Less than two years after its Philippine Premiere, The Sandbox Collective brings Lungs back to the stage, and now more than ever does its message ring relevant. Opening with a rapid-fire conversation between a man and woman deciding whether or not to have children, Duncan Macmillan’s ninety-minute play revolves around a discussion most millennials are having today. No longer is the question, “What world are we leaving the future generations?” Among the youth of today, it has turned into, “Should we even have future generations, if this is what the world has come to?”
The Sandbox Collective’s Managing Artistic Director, Toff de Venecia says, “Now with natural disasters occurring left and right, and significant doubt materializing in the age of anxiety, perhaps Lungs has gained a horrific new timeliness as well.” And with the ever- mounting climate change crisis, people have been more inclined to take steps in lessening their everyday carbon footprint. More and more, consumers are acknowledging how unsustainable fast fashion is, and online stores have been stepping in to fill the void with their sustainable, eco-conscious products. Among millennials and Gen Zs, the newest In Thing is saving Mother Earth. And much like Lungs’ two protagonists, at the forefront of the youth’s mind is: “Even if I wanted children, with everything going on around us, what kind of world would I be leaving them?”
With an intimate cast of two, Lungs approaches the audience, looks them straight in the eye, and faces that dilemma alongside them. Reprising their roles as M & W, respectively, are Jake Cuenca and Sab Jose, both of whom garnered nominations at the Philstage Gawad Buhay Awards and BroadwayWorld Philippines Awards for their roles in Lungs’ 2018 run. Jake has established himself as a rich and dynamic actor in Philippine film and television. He previously studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York. Recent television and film credits include Los Bastardos, The Blood Sisters, Ikaw Lang Ang Ibigin, FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, Ang Panday, Tuhog, In the Name of Love, among others. He made his long-awaited stage debut in The Sandbox Collective’s 2018 run of Lungs, for which he won Best Actor (Play) and Best Crossover Artist (Mainstream to Theater) at the 2018 BroadwayWorld Philippines Awards.
His leading lady Sab Jose is an actress, teacher and Marketing Director. In Spring 2018, Sab graduated with honours from the Guildford School of Acting, London, U.K. with a Master of Arts Degree in Musical Theatre. She was most recently seen in The Sandbox Collective’s production of Lungs (which earned her a Philstage Gawad Buhay nomination for Outstanding Female Lead Actress in a Play), Globe Live and 9 Works Theatrical’s first and second run of Musikal nAPO!, Grease, Shrek, Peter Pan, RENT, and The Wedding Singer, among others. During her stint in London, she appeared in multiple musical productions such as Traces: A New Musical, Carrie the Musical, Oklahoma!, GSA
Showcase (The Shaftesbury Theatre) and Spilt Milk (The Other Palace). She makes her theatrical comeback in the SANDBOX FEST 2020 after a yearlong sabbatical.
Lungs returns as a part of SANDBOX FEST 2020, a theater festival featuring the works of Duncan Macmillan. SANDBOX FEST 2020 will open on March 6, 2020 and will have a limited engagement until March 29, 2020 at the Zobel De Ayala Recital Hall, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, Bonifacio Global City. Tickets are now available through Ticketworld online or +63 8891 9999 and The Sandbox Collective at +63 956 200 4909, +63 917 554 5560 or +63 8586 7105.