The Coño Boy 1 & 2: Love What You Will

Chapter Forty-Four: Throwback Thursday Pa Pala

It was a pretty interesting Thursday evening in the theater. Before the performance, may slight adjustment sa prologue kasi gumawa sila ng sculpted headdress for the character of Viola to visually represent her as a female para daw clear yung line between Viola as a woman and Viola as Cesario. So yung choreo ng movers sa prologue now includes an Elizabethan era men's hat with a white ostrich feather for me tapos yung kay Nerissa naman para siyang crown headress na may pearls. Sabi sakin ni Sir Nick, those teardrop shaped pearls are called Tudor pearls. Na-late ng about 15 minutes yung open house kasi nga Sir Ricky had to check and make sure how we look on stage as twins and if may difference nga ba yung transformation sa side ni Nerissa as Viola to Cesario. After some time on stage,

Sir Ricky: Makes sense.

Sir Nick, the Costume Designer: I'm brilliant, I know...

If hindi mo talaga kilala si Sir Nick, you would think he's so eccentric just by saying that. Pero Nakita ko how he constantly teaches Winnie a.k.a. Wilfredo, Lloyd, and Arjay the diskarte with their costume work. Siguro that's why Sir Ricky lets him get away with his quirks, he can run ten circles around you pagdating sa design work. So, yun nga, we're green light on Nerissa's boy wig.

Pero akala niyo ba madali yung nawala ang wig that I have been using sa ulo ko? Not really. Because napansin ko parang nabawasan ng about one layer yung costume ko and that long wig was one of the things that I felt completed my character. Kaya pala before the performance:

Sir Nick, the Costume Designer: Sean, are you ready?

Me: Kailan ba talaga tayo ready, sir? Is anybody truly ready?

Sir Nick, the Costume Designer: Wow, waxing philosophical ka ha! Early signs of a good actor yan.

*Gay Bathalas, hindi pa ba acting yung ginagawa ko with Nerissa and I in the same room?*

Sir Nick, the Costume Designer: What I was asking specifically was, are you ready to perform without the wig? The thing is, you have nothing else above your shoulders now but your make-up and that hat na you keep wearing and removing all throughout the play.

Me: Uhm... Sir, we'll know tonight?

Now that he's said it. Makes perfect sense that things could change for me on stage.

Sir Nick, the Costume Designer: Don't be too complacent, okay? Huwag masyadong kamapante, hijo. When I was younger, Sir Ricky kept on hammering Play-for-Truth. You gotta learn this lesson on-the-boards tonight, when an actor has lesser costumes and sans smoke-and-mirrors around him, he gets more vulnerable; and somehow the amateurish mistake he makes is the he becomes mechanical.

Nerisssa: I don't know why some people even bother.

I hear Nerissa speaking to herself while in front of the mirror finishing up her make-up.

*I heard that! I sure as hell f&cking heard that! Was that meant for me?*

Lloyd, the Production Assistant: Ayyyyy!!! Anong pangalan ng Ate mo, Bes?

Arjay, the Costume Assistant: CHONA!!! Si Ate Chona!!! Hahahahaha!!!

*See, they heard that too!*

Sir Nick, the Costume Designer: Que Barbaridad, magsitigil kayong dalawa! As I was saying, Sean... Don't fall prey to a mechanical performance na parang akala genuine at hahanga ka na, pero all tricks lang naman. Parang nilalaglag na lang yung lines to just get it over and done with. Remember, the audience will only respond if there's truth coming out of your performance. Gets?