‘Lamay in Malaya,’ an Immersive Theater Experience on Grief, Runs This February

‘Lamay in Malaya,’ an Immersive Theater Experience on Grief, Runs This February

KOLABorador Co. is set to mount a re-run of Lamay in Malaya (now officially titled Lamay in Malaya – The Re-run) this February at Coconut House, 34 Malaya Street, Brgy. Malaya, Diliman, Quezon City.

The show is an immersive, promenade-style theater experience created through the company’s signature machination (devised) process. Rooted in Filipino cultural sensibilities, the production approaches grief not merely as loss, but as an ongoing expression of love, memory, history, and radical human vulnerability.

Mourning has no finish line; it exists where love does. From conversations and songs echoing the emotional limbo of Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, to the abandonment of unrealized dreams by a failed Shakespearean ingenue-wannabe, to a character seeking carnal release from the exhausting rituals surrounding death; from Narcisa Rizal desperately searching for her brother’s missing corpse, to a widow finding solace in cooking and grief poetry—audiences encounter mourning as a state of suspension: an ebb and flow that resists closure. Guided through multiple spaces, audiences experience Lamay in Malaya as a curated journey that holds grief as deeply personal, culturally rooted, and universally human.

The work emerges from a convergence of lived experiences shared by cast members, historical narratives, poetry on grief, and conversations with memorial coordinators. These sources are shaped through collective storytelling, movement, and composition, allowing personal and communal experiences of mourning to take theatrical form. Presented as a thoughtfully guided journey, Lamay in Malaya invites audiences to encounter grief not as something to overcome, but as something that endures because love once lived.

KOLABorador Co. is a collective of independent artists who create machinations—devised theater works drawn from conversations, memories, literature, and lived experiences. Their stories resonate with the Filipino psyche and challenge cultural memory, aiming to inspire, empower, and sometimes unsettle.

Why grief, and why now?

“Last year, the theater community lost several people we deeply admired—three of them close colleagues and collaborators. Their passing left a weight that many of us carried into our work and everyday lives. Creating Lamay in Malaya became a way to honor them, and to acknowledge grief as something shared,” says KOLABorador Co.

They add, “We also recognize that grief extends beyond death. We grieve versions of ourselves we have outgrown, ambitions that shifted, and lives we once imagined. These quieter forms of loss shape who we become, even when they go unspoken.”

Why immersive theater?

“Because grief is not experienced from a distance. It is felt—in the body, in shared spaces, and in moments that ask for presence. As machinators, we believe theater should be encountered and witnessed. Lamay in Malaya invites audiences into an experiential journey, pushing beyond traditional boundaries to feel, reflect, and sit with grief together—not to resolve it, but to honor it as part of loving deeply and being.”

The cast features Tara Cabaero, Kathlyn Castillo, Raphne Catorce, Chic De Guzman, Anna Deroca, Tess Jamias, Wenah Nagales, Jona Paculan, Gino Ramirez, Nazer Salcedo, and Joshua Tayco.

The artistic team includes Mark Daniel Dalacat (repetitur / scenography and styling), Third Salamat (lighting design), Zsaris (sound design), Vic Villareal (dramaturgy), and John Abul (additional styling).

The show runs on February 6–8, 13–15, and 20–22, 2026, at 7:00 PM. Admission is priced at P1,000 (regular), P850 (student), and P800 (PWD and senior citizen), all of which include lamay refreshments, with purchases available through Ticketmelon. Children below seven years old will not be admitted. All minors under the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.