“What are you here for?”
That is the central question in Red Turnip Theater's 2nd season ender, Time Stands Still. The Tony Award nominated play is by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Marguilles. It follows the lives of Sarah, a photojournalist and her journalist boyfriend James as they struggle to live a more mundane life after Sarah returns home injured from war-torn Middle East.
The play takes us inside the lives of two people who are too stubborn to admit and face the fact that they are growing apart. Sarah, whose overexposure to war and distress has ironically rendered her restless in an ordinary setting. And James, having had enough of the world's tragedy, is now ready to take on a more pedestrian life. The couple explodes in constant wrangling as their issues finally resurface after years of sweeping it under the dusty rug of their once chaotic lifestyle; both of them bearing emotional wounds caused by their inhibitions. Should they stay together and live in constant bickering? Or should they just part ways and live the lives that they want?
The couple is joined by their long-time friend and Sarah's ex-lover Richard, and his new younger girlfriend Mandy. Mandy's extremely optimistic nature is a stark contrast to Sarah's jaded disposition. Her seemingly desperate attempt to fit in and become more than just a pretty, young girl provides a comic relief to their glum life. Though she initially seems daft, Mandy's sanguinity injects a fresh perspective in Sarah's and James' lives.
Apart from a love story, Time Stands Still also discusses the moral dilemmas that journalists face when covering wars and other tragedies. Which comes first? Documenting everything as evidence for the whole world to see or putting down that camera to help rescue people? The scars resulting from years of being subjected into this moral battle ultimately shows when Sarah breaks down as she realizes that she's “living off of other people's sorrows.”
The Manila premier is headlined by veteran thespians Ana Abad Santos and Nonie Buencamino who both take the audience down the complicated tunnels of a relationship. Santos makes Sarah's intolerance for banality palpable; her restlessness oftentimes unnerving. Buencamino expertly portrays James' broken and angry soul – from his patience in dealing with his irate girlfriend to his emotional breakdown over issues of infidelity. Rounding up the cast are Nor Domingo as the affable Richard and Giannina Ocampo as the lighthearted Mandy.
Contributing to the success of the show is Rem Zamora's astute direction. The second-time Red Turnip director effectively uses silence and space to convey the couple's struggles.
Ultimately, Time Stands Still is a powerful drama about the struggles of making a relationship work. It shows just how much pain and scars are involved when two people try to come to terms with their past and align their future goals in order to make a life together.
Time Stands Still runs from January 31 – March 8, 2015 at WhiteSpace. For ticket inquiries, please call Ticketworld at (63 2) 891-9999.
