Category: Theater Reviews

Mirrors and Metaphors: “Miranda and Yolanda” Reflects on Filipinos’ Relationships with Leaders

(Poster from Encore Theater) Mirrors abound in the latest offering of Encore Theater, a group of thespians who had worked closely with playwright Floy Quintos (gone too soon in 2024), and who last staged his final play, GRACE. His plays are known to reflect the social conflicts of our times, yet clarified and rephrased so… Read More Mirrors and Metaphors: “Miranda and Yolanda” Reflects on Filipinos’ Relationships with Leaders

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Para Kay Tony: A Twin Bill On Remembrance and Identity

(Photo credits: Dulaang UP) Dulaang UP’s twin bill of Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero’s Kalahating Oras sa Kumbento and Rolando Tinio’s May Katwiran ang Katwiran in Para Kay Tony is a sparse, student-led production that attempts to go beyond an act of remembrance, into the claiming of identity.  A Legacy of 48 Years While DUP is not… Read More Para Kay Tony: A Twin Bill On Remembrance and Identity

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First Love, Last Love: PBC’s Twin Bill is Social Commentary Masked as Rom-Coms

(Photo credit: The Playbook Club) To watch a show both written and produced by young theater artists mostly in their twenties is a refreshing theatergoing experience. There’s that fearless idealism, which is the hallmark of college plays, merged with the growing awareness of the callous, grown-up world beyond the walls of sheltered universities. But then… Read More First Love, Last Love: PBC’s Twin Bill is Social Commentary Masked as Rom-Coms

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Balete / Tree : F. Sionil Jose’s Word Made Flesh by Tanghalang Pilipino

Every beginning of November, Filipinos reenact the ancient tradition of going home to one’s province, to the land that birthed us, to the cemeteries that still house the fleshly remains of our ancestors. This story begins, and ends, in such a graveyard. Books and plays inspired by them are always two different art forms, yet… Read More Balete / Tree : F. Sionil Jose’s Word Made Flesh by Tanghalang Pilipino

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