The document discusses the Philippine theater industry and prominent theater groups in the country. It provides an overview of major theater groups like PETA, Tanghalang Pilipino, Repertory Philippines, Trumpets, New Voice Company, and Philippine Opera Company. It also outlines key roles in a stage production such as the producer, director, playwright, set designer, lighting designer, costume designer, and others. Theater is described as bringing together various art forms in a single production. The Philippines has a rich theater scene featuring original plays and adaptations.
2. •Theater is the one major art form
that brings together all the other art
forms—from painting and sculpture,
to installation art, to music, to dance,
to literature, even to computer arts---
in single production.
3. •The Philippines has a rich and thriving theater
industry that you may be interested to venture
into in the future. Production range from original
plays with Philippine themes and settings, to
renowned theater classics from past centuries, to
contemporary musicals from Broadway or
London’s West End. Below is an overview of
some of the more prominent theater and
performing groups in the country and their major
productions.
4. Philippine Theater and Performing
Groups
• The Philippines has a rich and thriving theater
industry that you may be interested to venture
into the future. Productions range from original
plays with Philippine themes and settings, to
renowned theater classics from past centuries, to
contemporary musicals from Broadway or
London's West End.
5. PETA and Tanghalang Pilipino
• With the American presence in the Philippines for the first
half of the 20th century, it was inevitable that many US and
European theater forms and scripts found there way here.
Among them were the classics, such as the plays of William
Shakespeare, as well as the works of the great American
playwrights. At the same time, local theater groups staged
original Philippine zarzuelas which were plays performed in
son, similar to the European opera.
6. •In the past few decades, modern theater
groups have continued to express the
distinctly Philippine interpretation of both
originally-written plays as well as adaptations
of foreign works translated into Filipino.
7. •At the forefront of these are the Philippine
Educational theater Association (PETA),
founded in 1967 by Cesile Guidote-Alvarez,
and Tanghalang Pilipno, the resident
theater company of the Cultural center of
the Philippines, founded in 1987.
8. •The productions of these groups span the
range from daring new presentations of
classical works, to the spectacle of
Philippine myths and legends, to
commentaries on current social and
political issues.
9. •Meanwhile, other Philippine theater groups
are also staging original and adapted plays and
musical productions, primarily in English.
Best known among these are Repertory
Philippines, Trumpets, and New Voice
Company. More recently, theater Down South
has been added to their roster. And
championing the cause of the more classical
form of musical performances is the
Philippine Opera Company.
11. •In 1967, theater Zenaida Amador fulfilled her
dream of bringing the best of Broadway and
London’s West End to Filipino audiences.
Together with actress Baby Barredo, Amador
established Repertory Philippines, a company
that only staged English-language plays and
musicals year-round but trained actors and
actresses as well. The company continues with
this vision to this day.
12. •Multi awarded theater actress and singer, Lea
Salonga, in fact, began her career as a child
lead in productions of Repertory Philippines.
From there, she went on to become an
international stage superstar in the lead role
of Kim in Miss Saigon – putting the
Philippines on the world map in terms of
theater talent.
13. •In its 2009 season, Repertory added a
Filipino classic in English to its
productions – A Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino, by National Artist Nick Joaquin.
To date, it continues to offer a mix of
productions ranging from literary classics
to contemporary satires, comedies, and
musicals.
15. • In the 1990s, the Philippine theater group Trumpets
also began mounting grand productions of originally-
written musicals with a slant towards good values for
children and the whole family. Among their plays have
been Joseph the Dreamer; First Name; The Lion,
the Witch, and the wardrobe; Little Mermaid;
Honk; N.O.A.H.; and The Bluebird of
Happiness. The intention of Trumpets is to provide
wholesome theater experiences for Filipino youth
while also building up the Philippine theater-going
public.
17. •Also making its own distinct contribution to the
Philippine theater scene is New Voice Company,
established in 1994 by Monique Wilson—also a
Repertory Philippines’ protégée who went on to
star on the international stage. New voice has
earned a reputation for staging thought-provoking
productions on daring and deep topics.
19. • The Philippine Opera Company (POC) was
founded in 1999 by a group of dedicated
classically-trained singers, led by soprano Karla
Gutierrez as artistic directress. The POC seeks to
develop performers as well as audiences for
classical music performances, both foreign and
Filipino.
21. •In 2007, Theater Down South was
founded, with Philippine theater mainstay
Michael Williams as artistic director.
The vision of the company is to widen
the reach of stage production
23. PRODUCER
•The person who takes the play from mere
concept to an actual presentation. He or she
choose all the team members and assigns
them their functions, and oversees the
casting of the actors and actresses for he
different roles.
24. DIRECTOR
•Is the overall artistic coordinator of the
entire production. Like a conductor of an
orchestra, he or she has a vision of the
desired total effect and impact of the
performance.
25. PLAYWRIGHT
• For a script intended for stage performance, the
writer of the script is more specifically called a
playwright. The initial concept or plot may be
original, and then developed into a play script is
more script. Or it may be based on an existing
story or another play which the playwright will
then adapt to present in a new way.
26. SET DESIGNER
•The concept and creation of the physical
stage is the task of the set designer. He or
she builds the set (or sets) that will
simulate the world that the play’s
characters are supposed to live in.
27. LIGHTING DESIGNER
• Coordinating closely with the set designer is the
lighting designer. Lighting is critical in designing
the mood of each scene in the play, highlighting a
dramatic moment, signaling the entrance of a
character, focusing attention on a specific spot on
stage, or even providing the blanket of darkness
for set and prop changes.
28. COSTUME DESIGNER
•The actors and actresses must look
believable in their roles and much of this is
owed to the costume designer. He/She
studies the general setting (time and place)
that the play is meant to take place in, as well
as each character in the script.
29. SOUND DESIGNER
•Similar to the lighting designer, the
sound designer serves a vital role in
creating and enhancing the
atmosphere of the performance
30. PRODUCTION DESIGNER
•Similar to the lighting designer,
the sound designer serves a vital
role in creating and enhancing the
atmosphere of the performance
32. CHOREOGRAPHER
•Is included in the production team • he/she
not only plans out all the dance steps to suit
the music, but also rehearses the actor until
they are able to perform the dance skillfully
– while remaining “in character” on stage.
33. MAKE UP DESIGNER
•As the costume designer deliberates
on the characters’ main attire, the
makeup designer is brought in to
plan the hairstyles and makeup to
complement the costumes.
