New Works, Restagings in PETA’s ‘Control + Shift Changing Narratives’ This April
PETA’s Control + Shift: Changing Narratives returns to the PETA Studio Theater this April, featuring a “StudioLab” of fresh stories and restaged works.
Control + Shift: Changing Narratives debuted in 2024 and was followed by a month-long festival in 2025. The production is led by artistic director J-mee Katanyag.
Through a collaboration among PETA artists, students, and community partners, this year’s StudioLab aims to tackle the tough questions of our time. It serves as a creative space for crafting stories that confront the present, hold space for healing, and envision more humane and democratic futures.
The 2026 StudioLab presents two new works developed through the PETA Artist-Teacher Training program alongside two returning pieces from last year’s festival, including one created with a theater group from a community partner. The lineup will be presented in two sets, each featuring one new work and one restaged piece.
Set A: When Power Falls into Our Hands
In a classroom and a workplace, people discover how easily violence, corruption, and silence can become normalized. But when power falls into our hands, they also face a choice: to comply with the system or to interrupt it.
1. CLEANERS (New)
Playwright: Jhudiel Clare Sosa
Director: Julio Garcia
A group of senior high students discovers that their graduation depends not just on cleaning classrooms, but on how far they are willing to go when violence, power, and truth land in their hands.
The cast features James Pe Lim, James Lanante, Eli Namoc, Nyla Festejo, Meg Guiang, Csairus Habla, and Nickea Covar. Set and props are by Julio Garcia, with musical direction and sound design by Kabaitan Bautista.
2. MONIT-OH! MONIT-AH! (Restaging)
Playwright: Herlyn Alegre
Director: Norbs Portales
This forum theatre piece follows Jaylord, a rookie waiter hoping to win his boss’s favor through a Christmas monito-monita gift, only to uncover how seemingly harmless acts can feed into the larger, corrupt palakasan system—until one brave decision challenges the cycle.
The cast features Roi Calilong, Zoe Damag, Pia Viola, Reggie Ondevilla, Gino Ramirez, Ash Nicanor, and Moi Gealogo, with musical direction and sound design by Abigail Taniegra, choreography by Gio Gahol, and set and props by Patrick Jusay.
Set B: When Care Becomes Survival
In war-torn landscapes and communities living at the edge of disaster, care becomes something embodied—shared through faith, ritual, play, and collective endurance.
1. Tanghalang Bagong Sibol’s AT NAGKATAWANG-TAO ANG VERBO (Restaging)
Playwright: Mikaela Regis
Director: Anthony Cruz
In a small urban fishing community along Ilog Tullahan, religious icons and biblical imagery come alive—not as distant saints, but as reflections of the people themselves—revealing how faith becomes flesh in the daily struggle for dignity, livelihood, and hope.
The cast features the members of Tanghalang Bagong Sibol.
2. BAGA NG GUMUGUHONG LANGIT (New)
Playwright: Anj Heruela
Director: Ian Segarra
Amid the chaos of war, orphaned children fight to survive in a world that has forgotten them, seeking care from communities pushed to the fragile edges of survival.
The cast features Ada Tayao, Rona Manio, Rei Albert Milette, and Wade Robson, with musical direction and sound design by Tayao and set and props by Patrick Jusay.
The production will run from April 10 to 19 with the following schedule:
Set A
Fri, Apr. 10, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Fri, Apr. 10, 2026 – 7:00 PM
Sun, Apr. 12, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Sat, Apr. 18, 2026 – 7:00 PM
Sun, Apr. 19, 2026 – 7:00 PM
Set B
Sat, Apr. 11, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Sat, Apr. 11, 2026 – 7:00 PM
Sun, Apr. 12, 2026 – 7:00 PM
Sat, Apr. 18, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Sun, Apr. 19, 2026 – 2:00 PM
Tickets are priced at P700 per set and are available via Ticket2Me.
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