Synopsis

Celia, once a darling of Philippine opera, and her brother the ex-congressman Gaspar, are members of a once illustrious Filipino family now fallen on hard times. Celia had sold her share of the ancestral home to her brother to prop up a failed marriage. She now lives under his patronage in exchange for taking care of her ailing brother, singing to him the opera arias he loves. When Gaspar slips into a coma, Celia’s impending homelessness is all but sealed. Celia dresses up her grandson Antony in Sto. Niño (the Holy Child) garb, insisting that this will invoke a miracle that will awaken Gaspar. The boy becomes a silent witness to the unraveling of family secrets, plots, and intrigues as harsh present day realities in the form of the Celia and Gaspar’s children – Mombic, Merced and Raquel – push the inevitable: the bitter sale of the ancestral mansion. Celia wages her last battle to regain the glory of the past by hosting a splendid musical soiree, her final eulogy to her own moribund class.

Director – Loy Arcenas

Based in New York, Loy Arcenas has an established career as a theatrical set designer as well as director. He has designed sets for Broadway shows that have included “Once On This Island, “Prelude To A Kiss”,” Love! Valour! Compassion!”, “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life”.  He has also designed the sets for the off-Broadway and major American regional theater companies of the United States, including the off-Broadway production of “The Vagina Monologues”. He has collaborated with some of the most exciting American directors and playwrights including Joe Mantello, George C. Wolfe, Anne  Bogart, Robert Falls, Terrence McNally, Craig Lucas, Paula Vogel. For his design work, he has received the Obie for Sustained Excellence of Scenic Design, the Drama Desk Award, the Bay Area Critics Circle Awards, the Jefferson Award, the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, the Michael Merritt Award for Design Collaboration.

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