The song “The Impossible Dream” captured the national imagination when a man lay dead on the tarmac—a tragedy precipitated by his decision to return to his homeland despite the imminent threat of political persecution. He was, after all, foremost among the fiercest opponents of the dictator who had been in power for 17 years. Days...
Category: Theater
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‘Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 4’ confronts Philippine theater
Film and theater operate on fundamentally different contracts with their audiences. Cinema is more controlled: It is edited, color-graded, scored, and packaged for the screen. Theater, on the other hand, refuses all of that: It is raw, immediate, unrepeatable, and alive in ways that no camera can fully simulate or contain. For “Ang Babae Sa...
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Power and survival take the stage: A review of Peta’s ‘Ctrl + Shift: Changing Narratives’
The Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta) once again brought socially engaged storytelling to the stage with “Ctrl + Shift: Changing Narratives,” a four-play production that challenges audiences to confront the realities shaping contemporary Filipino life. Divided into two contrasting sets, the show, held April 12 to April 19, navigated themes of power, corruption, survival, and...
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“Endo”: Precarity in Philippine theater
Most of the trademarks of a Peta play can be gleaned in “Endo,” the company’s latest offering for the second quarter of the year. Snippets of dialogue on the burning issues of the day (fuel prices, flood control projects) slide in every now and then. The koro is in full throttle, signifying the bigger community...
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Dulaang UP’s ‘Ang Kaliitan ng Kasalukuyan’ finds the self we were told to forget
There’s a particular Filipino habit of dressing up sacrifice as virtue. For instance, we call our overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) “bagong bayani,” or modern-day heroes, and mean it sincerely, but the term also makes their leaving feel inevitable—noble, even—rather than the product of a system that has failed to give them any other option. The...
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After a crash landing, stranded students fight to survive in FEU Theater Guild’s ‘Bangaw’
Breadcrumbs lead to the set of “Bangaw,” the new musical production of FEU Theater Guild (FTG) for 2026. The reminders over the speaker sound like flight announcements, and the viewers walking to their seats are welcomed by a cosplaying flight stewardess. Furry masks heaped on a table behind her hint of danger. Inside the small...
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FEU Theater Guild’s gritty tale of survival set to open in March
“Bangaw,” an adventurous reimagining of William Golding’s classic story “Lord of the Flies,” takes the stage starting on March 5 for the 92nd season of the Far Eastern University Theater Guild (FTG). Written by Gold Villar-Lim, with music by Vince Lim, and directed by Peta senior artist-teacher and FTG artistic director Dudz Teraña, “Bangaw” explores...
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FEU Theater Guild cooks up dark comedy ‘Karne,’ a delicious twist on a Roald Dahl classic
On its 91st season, the Far Eastern University Theater Guild (FTG) is staging an interactive dark comedy, “Karne,” a reimagining of Roald Dahl’s “Lamb to the Slaughter.” Written and directed by the Philippine Educational Theater Association’s senior artist-teacher and the FTG’s artistic director, Dudz Teraña, “Karne” invites audiences into the aromatic home of a 1980s...
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Lookback: ‘Walang Sugat’ and love in the midst of a revolution
More than a hundred years since it was first written and first staged, the Filipino zarzuela Walang Sugat (meaning “no wound”) still rouses its audiences to rave-level applause. The zarzuela, locally known as “sarsuwela,” is a musical theater genre that originated in Spain in 1657 and was introduced by the Spaniards for their entertainment in...
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‘Pista nin Teatrong Bikolnon’ brings theater (and alternative election perspectives) to rural folk
“Pista nin Teatrong Bikolnon” again brought together communities and campus-based theater companies from across the Bicol region, celebrating its sixth year of taking plays in their rawest form to the ordinary people. This time, the festival carried the theme “Gimata: Reclaiming People’s Narratives,” which organizers aimed at highlighting the importance of community narratives and promoting...