Floy Quintos’ ‘The Reconciliation Dinner’ shows us how everything can be political

The Reconciliation Dinner follows two families whose matriarchs have been the best of friends since their college days. But because of polarised political beliefs, their friendship fell apart. Events from the campaign period leading up to the 2022 national elections at the height of the pandemic became the map of Quintos’ storytelling and the characters’ arcs. “These events served as signposts that ground each character and how they navigate the personal in the political and the political in the personal,” reads the dramaturgical notes of Quintos and the play’s director, Dexter Santos. “The play underscores the fact that citizens of a democracy cannot and must not be ‘apolitical’ or ‘good vibes lang’ when it comes to concerns of public interest,” the notes continue.

A culture of unfriending, blocking, muting conversations, seen-zone, angry reactions, and indirect postings has emerged in the Filipino social media landscape. And it doesn’t just stop there as these actions of cutting ties manifested in the real world, as portrayed by the Medinas and Villaramas. This is where The Reconciliation Dinner is set. The attempt to reconcile broken relationships and friendships is the story’s motivation to move forward. For viewers familiar with these contexts, one cannot help but judge the plot beforehand as near-impossible to resolve. For one who has biased opinions about the play’s context, a myopic perspective may arise after leaving the theatre.

And yet, the riveting performances of Stella Cañete-Mendoza as Dina Medina and Frances Makil-Ignacio as Susan Valderrama are powerful enough to break those biases and balance the point of view. Quintos’ holistic approach to the building of their characters makes it difficult not to empathise with them and root for their reconciliation. The Reconciliation Dinner reminds us to put politics aside and not see our friends and families’ philosophies only influenced by their political beliefs. It reminds us that there is more, something deeper, in our personal histories that makes us who we are today.

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But that didn’t mean we set aside each other’s political stances. The buzz phrase “respect my opinion” that emerged during the campaign period can be seen as a call to align one’s priorities and moral principles. As portrayed by Randy Medel Villarama and Jojo Cayabyab, the two families’ patriarchs, Bert Medina and Fred Valderrama, are pictures of how extreme affinity to political beliefs affects one’s personality (or perhaps it’s the other way around). The actors’ seamless embodiment of their characters and their witty lines echoed the context of the play, making them a solid foundation for Cañete-Mendoza and Makil-Ignacio to freely build their political burlesque acting.

The play’s strengths revolve around the four main characters. And with the impressive video projections that presented their social media personae, The Reconciliation Dinner becomes a microcosm of Filipino society. With these characters, we see that everything is political, and each act is a vector of possibility. Susan ignores a chat, Dina orders a cake, Jojo sells insurance, and Bert raises a gun. Each act is a push and pull of force that radiates powerfully on the intimate theatre setup. With a mix of comedy and drama, the script encapsulated hateful posts, troll-ish comments, echoes of campaign slogans and phrases, political insights, and personal histories.

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But it doesn’t end with the reminisces of the past. The Reconciliation Dinner moves forward with its younger cast: Phi Palmos as Norby Valderrama, Mica Pineda as Mica Medina, and Nelsito Gomez as Mica’s husband, Ely. The three show how we look at our country’s future and change the status quo. Their political burlesque acting is marked by a realism that resonates with most Filipinos and does not just stem from their character’s family narratives. Their inclusion in this dinner is not merely to put characters on the kids’ table but to hear the powerful voice of the youth.

The Reconciliation Dinner may be set in a miasma of ignorance and indifference. But it is not just a staging of what has happened but a call to what more we could do to repair homes damaged by this political teleserye. It’s not a question of who’s right or wrong, who can lead the country better, or why we attune to particular political stances, but what we value the most in life. And it is not wrong to choose oneself at the end of it all—our well-being, family’s welfare, ideology, and values. We can be political in everything but also remember that our duty in humanity is to the truth.

The Reconciliation Dinner is set to be staged again this August at the PETA Theater Center. Photos featured in this article are shots from the Dulaang UP run of the said play in 2022.

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