Romnick Sarmenta, Elijah Canlas and Epy Quizon step away from the roles they originated after the October 2 to 25 rerun at Circuit Makati. Jun Robles Lana says the reason will become clear.
When About Us But Not About Us returns to Circuit Makati on October 2, it comes with a condition attached. Jun Robles Lana, who wrote the play and the film it grew from, has said this will be the last time Romnick Sarmenta, Elijah Canlas and Epy Quizon play Eric, Lancelot and Marcus, the roles they originated. He hasn’t said why, only that audiences “will understand why in time.”
The IdeaFirst Live production first ran from February 14 to March 8 this year at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater. It returns to the same room through October 25, again directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio.
From Two Voices on Screen to Three Onstage
The story began as Lana’s film, which swept the inaugural Summer Metro Manila Film Festival in 2023 and won Sarmenta the festival’s Best Actor award. It follows Eric, a literature professor, and Lancelot, his student, through a conversation that starts out casual and turns, one admission at a time, into a psychological standoff over secrets, lies and who gets to tell a story.
For the stage, Lana brought a third character into the room. Marcus, who is only talked about in the film, appears onstage in the play, a role Quizon originated and now shares with director Andoy Ranay. Quizon, the son of comedy king Dolphy, returns for what is also his final run in the part.
Two Lancelots, Two Erics
The rerun doubles up on its leads. Kobie Brown, a Sparkle artist who won the part through auditions, alternates with Canlas as Lancelot. The IdeaFirst Company framed the pairing plainly on Facebook: “Elijah brings the Lancelot audiences already love. Kobie brings his own. See them both.” Rutaquio, meanwhile, steps out from behind the production to alternate with Sarmenta as Eric.
Lana’s own year is just as busy. Beyond the play, he directs Vic Sotto and Vice Ganda in The Greatest Showdown, one of the four films confirmed so far for this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival.
Canlas, Between Roles
For Canlas, the run lands in a crowded stretch. He is currently in cinemas as student activist Edgar Jopson in Edjop, the latest in a string of roles in which he keeps showing up as the activists he plays, and he is also attached to a road-trip film. Lancelot is the one part he has carried across screen and stage for three years, and October is the last chance to see him in it.
Dates: October 2 to 25, 2026. Fridays at 8 PM; Saturdays and Sundays at 3 PM and 8 PM.
Venue: Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Circuit Makati.
Tickets: ₱3,920 (VIP), ₱3,360 (Orchestra Center), ₱2,800 (Orchestra Side), via Ticket2Me.
Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, no intermission. For mature audiences.