From February 21 to March 2, college students in Biñan City, Laguna are set to unleash their dramatic skills at the 6th Biñan Theater Arts Festival.
This festival, organized by the Biñan City Culture, History, Arts and Tourism Office (BCHATO), is part of the local agency’s celebration of Biñan Theater Arts Year from August 7, 2024 to August 7, 2025.
The Biñan Theater Arts Year, enacted through City Resolution No. 46-2024 on July 30, 2024, aims to provide a "unique opportunity" to celebrate and promote the performing arts, as well as to "encourage greater participation, support and appreciation for this important cultural sector that drive [sic] local economic and tourism movements."
Now in its 6th year, the Biñan Theater Arts Festival has exposed and nurtured local talents and culture-oriented groups towards the enhancement of artistic and cultural consciousness among theater groups in the Philippines.
What to see
Four theater groups from various colleges and universities in the Philippines will present their own productions during the festival, a mix of local and foreign acts that will not only entertain but also provoke a careful analysis into the past, present and future:
- “Pahimakas ng Isang Ahente” by the Tanghalang Michaelean (Saint Michael's College of Laguna)
A Filipino translation of Arthur Miller’s world-famous play “Death of a Salesman” by National Artist Rolando Tinio, “Pahimakas ng Isang Ahente” explores the issues of capitalism, family, mental health, and to what lengths a “padre de pamilya” will go to achieve a dream of a better life for himself and his family.
- “The Ladies and the Senator” by the Teatro Lasalyano - Laguna (De La Salle University Laguna Campus)
Set in the United States but with a clear Filipino flavor, National Artist Severino Montano’s “The Ladies and the Senator” revolves around the all-too-familiar themes of politics, sexuality, and corruption, as a group of ladies entice a corrupt Senator in the form of an award in order to gain the funds that he stole from the public coffers.
- “Luha ng Buwaya” by the Tanghalang Lakeshorean (Lake Shore Educational Institution)
Periodic, yet timeless, this stage adaptation of Amado V. Hernandez's novel “Luha ng Buwaya” is sure to resonate with present-day Filipinos with its central themes of class struggle and the greed of the ruling class, as a group of peasants unite against a ruling family in their barrio.
- “Sisidlan,” by the Perpetual Theater Collective (University of Perpetual Help System Laguna)
A local adaptation of Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka’s “The Strong Breed,” “Sisidlan” brings to life a teacher's efforts to protect a child from becoming a "scapegoat," who must carry away symbols of an African village's wickedness before being exiled. The play centers on the perpetual conflict of having to choose between fulfilling age-old traditions and becoming their “own” person, breaking the chains of misguided beliefs and customs.
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