Why PH theater needs to leave Metro Manila and go back to the regions 

IDEAfirst LIVE! resident director Tuxqs Rutaquio talks about touring theater, cultural awareness, and sustaining Filipino stories outside the capital.

Before long, The IdeaFirst Company will bring more “teatro” to “sitios” across the regions, fulfilling its promise of bridging Filipino narratives and local culture with wider creative audiences beyond the capital.

In an exclusive interview with radar Entertainment, IDEAfirst LIVE! resident director Tuxqs Rutaquio shared his excitement about touring theater in other regions, highlighting how it can educate, connect, and sustain communities by bringing people together.

“Gusto naming mag-educate. So, meron rin kaming ni-lineup na [gagawing] mga dula, tapos dadalhin namin sa mga regions,” he declared.

Transregional stages

When it comes to international or large theater productions, such as “Spring Awakening” or Boublil & Schönberg’s “Les Misérables,” Metro Manila takes center stage in housing the theater industry’s acclaimed actors and performances, yet it poses as a barrier for Filipinos far from the capital to enjoy and patronize the arts of acting.

“There [is] clamor from friends na nasa regions [na] hindi sila nakakapunta dito sa Maynila,” Rutaquio admitted.

Theater is often mistaken as mere entertainment, accessible only to those who can afford it. However, local stages across the Philippines, beyond Metro Manila, have long sung hymns of love and life through zarzuelas and bodabil and of heritage and struggle through comedias and senakulos.

“May isa actually na nanood ng ‘Anino [sa Likod ng Buwan]’ na galing pa ng Iloilo? Tapos dumating siya dito ta’s sakto diretso na siya ‘dun sa show. Umuwi rin siya after. ‘Yung parang, wow! Talagang inabala!’ Dapat talaga dalhin na natin.”

Sustaining the scene

The “About Us But Not About Us” play director said that promoting theater across regions is one of many ways to keep the theater industry alive in the Philippines at a time when short-form media consumption reigns true.

“Kasama rin kasi sa vision namin ‘yung awareness of who we are as Filipinos. Maganda ‘yung maging aware sa kamalayang Pilipino.”

The diverse stories in “Delia D.,” “Pingkian: Isang Musikal,” “Walang Aray,” “About Us But Not About Us,” and other local stage plays push Filipino narratives into their rightful limelight—both in engaging audiences toward social responsibility and conscientization and in affirming the Filipino as living art and culture amid the rise of artificial intelligence.

 

 

“Kasama rin kasi sa vision namin ‘yung awareness of who we are as Filipinos. Maganda ‘yung maging aware sa kamalayang Pilipino.”

Tuxqs Rutaquio

 

 

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