Kisapmata has its world premiere at Lunchbox Theatre

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There are numerous sorts of affection tales from pet love and summer season like to second-chance love and golden age love.

Calgary playwright Bianca Miranda’s Kisapmata, receiving its world premiere at Lunchbox Theatre till Feb. 18, is a love story about past love.

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Her two girls characters are named solely A and B, presumably to point any two our bodies.

A, a Canadian Filipino, was born, lives and works in Calgary. B is an trade intern from the Philippines. After they acknowledge their mutual attraction, B warns that this may solely be a fling as a result of she not solely has to return house however must. She is the only real supporter of her household. A insists they’ll nonetheless have a deep relationship, and that’s actually what she needs.

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In her program notes, Miranda says that whereas rising up within the Philippines, she and her mom bonded by watching teleseryes or cleaning soap operas. Kisapmata is actually a tv cleaning soap opera. It’s episodic, advised via flashbacks, strives for heightened feelings, and makes use of ethical and emotional conflicts to advance the plot. There’s additionally a smattering of scenario comedy in Kisapmata as a result of Miranda manages to combine a great deal of humour.

That Kisapmata is about past love doesn’t imply her characters are younger or chaste, however that the attraction turns into, particularly for A, a primary intense, all-consuming ardour, and one which lingers a minimum of 10 years after the affair. The play opens with A receiving a cellphone message from the Philippines that triggers recollections of that fateful earlier pairing.

The hook for the viewers is that Michelle Diaz makes the younger A so disarming and giddy with out making her appear needy. It’s enjoyable watching her turn into smitten with the proficient, stern, self-confident lady that Isabella Pedersen makes B. It’s positively the opposites entice syndrome and a supply of a lot of the humour.

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Utilizing solely a special pair of glasses and a mini scarf, Diaz is ready to age rapidly and credibly. When the older A remembers her first assembly with B, and vital incidents throughout their affair, Diaz imbues these speeches with a mild poignancy, by no means resorting to tears, making all of them the extra highly effective.

There’s positively a little bit of eat, pray, love, karaoke in Kisapmata which not solely provides to the humour however introduces the viewers to Filipino tradition.

One of many flaws in Miranda’s play is that a lot is advised somewhat than proven, a pitfall of reminiscence performs,  and that it’s episodic. Nonetheless, director Gina Puntil, set designer Cassie Holmes, and video and projection designer Thomas Geddes give Diaz and Pedersen a visually attention-grabbing atmosphere wherein to work.

Puntil and Miranda permit the kiss to come back a lot too early within the play, diminishing its affect. They ask us to imagine the connection is intimate so we also needs to be allowed to imagine the characters kiss typically. A imagines how she needs their parting had occurred, and it’s throughout this scene, the kiss ought to happen as a result of it’s so tender.

When inventive director Bronwyn Steinberg welcomed Kisapmata’s opening day crowd, she mentioned Lunchbox Theatre was proud to be showcasing a queer love story given the present political local weather in Alberta.

The play runs within the Vertigo Studio Theatre till Feb. 18 with different efficiency occasions Tuesdays via Sundays so try tickets.lunchboxtheatre.com for occasions and availability.

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