FULL LIST: 1st MSTR Awards Winners Announced

FULL LIST: 1st MSTR Awards Winners Announced

The Manila Society of Theater Reviewers (MSTR) has announced the winners of the 1st MSTR Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in Metro Manila theater for productions that opened during the 2025 calendar year.

The winners were revealed on January 10, 2026, through MSTR’s official Facebook and Instagram pages. Arete Ateneo productions garnered multiple awards, with 10 awards between Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati, 3 Upuan, Dagitab, and Si Faust and with Guelan Varela-Luarca’s adaptation of Nick Joaquin’s ‘A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino’ winning the most number of awards, taking home four.

Founded in 2025, MSTR is a collective of regular theater critics and reviewers writing across print and online platforms. The organization was established to promote, support, and celebrate the Metro Manila theater industry through publicly accessible reviews and through annual awards honoring outstanding theatrical work. It also aims to help cultivate informed, critical discourse on Philippine theater among practitioners, journalists, scholars, and audiences.

For its inaugural awards, MSTR evaluated 66 eligible productions that opened in Metro Manila in 2025. Eligible works included fully staged theatrical productions developed, created, and premiered in the Philippines, encompassing professional productions, campus-based and student-led shows, and thesis performances. To qualify for deliberation, each production had to be seen by at least three voting members of the Society.

The 1st MSTR Awards were voted on by Vladimir Bunoan (ABS-CBN News Online), Gibbs Cadiz (Philippine Daily Inquirer), Christa De La Cruz (Esquire Philippines), Nikki Francisco (TheaterFansManila.com), Arturo Hilado (Independent), Emil Hofileña (TheaterFansManila.com / Independent), Ricky Toledo (Philippine Star), Chito Vijandre (Philippine Star), and Vincen Gregory Yu (The Diarist / Independent).

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Production of a Play
Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati – produced by Arete Ateneo and directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca

Best Production of a Musical
Si Faust – produced by Arete Ateneo and directed by Nelsito Gomez

Best New Filipino Work
Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati – translation by Jerry Respeto and adapted by Guelan Varela-Luarca

Outstanding Contribution to the Theater
GA Fallarme
George De Jesus III

Best Director
Guelan Varela-Luarca, 3 Upuan and Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati

Best Lead Performance in a Play
Jojit Lorenzo, 3 Upuan

Best Lead Performance in a Musical
Maita Ponce, Si Faust

Best Featured Performance in a Play
Benedix Ramos, Dagitab

Best Featured Performance in a Musical
Marvin Ong, Side Show

Emerging Talent Award
Benedix Ramos (performance), Bar Boys: The Musical, Dagitab, and Next to Normal

Best Achievement in Design
D Cortezano (set), Ali Figueroa (costumes), Jethro Nibaten (lighting), and Ronelson Yadao (movement) – Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati

In addition to the winners, MSTR also named honorable mentions across all categories, reflecting what the Society described as the depth and competitiveness of Manila theater during the year.

Production of a Play

• 3 Upuan (Produced by Scene Change and Areté Ateneo; Directed by Guelan Luarca)
• Dagitab (Produced by Scene Change; Directed by Guelan Luarca)
• Kisapmata (Produced by Tanghalang Pilipino; Directed by Guelan Luarca)
• Sala sa Pito (Produced by Boxstage Manila; Directed by Dudz Teraña

Production of a Musical

• Bar Boys: The Musical (Produced by Barefoot Theatre Collaborative; Directed by Mikko Angeles)
• Come From Away (Produced by GMG Productions and Stages Production Specialists, Inc.; Directed by Michael Williams)
• Pingkian: Isang Musikal (Produced by Tanghalang Pilipino; Directed by Jenny Jamora)
• Shrek the Musical (Produced by Full House Theater Company; Directed by Dexter Santos)
• Side Show (Produced by The Sandbox Collective; Directed by Toff de Venecia)
• Walang Aray (Produced by Philippine Educational Theater Association; Directed by Ian Segarra)

New Filipino Work

• Dagitab (Written by Guelan Luarca; Adapted from the film Dagitab, written and directed by Giancarlo Abrahan)
• Si Faust (Created by Nelsito Gomez and Basti Artadi; adapted from the play Faust, Part One by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
• Gregoria Lakambini: A Pinay Pop Musical (Book by Nicanor Tiongson and Eljay Castro Deldoc; Music by Nica del Rosario and Matthew Chang; Lyrics by Nicanor Tiongson, Eljay Castro Deldoc, Nica del Rosario, and Matthew Chang)
• Kisapmata (Written by Guelan Luarca; Adapted from the film Kisapmata, written by Mike de Leon, Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., and Raquel Villavicencio; directed by Mike de Leon)

Director

• Mikko Angeles (Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Nelsito Gomez (Elecktra After Sophocles and Si Faust)
• Jenny Jamora (Pingkian: Isang Musikal)
• Guelan Luarca (Dagitab and Kisapmata)
• Michael Williams (Come From Away)

Lead Performance in a Play

• Delphine Buencamino (Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati)
• Jasmine Curtis-Smith (3 Upuan)
• Bart Guingona (Via Dolorosa)
• Jojit Lorenzo (Dagitab)
• Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan (Kisapmata)
• JC Santos (3 Upuan)
• Jonathan Tadioan (Kisapmata)

Lead Performance in a Musical

• Alex Diaz (Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Krystal Kane (Shrek the Musical and Side Show)
• Marynor Madamesila (Side Show)
• Benedix Ramos (Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Lance Reblando (Walang Aray)
• Vic Robinson (Pingkian: Isang Musikal)

Featured Performance in a Play

• Toni Go-Yadao (Kisapmata)
• Karyl Oliva (Sala sa Pito)
• Omar Uddin (Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati)
• Marco Viaña (Kisapmata)

Featured Performance in a Musical

• Maronne Cruz (We Aren’t Kids Anymore)
• Topper Fabregas (Shrek the Musical)
• Sheila Francisco (Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Shaira Opsimar (Si Faust)
• Alfredo Reyes (Shrek the Musical)

Emerging Talent

• Kerr Allen (performance, May Katwiran ang Katwiran)
• Kabaitan Bautista (musical direction and arrangement, Si Faust)
• Royce Cabrera (performance, The Foxtrot)
• Teia Contreras (projection design, 3 Upuan)
• Sarah Facuri (set design, Si Faust)
• Rafael Jimenez (playwriting, Patintero sa Ayala Avenue)
• Karyl Oliva (performance, Sala sa Pito)
• Omar Uddin (performance, Bar Boys: The Musical, Delia D.: A Musical Featuring the Songs of Jonathan Manalo, Next to Normal, and Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati)
• Ade Valenzona (playwriting, Polar Coordinates)

Achievement in Design

• Jomelle Era (choreography, Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Jim Ferrer (choreography, Si Faust)
• Stephen Viñas (choreography, Shrek the Musical)
• Carlo Pagunaling (costumes, Si Faust)
• Carlos Siongco (costumes, Side Show)
• D Cortezano (lighting, 3 Upuan and Kisapmata)
• Jethro Nibaten (lighting, Si Faust)
• Harry Tabner (lighting, Come From Away)
• Farley Asuncion (musical direction, We Aren’t Kids Anymore)
• Kabaitan Bautista (musical direction, Si Faust)
• Matthew Chang (music, Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati)
• Myke Salomon (musical direction, We Aren’t Kids Anymore)
• Ejay Yatco (musical direction, Pingkian: Isang Musikal)
• Teia Contreras (projections, 3 Upuan)
• GA Fallarme (projections, Delia D.: A Musical Featuring the Songs of Jonathan Manalo and Pingkian: Isang Musikal)
• Joyce Garcia (projections, Delia D.: A Musical Featuring the Songs of Jonathan Manalo and Si Faust)
• Lawyn Cruz (set, Shrek the Musical)
• Mark Daniel Dalacat (set, Side Show)
• Ohm David (set, Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Sarah Facuri (set, Si Faust)
• Julio Garcia (set, Bar Boys: The Musical)
• Joey Mendoza (set, Kisapmata)
• Aron Roca (sound, Bar Boys: The Musical and We Aren’t Kids Anymore)
• Luke Swaffield (sound, Come From Away)
• John Robert Yam (sound, Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati)

More information about the awards and the Society can be found at mstrawards.com, and through @mstrawards on Facebook and Instagram.

Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati – 4
3 Upuan – 2
Dagitab – 2
Si Faust – 2
Bar Boys: The Musical – 1
Next to Normal – 1
Side Show – 1