LAST WEEKEND FOR KUDETA!

A coup has toppled the government and the President is held captive in an undisclosed location. Young military officers consolidate their position by trying to get the President to sign a document confessing to crimes he has committed against the nation. To regain power, the President must use everything in his possession.

Futuristic news headlines from the Philippines?

It’s an independent Trinidad and Tobago, the setting for Tanghalang Pilipino’s 2008 opening salvo, KUDETA! (The Coup), a “wickedly funny play” written by Mustapha Matura and directed by Floy Quintos from the Filipino translation by George de Jesus III.

Celebrated actor/writer/director Mario O’ Hara returns to the stage to star as President Eddie Jones, now facing the very same officers he sent for training in the Sandhurst Royal Military Academy. The Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company comprise the ensemble that play the coup plotters as well as the characters from past and present that inhabit the President’s life and dreams.

Playwright Mustapha Matura was born in Trinidad in 1939 and moved to London in 1961. In 1974, he was named The Most Promising Playwright by the Evening Standard and is now considered as one of the leading theater figures in Britain.

“The Coup” was commissioned by the Royal National Theater of Great Britain in 1991, enjoying great acclaim, with critics calling it an “untidy and intermittently very funny play about an evidently untidy and intermittently funny country,” making for a “knowing, affirmative and fun evening.”

KUDETA! (The Coup), written by Mustapha Matura with Filipino translation by George de Jesus III, will have its final weekend run with 8pm performances on Friday(February 1) and Saturday(February 2) and 3pm matinees on Saturday(February 2) and Sunday(February 3). The cast is headed by Mario O’Hara as President Eddie Jones, with the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors’ Company. Production Design by Tuxqs Rutaquio, Lighting Design by Dennis Marasigan, Sound Design by Janice Dee, and Direction by Floy Quintos.

Tickets at P500 (regular) and P250(student) are available at Ticketworld (891-9999), CCP Box Office (832-3704) and Tanghalang Pilipino (832-3661/832-1125 locals 1620 and 1621.) Visit the Tanghalang Pilipino website www.tanghalangpilipino.com.

HIMALA THE MUSICAL travels to Shanghai

Tanghalang Pilipino’s production of HIMALA, THE MUSICALE has been invited as the official Philippine entry to the Asian Contemporary Theater Festival in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China this November.

A moving story about faith and faithfulness, truth and delusion, HIMALA, THE MUSICALE is based on the landmark film by National Artist for Film Ishmael Bernal about a young woman, Elsa, who claims to have spoken to the Virgin Mary during an eclipse and begins to exhibit healing powers. Written by Ricky Lee with music and lyrics by Vincent de Jesus, the musical adaptation has won Aliw Awards for director Soxie Topacio and lead performer May Bayot, who plays Elsa.

Also in the cast of outstanding performers are Isay Alvarez (as the prostitute Nimia), Cynthia Culig Guico (as Chayong), Mia Bolaños (as Aling Saling), Lionel Guico (as Orly), Jay Cruz (as Pilo), Bong Embile (as Igmeng Bugaw), and the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors’ Company. Gino Padilla designs the production while Dennis Marasigan is Technical Director.

HIMALA, THE MUSICALE will be performed at the Drama Salon of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre at 7pm on November 22 and 23, 2007. Tanghalang Pilipino’s participation in the festival is made possible with the cooperation of the Philippine Consulate General in Shanghai.