Romnick Sarmenta, Epy Quizon and Elijah Canlas
Actors Romnick Sarmenta and Elijah Canlas will reprise their roles in the stage adaptation of the film, "About Us But Not About Us," which was one of the entries for the first Summer Metro Manila Summer Film Festival in 2023.
Epy Quizon joins the cast, while Tuxqs Rutaquio directs the play based on the psychological drama film written, co-produced, and directed by Jun Robles Lana.
According to Sarmenta, when he heard from Lana that their film would get a stage version, he volunteered himself to take on his role as Eric anew.
“Kasama ako dyan,” he postulated to be part of the stage production.
Canlas, on the other hand, plays his role, Lancelot, for the second time in the stage edition.
The third character as Marcus, originally played also by Sarmenta in the movie, will be given a new life by Epy Quizon.
When Rutaquio was asked how they persuaded the original actors to do the stage version, he said, “It's but proper lang siguro for Jun to ask the original actors when he initially thought of adapting the film for the stage, since Romnick and Elijah are also stage actors. So when they agreed, it was all the more interesting to see how they would channel that intimacy from the film onto the stage.”
Rutaquio was also instrumental in adding more spice to the stage adaptation.
“When I was told that the film was going to be a stage version, I immediately went to see the film. Beautiful film. Ang ganda ng character dynamics in that very small space. I wondered, though, how that would translate on stage since it was too intimate," he said.
“As I was watching it, I was also imagining the character of Marcus, who was only being described and talked about by Eric and Lancelot. And I got intrigued about his character. So I told Elmer and Jun that, as much as I love the characters of Eric and Lancelot, I would also like to see Marcus onstage. And for this stage adaptation, we get to see him as a physical manifestation of memory.”
The film's story is "conversational," featuring just two seated characters talking to each other in a single setting. It was shot entirely on location at L'Opera Ristorante in Bonifacio Global City.
The film won 10 awards at the 2023 MMF Summer Edition, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay for Lana, Best Actor for Sarmenta, and a Special Jury Prize for Canlas. It was first released in Estonia on November 23, 2022, as one of the official entries for the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it won the Best Film award.