Theater enthusiasts braved the manila traffic to watch the opening night of Red Turnip Theater’s third season opener 33 VARIATIONS at Whitespace, Makati. Welcome cocktails were served before the show, which quickly set the mood for the evening’s performance. Red Turnip’s Jenny Jamora made her directorial debut in the Tony award nominated play by Moises Kaufman with riveting performances by award-winning actress Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino and Teroy Guzman.
Jamora’s creative staging simultaneously examines the process behind Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations and the journey of a musicologist, Katherine Brandt, to discover the meaning behind why Beethoven was compelled to write thirty-three distinct variations on a simple theme by a minor music publisher. The progression of her Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and her relationship with her daughter are also themes, as is Beethoven’s growing deafness.
