Teatro Pilipino
Encyclopedia
Teatro Pilipino was a resident drama company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines
(CCP) from 1976 to 1987. It was founded by Filipino playwright, translator, director, and educator Rolando S. Tinio, who also served as its Artistic Director.
The company was dedicated to producing world classics in translation as well as notable Filipino plays, as it aimed to promote the cultural development of the youth and of the Filipino language through theater.
Teatro Pilipino popularize a number of classic masterpieces of world theater among Filipino audiences by translating them into Filipino. Rolando S. Tinio believed that by translating these masterpieces for the Filipino audiences, he was also translating the philosophies and ideologies behind those plays as well. As such, the production of such plays serve as vehicles to intellectualize the Filipino audience.
After a 1975 pilot season of two plays sponsored by the Department of Public Information and the Cultural Center of the Philippines
, Teatro Pilipino was formally introduced as one of the two resident drama companies of the CCP. After a change in government in 1986, the new CCP Management decided to let go of its two resident drama companies, forcing Teatro Pilipino to move to its new home at the old Metropolitan Theater
(MET) at Lawton, near Downtown Manila.
After the death of its principal actor, Dame Ella Luansing-Tinio in 1991, the closing curtain fell for the last time, and fittingly on its take on William Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night (IKALABING-DALAWANG GABI). The play was produced as a showcase piece for the then ongoing Unang Tagpo: National Theater Festival hosted by the CCP.
The most notable productions of Teatro includes the maiden presentation of Bienvenido "Boy" Noriega's Bayan-Bayanan in 1975; Anton Chekhov
’s Tiyo Vanya (Uncle Vanya
), 1976; Alexei Arbusov’s Kawawang Marat (The Promise), 1976; Giuseppe Verdi
’s La Traviata, 1976; G. Bernard Shaw’s Santa Juana (St. Joan), 1977; Henrik Ibsen
’s Hedda Gabler
, 1977; Tennessee Williams
' Laruang Kristal (Glass Menagerie), 1979; William Shakespeare
’s Hamlet
, 1979; Albert Camus
’ Caligula, 1981; Shakespeare’s Romeo at Julieta (Romeo and Juliet
), 1981; Jean Anouilh
’s Antigone, 1982; Chekhov’s Seagull, 1982; Ugo Betti
’s Ang Reyna at ang Rebelde (The Queen and the Rebels), 1983; Bertolt Brecht
’s Ang Mabuting Tao ng Setzuan (The Good Woman of Setzuan), 1983; Euripides
’ Medea, 1988 and Shakespeare’s Makbet (Macbeth
), 1989.
Plays by Filipino playwrights staged by Teatro include Francisco Baltazar’s Orosman at Zafira (Orosman and Zafira), 1977; and those written by Tinio himself, such as May Katwiran ang Katwiran (Reason Has Its Reason), 1981, 1989; and Ang Babae sa Panitik (Women in Literature), 1991.
Teatro Pilipino also held annual summer workshops on acting, directing and stage management.
Artists who worked with Teatro Pilipino from 1976 to 1992 include Nestor U. Torre, Tony Mabesa, Ernie Garcia, Celeste Legaspi, Freddie Santos
, Tommy Abuel, Edgar Oira, Rey Malte-Cruz, Divina Cavestany, Marcelino Cavestany, Nomer Son, Naty-Crame Rogers, Adul de Leon, Rustica Carpio, Amable Quiambao, Frankie Aseniero, Angie Ferro, Nanding Josef, Chriss Michelena, Tess-Dumpit, Tony Espejo, and Victoria Tinio.
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines. The CCP was established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966 by President Ferdinand Marcos...
(CCP) from 1976 to 1987. It was founded by Filipino playwright, translator, director, and educator Rolando S. Tinio, who also served as its Artistic Director.
The company was dedicated to producing world classics in translation as well as notable Filipino plays, as it aimed to promote the cultural development of the youth and of the Filipino language through theater.
Teatro Pilipino popularize a number of classic masterpieces of world theater among Filipino audiences by translating them into Filipino. Rolando S. Tinio believed that by translating these masterpieces for the Filipino audiences, he was also translating the philosophies and ideologies behind those plays as well. As such, the production of such plays serve as vehicles to intellectualize the Filipino audience.
After a 1975 pilot season of two plays sponsored by the Department of Public Information and the Cultural Center of the Philippines
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines. The CCP was established through Executive Order No. 30 s. 1966 by President Ferdinand Marcos...
, Teatro Pilipino was formally introduced as one of the two resident drama companies of the CCP. After a change in government in 1986, the new CCP Management decided to let go of its two resident drama companies, forcing Teatro Pilipino to move to its new home at the old Metropolitan Theater
Manila Metropolitan Theater
The Manila Metropolitan Theater or MET is an art deco building designed by the Filipino architect Juan M. Arellano, and inaugurated on December 10, 1931, with a capacity of 1670...
(MET) at Lawton, near Downtown Manila.
After the death of its principal actor, Dame Ella Luansing-Tinio in 1991, the closing curtain fell for the last time, and fittingly on its take on William Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night (IKALABING-DALAWANG GABI). The play was produced as a showcase piece for the then ongoing Unang Tagpo: National Theater Festival hosted by the CCP.
The most notable productions of Teatro includes the maiden presentation of Bienvenido "Boy" Noriega's Bayan-Bayanan in 1975; Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
’s Tiyo Vanya (Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
), 1976; Alexei Arbusov’s Kawawang Marat (The Promise), 1976; Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
’s La Traviata, 1976; G. Bernard Shaw’s Santa Juana (St. Joan), 1977; Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
’s Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler
Hedda Gabler is a play first published in 1890 by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play premiered in 1891 in Germany to negative reviews, but has subsequently gained recognition as a classic of realism, nineteenth century theatre, and world drama...
, 1977; Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' Laruang Kristal (Glass Menagerie), 1979; William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
’s Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
, 1979; Albert Camus
Albert Camus
Albert Camus was a French author, journalist, and key philosopher of the 20th century. In 1949, Camus founded the Group for International Liaisons within the Revolutionary Union Movement, which was opposed to some tendencies of the Surrealist movement of André Breton.Camus was awarded the 1957...
’ Caligula, 1981; Shakespeare’s Romeo at Julieta (Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
), 1981; Jean Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
’s Antigone, 1982; Chekhov’s Seagull, 1982; Ugo Betti
Ugo Betti
Ugo Betti was an Italian judge, better known as an author, who is considered by many the greatest Italian playwright next to Pirandello....
’s Ang Reyna at ang Rebelde (The Queen and the Rebels), 1983; Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
’s Ang Mabuting Tao ng Setzuan (The Good Woman of Setzuan), 1983; Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
’ Medea, 1988 and Shakespeare’s Makbet (Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
), 1989.
Plays by Filipino playwrights staged by Teatro include Francisco Baltazar’s Orosman at Zafira (Orosman and Zafira), 1977; and those written by Tinio himself, such as May Katwiran ang Katwiran (Reason Has Its Reason), 1981, 1989; and Ang Babae sa Panitik (Women in Literature), 1991.
Teatro Pilipino also held annual summer workshops on acting, directing and stage management.
Artists who worked with Teatro Pilipino from 1976 to 1992 include Nestor U. Torre, Tony Mabesa, Ernie Garcia, Celeste Legaspi, Freddie Santos
Freddie Santos
Freddie Santos is a Filipino theatre and concert director.-Theatre career:Santos was born in Quezon City, Matro Manila. His early studies were at Lourdes School , Sacred Heart School and University of Southern Philippines...
, Tommy Abuel, Edgar Oira, Rey Malte-Cruz, Divina Cavestany, Marcelino Cavestany, Nomer Son, Naty-Crame Rogers, Adul de Leon, Rustica Carpio, Amable Quiambao, Frankie Aseniero, Angie Ferro, Nanding Josef, Chriss Michelena, Tess-Dumpit, Tony Espejo, and Victoria Tinio.