Gantimpala's Forever/Call Me Flory Powerhouse Cast

The Powerhouse Cast of Gantimpala Theater Foundation's Forever/Call Me Flory

Tony Espejo, Gantimpala Theater Foundation's (GTF) Artistic Director announces the powerhouse cast who will perform stellar roles in the English twinbill of Forever/Call Flory and they are Roeder Camañag (Ernesto/Federico); Monica Llamas (Maria Teresa/Matilde); Kimberly Diaz (Consuelo/Osang); Wilma Doesnt and Lailanie Ann Tejuco (alternately portraying Florencia Aragon de Caracoles also known as Flory); Billy Parjan and Vincent Reyes Kuipers (alternately portraying Oscar); Abner Delina (Ernesting); Troy De Guzman (Gordon) and Jude Sypongco (Capote).

Forever/Call Me Flory is an old-fashioned melodrama set in the 1950’s. This play is about love, maturity, and self-sacrifice.

Forever/Call Me Flory is also about closure and healing, listening and accepting. It is a play about people who realize that letting go is greater, more sublime, than holding on.

Aside from the well-loved tearjerker, the other production is CALL ME FLORY, which is a satire that pokes on social climbing and social climbers during the time when Manila’s 400 espouse ‘the true, the god and the beautiful’. It shows that pretense is cheap trick. It is fun, wacky, and hard-hitting piece on our secret desire to belong to the high society.

Forever/Call Me Flory is the 4th season presentation of the Gantimpala Theater Foundation National Artist Production Series, literary and dramatic works created by the country’s National Artists for Literature and Theater come alive on stage as a means to pay tribute to Philippine literature and theater icons. It also aims to create awareness and appreciation from the student audiences of the company with regard to the artistic legacies of literary and dramatic arts masters.

Last year, Gantimpala Theater Foundation won the 2006 ALIW Awards Best Play(non-musical category) for F. Sionil Jose’s The God Stealer/ Nick Joaquin’s The Queen’s Jewel, which were the plays of the the 3rd National Artist Production Series of the company.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) gave a grant for these ALIW Awards winning productions.

Helping Espejo now bring the 50’s glamour of Forever and the psychedelic groove of Call Me Flory are J. Dennis Teodosio (playwright for additional dialogues and characters); Joey Nombres (Lights Designer); Roobak Valle (Set Designer); Albert Figueras (Costumes Designer); Glenda Alday (stage manager) and Pamela Hundana (production manager).

This production (Forever/Call Me Flory) is a collaborative artistic venture with the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC). The NPDC and Gantimpala Theater Foundation are partners in promoting Philippine arts and culture. As Luneta Park’s resident theater-company, Gantimpala Theater Foundation plays and other special cultural events are shown for free during Concert at the Park, a weekly arts and culture show produced by NPDC that aims to propagate and bring arts to the masses.

Color Care and Everbilena supports the 29th production season of Gantimpala.

Gantimpala Theater Foundation's Forever/Call Me Flory performances are slated on December 9-10, 16-17(10am/2pm), SM South Mall Cinema 3 in Las Piñas; and it resumes in 2007 starting Jan 25, (10am/2pm); January 26 (9am/12nn/3pm); January 28(10am/2pm); and February 3-4 (10am/2pm) at the AFP Camp Aguinaldo Theater in Quezon City.

For tickets and booking information, call 899-5745 or 896-3503. For sponsorships and outreach tours, call 528-0603 and 536-5860.