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.

RICKY DAVAO is back to make life miserable for INSIANG

Multi-awarded film, television, and stage actor RICKY DAVAO steps away from goody-goody roles and makes life miserable for INSIANG in the stage adaptation of Lino Brocka’s landmark film which goes back on stage at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Huseng Batute beginning November 16, 2007.

Ricky plays Dado, the lover of Insiang’s mother whose desires on her lead to misery, death and ultimately, revenge. Playing alongside Ricky is Sheenly Vee Gener as Insiang and Mailes Kanapi as her mother, Pacing.

Already the recipient of an Aliw Award for his role in Insiang, Ricky welcomes the chance to revisit the role. “It excites me to still find new things about the character,” he says, while admitting performing onstage is what he finds most fulfilling. “I really set aside time to do theater productions at least once a year.”

Also in the cast of INSIANG are Mae Paner, Peewee O’Hara, Paolo O’Hara, Roeder Camañag, Donnel Bolaños, Vanni Liwanag and the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company. Presented by Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, INSIANG is written by Mario O’Hara and directed by Chris Millado, with set design by Hesus “Bobot” Lota, lighting by Joey Nombres, sound design by Jethro Joaquin, and fight choreography by Jack Yabut.

INSIANG performances are at 8:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 3:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays from November 16 to December 2. For tickets and other information, call the CCP Boxk Office (832-3704), Ticketworld (891-9999), or Tanghalang Pilipino (832-2661), or visit www.brighteyedboys.com/insiang or http://www.tanghalangpilipino.com/.