Jenny Jamora is Tanghalang Ateneo’s New Artistic Director
Following the closing night performance of Tanghalang Ateneo’s (TA) Ningning sa Silangan, which concluded its 46th season, the company’s Artistic Director, Guelan Varela-Luarca, announced that he will be stepping down after seven years in the role. Taking his place is actor, director, producer, and educator Jenny Jamora.
Jamora is currently in rehearsals for CAST PH’s upcoming production In the Eyes of the People, an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People, which opens on April 26. She recently directed a number of productions: Tanghalang Pilipino’s Pingkian: Isang Musikal, The Sandbox Collective’s Every Brilliant Thing and its Filipino translation Bawat Bonggang Bagay (translated by Varela-Luarca), and Tiny Beautiful Things, also by The Sandbox Collective.
Why is Varela-Luarca stepping down?
“I’m stepping down coz lyf, lol,” he shares candidly through Facebook Messenger. “I’m getting married and have plans to live in Hong Kong for a couple of years. I’ve already AD’d for TA from afar — mala-LDR, lol — and it wasn’t an ideal set-up. Some things were really difficult because I was away in the US taking up my master’s. Ayoko na maulit ‘yon. The only reason I stayed on then was because there was no one else to take over. Ngayon, thankfully, nasuyo ko si Jenny, hehe.”
He also cites his work with Scene Change, a new theater company where he serves as co-producer, as another focus moving forward.
“And I think the days when one AD holds on to TA for a long time — like in Ricky [Abad]’s time — are over. The Theater Arts Program of the Loyola Schools boasts some of the best teachers. Jenny is one of them. There’s also Charles Yee, Missy [Maramara], Delphine [Buencamino], and Sir Glenn [Mas] who was AD before. So I think the TA Artistic Directorship can be a position that can go around the theater arts faculty — all of whom would equally do great in the position. There’s now a gang who can take care of TA, unlike in Ricky’s time, siya lang talaga.”
Why is Jenny Jamora the best person to take over?
“Jenny is an amazing choice, and I’m so proud to hand over the privilege of being TA’s AD to her,” he says. “She is such a person of deep care and patience, qualities that are rivalled only by her talent as a theater artist. She’s fiercely caring and at the same time super artistically exciting.”
“She’s the type who’d hop on a mad devising project with Charles Yee, Delphine, and me — but also direct something refined, Western, and sophisticated like 33 Variations, or something rousing, nationalistic, and super Pinoy like Pingkian. She’s an actor and an acting teacher too, so she understands what student actors need to grow and develop.”
What excites him most, though, is what Jamora brings from outside the company.
“The fact that she’s coming from another background and isn’t a TA “homegrown” is, to me personally, the MOST exciting part! She’s worked with TA already, she teaches at the program, so she knows the company very well, BUT she won’t have institution attachments that might, in some ways, be detrimental to the company’s growth.”
“Longevity needs variety and fresh ideas. Ricky Abad’s passing, and my last season — which was designed to honor him — reminded the company of its roots. Having Jenny at the helm can be in synergy with TA’s work of returning to its roots through the newness and the breath of fresh air that she will bring in to the company.”
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