Theater journalist Frida Tan sounds alarm over AI use in PH stage

Theater community voices concern over AI-generated musicals, creative jobs and human authorship.

Artificial intelligence has entered the Philippine theater scene, and theater journalist Frida Tan is sounding the alarm over what she sees as a growing threat to human creativity and creative jobs.

In a viral Facebook post, Tan said “troubling patterns” are beginning to emerge as new theater groups reportedly produce original musicals without human composers.

“AI has entered the theater,” Tan wrote. “I have realized that now is not the time to be mincing words.”

Tan is the founder and managing director of TheaterFansManila.com (TFM), a digital publication and community dedicated to Philippine performing arts. Through TFM, she has spent years documenting the local theater industry through news, reviews, interviews and features while helping connect productions with audiences.

Her work has also placed her at the center of conversations surrounding authorship, attribution, creative rights and labor in theater.

“The most glaring sign of this is that new musicals produced by new groups are starting to emerge without a human composer,” Tan said, adding that she has seen the practice extend beyond a single organization.

Her concern is that generative AI could provide technological shortcuts to producing shows while eliminating work traditionally performed by composers, lyricists and other creative professionals.

Tan called on institutions including the Metropolitan Theater, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Philstage and theater venues to exercise greater scrutiny over productions.

“They MUST safeguard our artists. They MUST interrogate and ask for the FULL CREATIVE TEAM behind each and every production,” she wrote.

Tan also revealed that TFM has become more cautious when receiving pitches from unfamiliar theater groups, particularly when basic questions about composers, lyricists and creative teams become difficult to answer.

“Why does asking for the creative team of a musical suddenly feel like pulling teeth?!” she asked.

Her post quickly drew support from members of the theater community.

Theater practitioner Jamie Esteva Wilson said she would remain vigilant before joining productions, writing: “In an art form that is based on truth, I cannot and will not support anything artificial.”

Singer and theater artist Kakki Teodoro also shared Tan’s post, declaring that “AI in theater is an attack on our humanity & creativity.” Gab Pangilinan thanked Tan for speaking out, while Alvin Trono welcomed the discussion the post had opened.

Tan acknowledged that theater media organizations can choose which productions to cover, but argued that editorial decisions alone cannot protect artists from irresponsible AI use.

Without strong unions or guilds capable of protecting creative workers, she said cultural institutions, venues and government agencies must step in.

“If we accept this as a society, we risk allowing our humanity to die little by little,” Tan wrote.

For an art form built around live human presence, Tan believes the question is no longer whether AI will eventually reach Philippine theater.

It already has.

“We need policy,” she concluded. “We need intervention.”

READ: