It has often been said that millennials suffer from the lack of a generational struggle. Instead of being united by some greater, shared tragedy, Generation Y is fragmented by dozens of little tragedies, ranging from the trivial—like embarrassing Facebook photos or Tinder escapades—to the overwhelming—like the perils of globalization and social media shaming. When taken together, they don’t exactly form the most cohesive whole. Rather, the millennial condition is more a collage than mosaic: A layered mishmash of different cultural and social shifts, kept together only by the generation at its center.

No Filter 2.0, The Sandbox Collective’s revival of their hit July 2015 show, is then an attempt to unpack this collage in the only way that makes sense—by taking it piece by piece, and tragedy by tragedy.

At its crux, No Filter 2.0 continues to be an episodic play with a series of monologues that seek to articulate exactly what it means to be a millennial. With Toff De Venecia still onboard as director and much of the same set of notable contributing writers—such as Anna P. Canlas, B.P. Valenzuela, Margarita Buenaventura, and Regina Belmonte, to name a few—No Filter 2.0 is less of a sequel then it is a continuation. The cast of the original run—Cai Cortez, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, Mikael Daez, Sarah Facuri, Khalil Kaimo, Saab Magalona-Bacarro, Micah Munoz, and Lauren Young—return for this second go-around, along with a few new faces in Sam Concepcion, Carla Humphries, and Paolo Valenciano.

As opposed to being elevated, the entirety of No Filter 2.0’s stage is noticeably situated in such a way that allows much of the audience seated at the first couple of rows to be at eye-level with the cast members. This strategic decision to break the fourth wall resulted in a very casual and intimate atmosphere as the cast members delivered their monologues.

The stage is also empty with the exception of a small table with a couple of chairs placed at the forefront of the stage. Only the lighting, the projector screen suspended above and, ingeniously, the cast members themselves dressed in only the brightest and trendiest clothes provided the set with color. The set design along with the lighting and sound effects are all strikingly bare but they all work in synergy to frame the monologues as the true focal point of the play.

While the iteration brings back most of the original monologues, there are several new segments that more than hold their own. One particular addition, “No Te Vayas” by Regine Cabato, offers a fascinating look at the difficulties of being away from home, in the context of a Manila student from war-torn Zamboanga feeling disconnected from his province’s struggle. Khalil Kaimo imbibes the piece with the requisite amount of pathos, and the sepia orange lighting lends the entire scene an aura of rustic nostalgia. It is one of the show’s high points, and an all-too-poignant ode to the dilemmas that come with distance.

The last two segments are arguably the show’s heaviest, and both arrive at the heart of what the millennial experience is all about.

The first, “Moving Out” by Petra Magno, perfectly captures the aimlessness characteristic of your everyday millennial; the second, “Into Silence” by Gian Lao, counterbalances it by discussing the trajectory of Generation Y’s journey into coming-of-age, while simultaneously providing a succinct conclusion to the show’s fragmented manifesto. It is in this ending where the second run deviates most from the first. While the original show ended with “Coming of Age,” a terribly cynical monologue about the futility of youth, this ending is more hopeful in its acknowledgement of millennial confusion and the importance of the little battles in life.

Ultimately, No Filter 2.0, much like its predecessor, is an illuminating articulation of Generation Y, and while the clean-cut, well-adjusted cast may not be the most accurate or effective reflection of a generation that’s often the opposite, the material soars above any and all of these limitations. The show is an ode to little tragedies, and in understanding that the millennial experience boils down to a series of disjointed battles that may or may not add up to a war. No Filter 2.0 provides the best depiction of a generation that is far too often caught up in searching for its own revolution.

No Filter 2.0 will run from October 3- 25, 2015 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight, Circuit Makati. Screenings are held at 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Tickets are available at Ticketworld.

Review Overview

   4 /5 stars

   Pros:

• No topic was off-limits (From drugs to sex and intimacy, religion, sexuality, etc.) which allowed a very realistic representation of the issues that burden most millennials nowadays.
• Several vignettes—namely, “No Te Vayas”, “Intimacy”, “Moving Out”, and “Into Silence”—are especially powerful and effective.

   Cons:

• Acting wasn’t entirely believable, often felt over exaggerated
• Some monologues were too highfalutin, didn’t come off as being authentic