make him feel normal. While in THE NETHER, in a time where the Web has evolved into virtual reality realms one can live in, a detective struggles to keep justice in a world where morality and reality are ever shifting. Both shows, in their own unique ways, explore the self, asking questions such as ‘How do we define our role in our family?’ ‘What is normal?’ And, for that matter, ‘Who is our true self?’
Ana Abad Santos returns to the director’s chair for THE NETHER: “Now that the playing field has changed and more people are following suit, we are getting even bolder--with material, choices, direction, but always having something to say about us Filipinos.”
"TRIBES director Topper Fabregas: “Red Turnip has always made sure to make each play feel immediate to anyone who enters our space, and rooted in the culture we live in. TRIBES is going to be Pinoy. The material may have been published abroad but once it is interpreted by the actors and given voice by the artistic team, it becomes Filipino.”
With TRIBES, the company is also reaching out to the deaf community by having select shows tailored to them. “Those shows will be fully surtitled,” says Fabregas, “In addition to that, we’re also excited to see how there may be added or other nuances to the actors’ performances with them knowing they’re playing to a deaf audience. ”
TRIBES stars a formidable ensemble cast. “We’ve been long-time fans of each of these actors,” says Jenny Jamora. “They’ve all done so much good work but there’s that certain performance that got us hooked on each of them: Dolly De Leon in Tatlong Maria, Kalil Almonte in Games People Play, Cris Pasturan in Titus Andronicus, Angela Padilla in Stepping Out, Thea Yrastorza in Battalia Royale and Teroy Guzman in Dead Stars and now, of course, 33 Variations.” Jamora will tread the boards once again when she joins TJ Trinidad in THE NETHER.
Rem Zamora: “We are proud we've made it this far. At the outset we really aimed to build a brand and safe to say we’ve achieved a portion of what we set out to do.”
The company’s mantra has always been “See it. Live it.” And they plan to continue to make good on this for the Fourth Season.
Cris Villonco: “We provide an entire experience. You enter our space (bring in your drinks, of course). We transport you to a different world. You see the faces on stage, and beyond in the audience across from you, and you have a shared experience in that room. When you leave our space, you’ll feel you were a part of something intimate.”
The five actor-producers have created a brand of theatre that is solid in its mission. But through the constancy and consistency, they pride themselves in always evolving, and never settling. Red Turnip Theater voyages into its fourth year, and still they have so much more to say.
TRIBES is set to open on August 5 and will run until September 4, 2016. THE NETHER opens in MARCH 2017. Both shows are at the Power Mac Spotlight Center Circuit Lane, Circuit Makati, 1207 Metro Manila.
Tickets available at TicketWorld (891-999 / www.ticketworld.com.ph) or email resturniptheater@gmail.com.