Moliere PMS: A Hilarious Mix of Hypocrisy and Honesty

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Egg Theater Co together with the PARC Foundation and Pineapple Lab presents Moliere PMS, a fusion of three Moliere play adaptations: Praning (The Imaginary Invalid), Maniacal (The Learned Ladies), and Schism (The Misanthrope) on October 1 & 2 at PARC Foundation, 494 Lt. Artiaga St., San Juan City and at Pineapple Lab, 6071 Palma Street, Rockwell on October 7-9 and October 14-16.

Transporting Moliere’s French Society to an imagined theater world that serves as a microcosm of Philippine society, the fusion of the three plays is a satirical comedy that pokes a searing look at the foibles and travails of theater artists divided and polarized by the ills of hypocrisy and pretentiousness.

Adapted and directed by Palanca award-winning playwright, George de Jesus III, the three plays have all been separately staged before: Praning in 2012 as a thesis production of Technical Theater and Production Design Program of the School for Design and Arts of the DLSU College of Saint Benilde, Maniacal and Schism by the Egg Theater Co as part of the Fringe Manila Festival in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Moliere PMS centers on Alex, a playwright whose anger at the pretentiousness of the people around him, compels him to consider quitting theater. Helen, an actress and Alex’s best friend, tries to dissuade him by making him remember why he fell in love with theater in the first place. As they argue and discuss while waiting for a show (an adaptation of Moliere’s The Misanthrope directed by upcoming director, Don) they are watching a second time to begin, Alex’s thoughts manifest on stage as a reenactment of his own adaptations of Moliere’s The Learned Ladies (Maniacal) and The Imaginary Invalid (Praning).

Ateneo Blue Repertory Presents “Real-Life Fairytales” A Musical Scene-Cycle From Sept 20 – Oct. 1

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Ateneo Blue Repertory presents “Real Life Fairytales”, a blueREP original play, for it’s 25th Season Premiere. Real-Life Fairytales is a series of six unique vignettes about how fantastical real life can be, or alternately, how fantasy isn’t so different from real life. Contemporary issues such as mental health, body image, and drug use are examined through the lens of the magical and unusual.

This musical scene-cycle is written and musically directed by a homegrown blueREP talent, Ejay Yatco; who is a composer, musical director and pianist. In 2013, he represented the Philippines in the World Championship of the Performing Arts where he made it to the top 3 and took home a gold and three silver medals. He was also nominated twice for Best Musical Direction and once for Best Music at the BroadwayWorld.com Awards. Lastly, he composed and arranged music for well-known companies such as City of Dreams, PNB, Resort's World, Bonanza Foods, Pepsodent, Pepsi, SM, Arlington and IBPAP.

Alongside Ejay Yatco, Real-Life Fairytales is directed by Missy Maramara who is a renowned instructor in the Theater Arts Program of the Ateneo's Department of Fine Arts. She holds an MFA in Drama (Performance) from the University of Arkansas (Fayetteville), through the International Fulbright Scholarship program. Since her return to the Ateneo in 2014, she has directed several plays: blueREP's "Urinetown", Upstart Productions' "Gruesome Playground Injuries", Ateneo Fine Arts' "Iphigenia and Other Daughters", "Authorial Intent" and "The Sound of a Voice". Aside from drecting, she has also served the theater community through performing in several productions. The most recent are Ateneo Fine Arts' "Purgatorio", Dulaang UP's "The Dressing Room", Ikarus' "It's April What Are We Doing Here", and New York United Solo Festival's "Clytemnestra". 

September To Be Declared as Month for National Truth-Telling on Martial Law?

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Two days before the country commemorates the declaration of Martial Law, Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros filed a joint resolution calling on the government to declare the month of September of every year as a time for national truth-telling, reflection, and reconciliation.

Hontiveros, who was joined by student council leaders from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), University of the Philippines (UP), De La Salle University (DLSU) and Adamson University, said that there is a strong need to tell the truth about Martial Law and protect the country's history from revisionists who want to paint a rosy picture of the dictatorship and absolve the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos of his crimes against the people.


"Don't let Marcoses steal again"

"Huwag natin hayaan na pagnakawan tayong muli ng mga Marcoses. Huwag natin payagan na nakawin nila ang ating kasaysayan at katotohanan," Hontiveros said.

("We must not allow the Marcoses to steal from us again. We must not allow them to rob us of our truth and sense of history.")

Hontiveros' resolution, whose counterpart in the House of Representatives is authored by Akbayan Rep. Tom Villarin, urges all schools and other educational institutions to conduct month-long educational activities to commemorate the declaration of Martial Law and educate the youth of the democratic values and practices the nation adheres to and experiences today in contrast to the dictatorial regime installed by Marcos more than 40 years ago.

The first-term Senator explained that her proposal for a "truth-telling month" is consistent with the provision of Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013, which authorizes the government to implement the mandatory teaching of Martial Law history at all levels of education. She however lamented that three years have already passed since the passage of the law, the government's educational institutions have not yet included the teaching of Martial Law history in the basic, secondary, and tertiary education.

Hontiveros also renewed her opposition to the government's plan to bury the remains of Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. She said the proposal is "the ultimate act of airbrushing history in favor of the Marcoses."

"I call on the Duterte administration to implement the mandatory teaching of Martial Law history to students as provided for by RA 10368 and abandon its plan to give Marcos a hero's burial," Hontiveros said.