Ice Seguerra and Liza Dino in 'Choosing.' Photo from the play's Facebook page

Mitch (Ice Seguerra) has been a tomboy all her life. Since her childhood, she only saw herself as a boy, with the games and toys she played with. At age 10, she saw nothing wrong about going shirtless with the other boys. She had crushes only on girls. In high school, her biggest crush became her best friend. However, Mitch had to give her up visiting her, so that the other girl won't get a bad reputation by being seen with her.

Stella (Liza Diño-Seguerra) has been always been feminine all her life. She loved playing with dolls. She only had crushes on boys. However, her experiences with boys and men had been less than ideal. At age 10, her personal space had been violated by an uncle. In high school, her big crush became her first MU one night, and her first heartbreak very next day. She had been a mistress of a married man, as well as a victim of a drunken ex.

This two-hour-long, soul-baring, emotional roller-coaster ride was first staged in the PowerMac Spotlight Black Box Theater from June 29 to July 7, 2024. It was directed by no less than the acclaimed Dr. Anton Juan, once known as an enfant terrible of Philippine theater scene for his bold, avant garde directorial style. The musical score was by award-winning composer and librettist Vince de Jesus, noted for shows as diverse as “Zsa Zsa Zaturrnah Ze Muzikal” (2006) to “Himala: Isang Musikal” (2018).

Liza Dino in 'Choosing.' Photo from the play's Facebook page 

Being an LGBTQ story, it was inevitable that sexual matters will come up, which may feel uncomfortable for the more conservative and old-fashioned in the audience. Act 1 traced their childhood discoveries about the opposite sex -- from playing with dolls, playing house, slum books and long nights on the telephone with one’s crush. We actually see the pages of the porn magazine that teenage Mitch was reading. We hear Stella hissing with pleasure while a stream of water was projected behind her.  

Act 2 focused on the more serious aspects of Mitch and Stella's sex lives. It starts with them defining terms of gender orientation. Infidelity was brought up, then topics became more and more uncomfortable, like how being touched like a woman felt like molestation, or how being drunk at a birthday party led to rape, how pornography felt like cheating, and how one can remain to be himself after full transitioning. Those waiting for Ice to sing won’t be disappointed with his moody song number.

 Ice Seguerra in 'Choosing.' Photo from the play's Facebook page

This script was Liza Dino-Seguerra's first venture as a playwright. We really do not know how much of what she wrote was drawn for the actual real lives of Ice and herself. By the time we get to the part when Mitch and Stella were already a couple, defining themselves as transman and cis-female respectively, as if they were talking about themselves. Director Anton Juan recognized this, and let that feeling of authenticity flow naturally. That was what made this piece of indie theater in a class of its own.

This restaging of "Choosing" runs two weekends, June 6 to 15, 2025 at the Doreen Black Box Theater, Arete, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City. Tickets are available from Ticket2Me.