STUDENTS of the New Voice Company?s acting and musical theater workshops are aware that there?s more to acting than raw talent and ambition. So, when it?s time for them to perform in the theater company?s culminating showcases, they know that the SRO crowd that flocks to them expects more than mere theoretical knowledge of scenic and psychological actions, previous circumstance, text, subtext and character analysis, inner and outer conflicts, and improvisation.

On Sunday at 7 p.m., NVC?s current batch of acting students will take part in ?Duologues and Other Complexities (An NVC Showcase)? at the SJG Studio in Makati. The show aims to examine diverse relationships and provocative themes in 10 short, open-ended situations (in English and Filipino) inspired by the works of playwrights and poets like Christopher Durang, Kevin Wade, Ara Watson, Debbie Isitt, Monica Dickens, Garry Michael Kluger and actress Kathy Najimy. The devised pieces allow the actors not only to essay challenging roles they can sink their thespic teeth into, but also probe relevant themes and issues:

Spare key

Guest actor Jamie Wilson, last seen in NVC?s ?A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer? and ?Into the Woods,? plays a guy who?s caught off-guard when his constant, no-strings date (Gold Soon) gives him a spare key to her apartment. She?s ready to move to the next level, but he?s not!

Filmmaker Katski Flores (of the acclaimed Cinemalaya entry, ?Still Life?) returns to her acting roots when she performs Kathy Najimy?s monologue about a woman who?s torn between getting her cherry popped and waiting for the right guy to come along. She also performs in a dark comedy about a university student who?s pressured by her influential peers (Allan Mirasol, Rensi Pua) to lose weight because?the body is the temple of God!

Other intriguing scenes: Pua and Ma-an Santos are torn between friendship and obligation when the character of the former finds out that her friend has been abusing her child; a homemaker (Minerva Delena) gets a visit from an anxious woman (Lara Tarranco) who reveals that she?s been having an affair with her husband.

Meanwhile, a social worker (Tcel Maramag) also gets a visit from another abusive mother (Soon), who wants to get her child back from welfare officials; a business associate (April Claessens) urges a top female executive (Jenny Orlina) to convince his old, error-prone father that it?s time for him to retire; a rebellious daughter (Tarranco) confronts a close family friend (Maramag) after the death of her estranged father.

Sexuality

Two young women (April Celmar, Rio Sazon), who are experimenting with their sexuality, discuss the next phase of their relationship. And, finally, a good-looking, passionate man (Nicco Dominguez) and a sexy woman (Angela Teh) decide to go on a blind date after meeting in a chatroom on the Net, but their ?eb? (eyeball) doesn?t turn out as planned!

Light design is by Mel Roxas and video projection by Maramag. Call 896-5497.