The Theatre Titas’ Dedma rerun is happening now and continues until Oct. 26 at the Mirror Studio Theater in Poblacion, Makati. Its initial run in April of this year garnered multiple Gawad Buhay citations, including Outstanding Original Script, Stage Direction, Choreography, plus Female and Male Lead Performances. So if you missed out on its original run, or want to revisit the extreme fun you had that first time out, get your tickets - and support our local independent theater scene.

Dedma is two short 45-minute plays written by Chesie Galvez-Cariño, that dwell on the lives, foibles, idiosyncrasies, and little dramas of the Ladies Who Lunch - that particular subset of Manila society who travel abroad with regularity, will buy the latest LV Birkin or Kelly bag, serve tea in china that was picked up in Notting Hill, and send their children to international schools.

The first play, Let’s Do Lunch, is a hilarious send-up of how we train our help, and what happens when the fortunes of one such lady have taken a nosedive via a financial scandal involving her husband, and she meets up with a former ‘best friend’ for lunch. The second play, The Foxtrot, consists of a dance instructor and his regular client, a society matron. It’s an engrossing tale of power relationships and the shifting sands of that interpersonal dynamic. To say more would be to deny you the fun of discovery.

Let’s Do Lunch has Issa Litton, Naths Everett (Mayen Cadd, on the second week), and Ash Nicanor in the cast, while The Foxtrot boasts of Jackie Lou Blanco and Royce Cabrera. Cabrera takes on the role that JC Santos portrayed in the April run.

It’s the Outstanding Original Script that one should really be watching these plays for. I’ve often remarked about how, whenever we see the rich and monied on films and television, they’re mere caricatures, one-dimensional portrayals that hinge solely on their greed, their power, material wealth, and/or arrogance. It’s easier to paint this sort of picture and leave it to the general public not to ask for more.

The true strength of Chesie Galvez-Carino’s writing is how it’s filled with nuance, shading, and essential humanity. These ladies can be trivial, can be proud and silly, can even be tone deaf, but through the pen of Chesie, they also become flesh and blood, are vulnerable, and eke out their own form of nobility. And that’s nice to watch, as it reminds us of how they’re real people, get hurt and cry, and how we are all just out to carve out our own little space.

The multiple Gawad Buhay citations are all well-earned, and Dedma deserves an audience. So head to Ticket2Me, and don’t miss out on this opportunity to watch what Gawad Buhay recognized!