PETA Announces Line Up for its 47th Theater Season

Wazzup Pilipinas!

I grew very fond of watching theater plays ever since I got invited to my very first theater event by a publicist that wanted us to blog about it to help in the promotion. It was a very endearing night as I never realized it would mean staring at the stage for quite a long time admiring how the performers speak out their lines with passion. What was more remarkable was when I started to laugh at the hilarious scenes. It was strikingly surprising for me because there has never been a show that made me laugh that much. I am totally bored of Filipino movies, but I feel more than alive watching theater plays.

This is why I am always in the look-out for opportunities to cover theater performances. It may take several hours of seating, but the entire length seemed only seconds because you simply won't feel any boredom watching live performances. If I could only throw away the TV and setup a theater in my living room and make theater actors perform daily plays for me, then that would be worth subscribing to. Local TV channels sucks, cable TV channels dominates, but theater RULES!

This is why I was excited to hear about the  47th theater season announcement of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). When they recently announced it line-up for its 47th theater season at a press launch held at the PETA Theater Center located in New Manila last April 5, 2014, I knew it would be another great year.

I am so happy to learn that Rak of Aegis will be having a re-run. It is unfortunate I missed them last year since I was so busy with family priorities. My nights were so hectic that I keep on missing their scheduled performances.

At the 47th PETA Theater Season preview show, the cast performed a short scene of their play featuring the popular songs of Aegis.

This was live performances making it really impressive. They were wearing the Rak of Aegis shirts (wow! I need to have one of those for my collection).

The Rak of Aegis re-runs are scheduled from June 20 to August 31, 2014.

Also part of the line-up is the Florante at Laura Remastered - a Balagtasan battle inspired performance that infuses the classic text with gritty hip-hop humor and rippin' rhymes in a truly Filipino classroom setting.

The youth has its own peculiar new generation language that we really need to bring the mountain to them by modifying our plays to match their interest. Hip-hop and Rap is prevalent among the children of today that is why rapper singer Abra is popular and a teen sensation for many.

The Florante at Laura Remastered is scheduled on August 8 to September 20, 2014.

Another production to watch out for is PETA's adaptation of Anton Chekov's Cherry Orchard and this time the text will be set in the milieu of 1960's lavish Manila aristocracy.

Aside from the in-house productions, the PETA Theater Center will also be hosting several local and international events and art happenings like a collaboration with Japan Foundation to present Strong boy, Deaf Boy and a Girl in an Avaya, Dora Theater Company's Ayanasu (Woven), a partnership with the British Council Manila to present The Price of Everything aned There We Have Been, Janne Raudaskoski and Sammi Rannila's Waly Watthead and His Lost Glow.

PETA's three mobile productions of Christine Bellen's Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang and Batang Rizal, Ron Capinding's William, and are still on tour.

For more information, please check out PETA's official website at http://www.petatheater.com

The members of the media were able to ask a few questions from the key people behind PETA but it's quite hard for me to relate with the discussion since I was still not around last season, and has no background regarding their performances last year. Maybe throughout this season I would be able to learn more and be able to accurately share my thoughts with you soon.

As of now, I can't wait for my very first show at PETA. I've visited the PETA Theater Center before but only to watch the SHIT Improv performances and also participated in their one-day Improv workshop. It was an exhilarating experience to actually perform for an audience so I could imagine how theater actors feel on stage. Unlike movie or TV actors that can have retakes, theater actors have to know how to adlib and stray away from mental blocks. They also need to be team players so they can make each other shine since the success of a play will depend on the team effort.

Good luck to the 47th Theater season of PETA, and may it continue to flourish as we really need to promote Filipino theater talent to be appreciated more by our countrymen.