'Request Sa Radyo': All the feels for a whole lot of nothing

"Request sa Radyo" is perhaps the most anticipated theater event of the year, for good reason. Beyond the stellar cast of Dolly De Leon and Lea Salonga alternating for each other, "Request sa Radyo" is on a super limited 20-performance run this month.

Directed by Bobby Garcia, the play runs for just 70 minutes and because there is no script — there are no song numbers! — "Request" easily blurs the line between theater and performance art.

There is a voyeuristic quality to "Request." The stage is set right smack in the middle of the theatre, with very little space between audience and actor.

Here, we see a woman coming home to a small, empty apartment on a Friday night after a long day. She tends to herself, joylessly it seems, finding comfort in her favorite radio program. 

Depending on where you sit, you'll get a closer look of the woman in a particular room of the apartment: The one near the kitchen will let you see her cooking and washing dishes. The one near the toilet will let you see her washing her face, taking care of herself, and even peeing. The one near her table will let you see her as see tries to occupy herself, and finally near the little altar, will let you see her praying fervently. 

Bobby Garcia's rendition of the Franz Xaver Kroetz's landmark piece brings the material closer to home by featuring an OFW — presumably medical worker, based on the scrubs she is wearing — and having the fictional radio program play familiar OPM songs from artists like Ben & Ben, Bamboo, and the like.

But taking front and center is the acting. "Request sa Radyo" is a wordless play, and as such, it requires the caliber of acting at the level of a BAFTA-nominee like Dolly or a Tony Awardee like Lea; any less and the play runs the risk of being absolutely boring, a complete waste of your 70 minutes and your ticket money.

Being wordless is the challenge, both actresses said ahead of the play. “I am terrified about boring them [audiences] to death," Dolly told GMA News Online last month. "But at the same time, it’s a challenge I welcome, because that’s how a person who lives alone lives. They have no one to talk to, they have nothing. And I think it’s exciting that we are going to tell a story of a woman or a person who has no one to talk to.” 

We got the chance to see Dolly perform at the preview, and she managed to take the audiences for an emotional 70-minute ride.

The play requires a certain kind of weariness that seems to naturally emanate from the actress' entirety. It's there, present like her shadow, from the minute she steps into the little stage all the way until the lights go out in the end. 

At first, it feels strange watching a woman in her apartment. It almost feels as if the play is making a peeping tom out of you, if you will.

But Dolly is Dolly, and slowly, whatever hyper-awareness and unease about watching her a little too intimately disappears. You instead become concerned for her, or the character she plays. She is so diligent at taking care of herself and her apartment — she cleans the toilet every time she pees. She washes the dishes and her hand so religiously — and yet you can tell she is next-level tired, and not just from enduring a long day. It is shown in the way her shoulders slouch.

Her loneliness is conveyed in Dolly's droopy eyes, in her downturned mouth. It is conveyed in her facial expression, especially during that little scene where she looks out the window.

Her longing for a connection is shown in the way she would pause what ever it is she is doing to listen for the next song: What are they going to play next? Will it be my request? It is revealed in the way she lit up and danced as her favorite song came on. 

Suddenly, you feel for the woman you are watching. Does she not have friends? Where is her family? Why won't she stop working and cleaning? Surely, she can do the dishes another day. 

The depth by which "Request" — or yes, Dolly — can make you feel is astounding. It explains why the material is so hyped, and why Dolly — and yes, even Lea — are the celebrated actors that they are.  

"Request" is a slow-burn that doesn't really end when the theater lights go up. It's almost like a confrontation of oneself that extends all through the drive home, until you yourself enter your house, late, dark and quiet after seeing the play. Then you realize you're mirroring Dolly, or the the woman in the play, as you take care of little responsibilities, locking the doors, checking the mail, washing the dishes.

If you're lucky, you'll also realize that limiting your self-care to just ticking off your mundane to-do list will have you ending up exactly like the woman in the play, dead tired, isolated, lonely, and still tending to life's endless responsibilities.

"Request sa Radyo" runs until October 20 at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater, Circuit Makati. Tickets.