State of the Stage 2025: Manila’s Upcoming Theater Scene
A total of 12 productions (41 if you count each one-act play in a festival as 1) have been announced so far!
2024 was a busy year, to say the least. My personal watch tally clocked in at a total of 76 shows, up from 66 last year. In case you were curious about my meticulous counting method, I treat each play in a festival as one, include theater-centric concerts, and exclude rewatches or reruns within the same year. My theater colleagues and I take this process far more seriously than we should. LOL
The past year featured reinvigorated restagings, exciting new works from emerging groups, and standout productions from our beloved Philstage companies. You can read more about them in TFM’s Theater Year-Ender 2024: Highlights of the Philippine Stage.
For now, here’s a rundown of the shows announced for 2025 so far:
Returning Shows
Repertory Philippines will bring back the Off-Broadway musical I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, this time at the new REP Eastwood Theater. The show previously ran from June 14 to July 6, 2024, at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium. Returning cast members Gian Magdangal, Krystal Kane, Gabby Padilla, and Marvin Ong, along with Barbara Jance as the female swing, will reprise their roles. Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and her creative team will also return for this rerun, which will be staged from February 14 to March 9, 2025.
CAST PH’s Othello will also make a comeback, running from March 7 to 9 and March 14 to 16, 2025, at The Mirror Studios. Following its sold-out run last October, the production features Tarek El Tayech as Othello, Gab Pangilinan as Desdemona, Reb Atadero as Iago, Maronne Cruz as Emilia, Davy Narciso as Cassio, Rafael Jimenez as Roderigo, Dippy Arceo as Bianca, MC Dela Cruz as the Duke of Venice/Lodovico, Jaime Del Mundo as Brabantio, and Nelsito Gomez as Montano. Gomez will also once again helm the production, supported by the original creative team.
PETA’s Control + Shift: Changing Narratives festival, which launched last year, is back with a new lineup. The festival will feature encore presentations of Melvin Lee’s Kumprontasyon, Dominique La Victoria’s Kislap at Fuego, and Mixkaela Villalon’s Children of the Algo, along with eight one-act plays making their debut. It will run from February 6 to 23, 2025, at the PETA Theater Center.
New Offerings
To kick off 2025, CAST PH’s annual staged reading festival returns for its fifth season this January. Spanning four weeks, the event keeps the titles of the plays a mystery until just before each show begins, encouraging audiences to experience them as a thematic whole. This year’s theme, Theoria Omnium (Theory of Everything), centers on scientific drama. Cast members include Dolly de Leon, Sue Ramirez, Jenny Jamora, and many more. Performances are scheduled every Sunday from January 12 to February 2 at The Mirror Studios.
The Sandbox Collective is set to stage a production of the musical Next to Normal at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater in February 2025. Directed by Managing Artistic Director, Toff De Venecia, with Ejay Yatco as Musical Director, and Stephen Viñas as Choreographer, the cast features Shiela Valderrama and Nikki Valdez alternating as Diana Goodman, OJ Mariano and Floyd Tena alternating as Dan Goodman, Sheena Belarmino and Jam Binay alternating as Natalie Goodman, Benedix Ramos and Vino Mabalot alternating as Gabe Goodman, Omar Uddin and Davy Narciso as Henry, and Jef Flores as Dr. Madden.
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Its sister company 9 Works Theatrical will debut Liwanag sa Dilim, a new original Filipino musical featuring the music of Rico Blanco. Written and directed by Artistic Director Robbie Guevara, the show opens in March 2025 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of RCBC Plaza. Casting details have yet to be announced.
Tickets are available via Ticket2Me. You can find the announcement below.
Tanghalang Pilipino will stage Kisapmata, adapted from Mike de Leon’s film and Nick Joaquin’s The House on Zapote Street, from March 7 to 30, 2025, at Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. Directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca, the production stars the senior members of the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company– Jonathan Tadioan, Marco Viaña, Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan, and Toni Go-Yadao. The play is the company’s 38th season finale. Tickets can be reserved through Tanghalang Pilipino’s Google Form.
Jun Robles Lana’s Anino Sa Likod ng Buwan will return to the stage after 30 years, marking IdeaFirst Live!’s debut. The play will run in March 2025 at the PETA Theater Center, directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio and starring Elora Españo, Ross Pesigan, and Martin del Rosario. Tickets are available via Ticket2Me.
Ballet Philippines will present Ang Panaginip, an original Filipiniana full-length ballet, from February 28 to March 2, 2025, at the CCP Main Theater. The company says that audiences can expect “…a not-so-conventional fairytale showcasing the reasons to celebrate the multi-hyphenate Filipina, while illuminating the allure and richness of Philippine culture.” Tickets are available via Ticketworld.
Newport World Resorts’ next original production is Delia D: A Dragtastic Musical, a jukebox musical featuring the songs of songwriter and music producer Jonathan Manalo. Featuring Phi Palmos, the show opens in April 2025 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater. Additional casting and other information will be announced soon.
Kids Acts Philippines’ Maria Makiling The Musical, a Philippine mythological tale adapted from the story of Dr. Jose Rizal, continues its run until April 2025 at St. Cecilia’s Hall, St. Scholastica’s College, Manila. Written by Luigi Nacario (book and lyrics) and Eugene Belbis (music and orchestrations), this adaptation is directed by Meldrig Costuna. Tickets are available at the venue.
Finally, CCP’s annual Virgin Labfest (VLF) returns with 12 new untried, untested, and unstaged plays including three plays from this year’s VLF as part of the Revisited Set– Pagkapit sa Hangin by Joshua Lim So, Identité by Jhudiel Clare Sora, and Sa Babaeng Lahat by Elise Santos.
You can watch the online announcement below.
Stay tuned to TFM as companies continue to announce their line-ups for 2025!
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