Tanghalang Pilipino at 40: Looking forward while celebrating its legacy
Marco Viaña was just a baby when Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) was first launched in 1987. The theater company was established as the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), which in itself was undergoing its own transformation a year after the EDSA Revolution. The new management’s fresh mandate was to make art more accessible to the people, regaining public trust for a CCP that had, rightly or wrongly, been regarded as too high-brow and elitist.
Flash forward to the present 39 years later. Viaña is now the associate artistic director of TP, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. The company continues to make its programs more inclusive, drawing more audiences outside of CCP, teaching theater to various communities, and for the first time is collaborating with its Asian counterparts. And as its 40th season line-up shows, its fight for accountability, good governance, and the need for the Filipino people themselves to choose the right leaders is far from over.
The 40th anniversary theme Past Forward looks forward to the future, while building on the legacy of the present and honoring the past.
The first production which will open in July, Farewell, Let’s Go to the South, has been described in the TP statements as an “intercultural collaboration between Assignment Theater of Taiwan, Space Theater of Korea, and TP.” The cast consists of actors from the aforementioned companies with the Philippines represented by Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan and TP Artistic Director Fernando Josef. Poetry, movement, imagery, and performance will show the true cost of resistance, especially in standing up to authoritarian forces.
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During the press conference on June 23, TP Company Manager Carmela Millado-Manuel described the characters in the play as “revolutionaries of their times and they originated from the South,” which the title refers to. “Che Guevara was from Argentina; he led one of the most successful revolutions in South America. Another character is an activist student from South Korea who vowed to self-immolate for the reunification of the North and the South. For the Philippines, we included the poetry of a revolutionary and student activist, Emmanuel Lacaba, who was born in the South.”
Selections from Lacaba’s Salvaged Poems will show how he “used his poetry to fight a dictatorship,” said Millado-Manuel.
Millado-Manuel added that the production will be presented in several languages like Korean, Chinese, and Filipino. An individual Japanese artist, Sakamoto Hiromichi, “will not speak in his language, but he is going to use his channel to communicate what he has to say,” she said.
After 40 years of fulfilling its mission and vision of presenting Filipino plays, Josef said that it might be the right time to “start strengthening our networking with our Asian counterparts because we have a lot in common in history, and even aesthetics.”
The Film Center tragedy
The second production in the 40th season line-up, Sayaw ng Mga Ilaw, is Juan Ekis’ stage adaptation of Cheeno Marlo Sayuno’s children’s short story of the same name. Directed by Jonathan Tadioan, it will run from September 18 to October 11.
Ekis said that while the production is a children’s musical, its subject matter and themes are “pang-matanda at mabigat. The milieu is set a little after the Martial Law era.”
The exact year of the catalyst that affected the characters central to the drama is 1981, when the Manila Film Center collapsed tragically amidst a lot of controversy. It was widely perceived that the then Marcos Sr. administration hurried the construction of the center to meet the deadline of the opening of the First Manila International Film Center. Dozens of construction workers died when the multi-level scaffolding collapsed.
One of those construction workers is the father of Laya (played alternately by Wincess Jem Yana and Annika Co), the little girl who is the protagonist in the play. While the family struggles with uncertainty and grief, Laya still pursues her dream of learning how to dance the Pandanggo. Through the dance, she finds and rediscovers healing, inner strength, and love of family.
“Maraming layers sa sayaw,” said Ekis. “Paano sila nag-co-cope sa loss, sa pain. Basically, tungkol ito sa isang pamilya pagkatapos ng pagguho ng Film Center.” He added his hope that “the play would show the negative effects of the Martial Law era.”
Encore
Gregoria Lakambini: A Pinay Pop Musical, the third production in the 40th-year line-up, was first performed at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (TIG) from November to December of 2025. The Delphine-Buencamino-directed musical will return to the stage on November 13 to 29, but this time to a different venue: The Proscenium Theater, Rockwell, Makati City.
As the TP production notes describe it, “the musical brings to life the journey of Gregoria de Jesus, told through the sound and energy of a P-pop girl group.” It “traces her transformaion from a spirited young woman from Caloocan to the Lakambini of the Katipunan, standing alongside Andres Bonifacio in both love and revolution.”
Gregoria Lakambini had been performed at least once outside the TIG before, specifically in Areté at the Ateneo de Manila University on April 2026. Viaña said that even during its planning stages, there were already plans to stage the play outside of its regular venues in the CCP Complex. He said, “Kahit sa anong espasyo, kahit gym iyan, puwede nating itanghal ang ‘Gregoria Lakambini.’”
The enthusiastic response of the “younger people” and the “clamor for a rerun” also boosted the producers’ decision to present the modernized play to a bigger crowd. “We had a very good response with Lakambini here in CCP,” said Millado-Manuel. “Masyadong maliit ang theater. … Why don’t we attract a bigger audience? The Proscenium” – where the show will be be restaged – “was one consideration.”
Shakespeare on corruption
William Shakespeare’s Richard II allegedly runs from three to four hours assuming the entire script is preserved. It may not automatically ring a bell the way that Richard III does. But its study on how a leader’s “corruption, vindictivenss and incompetence,” as described by TP’s production notes, may be more relevant to our times.
The TP version, Ricardo Segundo, which will run from February to March in 2027, promises to deliver a more visceral blow given the translation and direction of Guelan Varela-Luarca, whose previous work of the Bard has made audiences re-examine festering social issues while heightening their appreciation of Shakespeare.
According to assistant director Monty Uy, while the translation will “keep the text as it is,” the eventual production will be “very much not your traditional classical medieval Shakespeare na naka-period [costume] and what not. The way we present the play…it will be stylized.”
Perhaps this approach is meant to make the material more relevant or comprehensible to today’s modern audience. Ultimately, though, according to Viaña, who plays the titular king, what is most important is the message. He said, “Hinahamon din namin ang aming manonood kasi parating na eleksyon, na maging silang critical sa pagpili ng pinuno natin. At maging bukas [sila] sa paghuhukay … na paano mamili ng isang pinuno. At paano natin masasabi ang karapat-dapat na pinuno.”
A culmination
Finally, the 40th season line-up ends with TP40: Life Begins, an anniversary concert that will pay tribute to Filipino playwrights, directors, actors, designers, musicians, and theater makers who have shaped the company’s stages and stories. Overseeing it are TP’s alumni and stalwarts: Dennis Marasigan, who will conceptualize and form the concert; and Chris Millado as director.
The concert will also highlight the distinctive legacies of all TP’s artistic directors: Nonon Padilla, Herbie Go, Marasigan, and Josef.
The 77-year-old Josef, who first assumed his position in 2008, named what he believed to be his most significant contributions. First is the development of newer, younger leaders like Viaña, Tadiaon, and others who built their own creative teams and directed their own productions. “Sila ang nakakaalam kung ano ang timpla ng contemporary,” he said.
To ensure that the productions remain relevant, TP’s research, sales, and marketing committees always try to feel the pulse of their growing audience. Josef said they always ask: “Ano sa tingin niyo ang magugustuhan ng mga bata sa artistic forms? What are the content or stories that they’re very interested in knowing? What are the values that they want?”
Then there are the educational programs that TP has brought to various schools, local government units (LGUs), and other communities to promote not just the company, but theater as an art form in general. Josef said that the plays are not templated but are customized after workshops are done to assess the community’s needs. The needs and resulting objectives then vary: “There are for mental health, artistic excellence, and organizational needs.”
Viaña had been to Bohol as the production designer of Sandosenang Sapatos, and was involved in the Quezon City production of Gregoria Lakambini. He and some of his colleagues will next work with the Legazpi City LGU to do a local version of Ibalong the Musical.
These out-of-CCP trips reinforce his commitment to make theater more inclusive to a greater audience—and his belief in its power as seen in the audience response.
“May mga performances na hindi napupuntahan ng ibang nasa ibang region,” he said, “pero oras na napanood nila, na-inspire sila na mag-pursue ng theater. Nagkaroon sila ng opporutnity na matuto sa kuwento na hinahain natin.”
Farewell, Let’s Go to the South will run on July 10 and 11, 7 PM at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. Sayaw ng Mga Ilaw runs from September 18 to October 11, Fridays to Sundays, at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. Gregoria Lakambini: A Pinay Pop Musical will run from November 13 to 29, Thursdays to Sundays, at the Proscenium Theater, Rockwell. Ricardo Segundo will run from February 19 to March 21, Fridays to Sundays, at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. TP40: Life Begins will be staged in May 2027 at the newly renovated CCP Main Theater.
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