PETA’s ambitious prospects for 47th season

After the stunning success of the Philip- pine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA) Rak of Aegis last January, it opens its 47th Theater Season with the return of the rock-comedy musical that was the hit of the past season. Who can forget the Aegis favorites like Halik, Sinta and the most popular Basang Basa sa Ulan? Small wonder, requests for a re-showing started arriving at PETA and the result is a repeat showing of 67 shows from June 20 to Aug. 31.

According to CB Garrucho, president of PETA, most of the shows have already been sold. Such was the reputation of Rak of Aegis so that although we had already watched it last season, we will fall in line for this season.

When we watched last January, we marveled at how the Aegis songs from the ’80s and ’90s had been seamlessly integrated into a story of hope and resilience by PETA’s talented Liza Magtoto under the direction of Maribel Legarda. The cast included Isay Alvarez and husband Robert Seña who will forever be identified with the British musical Miss Saigon. Oth- erwise, all others went through auditions like Aicelle Santos, Kakai Bautista, Myke Solomon and Jerald Napoles.

Next in line is Florante at Laura Remastered, which infuses new age originality into the classic story of Francisco Balta- zar (known as Balagtas) while remaining true to the spirit of the master. Florante at Laura was written in 1838 with its timeless lessons of justice, understanding and acceptance of multiple religions, bravery and faithfulness to a life-long partner. Written as an epic poem, it is considered one of the masterpieces of Philippine literature, translated in Eng- lish as “The History of Florante and Laura in the Kingdom of Albany: Adapted from Historical Records of the Early Years of the Grecian Empire, and given rhythm and verse in the Tagalog language.”

Balagtas as Florante with his love Laura from the Kingdom of Albania, and Aladdin and Flerida from the Kingdom of Persia learn to live in peace and harmony by the end of the story.

The 2014 version from PETA’s Florante at Laura infuses classic text with hip-hop humor and rippin’ rhymes. Written by Anj Heruela and directed by Ian Segarra, it stars private schooler Victor and street vendor Ronbert in search of their own voice. It will be staged from Aug. 8 to Sept. 20, at the Springs Production Studios, which represents still another innovation from PETA to make use of venues other than the PETA Phinma Theater. PETA’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard has been set on Jan. 30 to March 15, 2015. Milieu is that of Manila aristocracy in the ’60s. Adaptation is by Obie- awardee production designer Loy Arcenas. The production will mark PETA’s first collaboration with inde- pendent film director Loy Arcenas.

Perhaps the biggest change in PETA’s programming is the intro- duction of international partner- ships for the 47th season. On July 26, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., the twin-bill production about adversity, hope and triumph will be presented by the PETA Theater Center and Japan Foundation Manila. Strong Boy, Deaf Boy and a Girl in an Abaya was PETA’s production way back in 2001 written by Nicolas Pichay, and directed and choreographed by Dudz Terana. It was presented in Norway, Greece, the Netherlands and France.

Today, this same story is told in silence. The Dora Theater from Japan presents a family’s journey from disaster to loss to hope in Ayanasu (meaning “woven”), directed by Kenjiro Orani, also told in silence. We find this introduction of non-verbal films as something com- pletely new to the Filipino market. It is a risk PETA and its partners are taking today.

The British Council and PETA offerings of The Price of Everything and There We Have Been have the former asking many questions without necessarily expect- ing answers, and the latter gaining inspiration from troubled relationships.

From Finland, we are given Wally Watthead and his Lost Glow, which will have kids shouting for more of the magic tricks on stage as Wally shrinks, levitates and grows on stage.

(E-mail your comments to [email protected] or text me at 0917-8991835.)