The Tanghalang Pambansa ( en, National Theater), formerly Theater of Performing Arts, is a theater located in the
Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex in
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, Philippines.
It is the flagship venue and principal offices of the
Cultural Center of the Philippines
The Cultural Center of the Philippines ( fil, Sentrong Pangkultura ng Pilipinas, or CCP) is a government-owned and controlled corporation established to preserve, develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.Presidential Decree No. ...
. Designed by National Artist for Architecture
Leandro Locsin
Leandro V. Locsin (August 15, 1928 – November 15, 1994) was a Filipino architect, artist, and interior designer known for his use of concrete, floating volume and simplistic design in his various projects. An avid collector, he was fond of mo ...
, its design was based and expanded upon the unconstructed Philippine-American Friendship Center. The ''Tanghalan'' is a primary example of the architect's signature style known as the floating volume, a trait can be seen in structures indigenous to the Philippines such as the
nipa hut
The ''bahay kubo'', also known as ''payag'' (Nipon) in the Visayan languages and, is a type of stilt house indigenous to the Philippines. It often serves as an icon of Philippine culture. The house is exclusive to the lowland population of ...
. It houses three performing arts venues, one theater for film screenings, galleries, a museum and the center's library and archives. Being a work of a National Artist, the
brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
structure is qualified to be an important cultural landmark as stipulated in Republic Act No. 10066.
[Republic Act No. 10066 "Providing for the protection and conservation of the national cultural heritage, strengthening the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and its affiliated cultural agencies, and for other purposes". Full Text availabl]
here
/ref>
Construction began in 1966, with Alfredo Juinio
Alfredo Lazarte Juinio was a civil engineer, educator, and public official of the Philippines. He served as the dean of the College of Engineering of the University of the Philippines. Alfredo Juinio Hall, the building that houses the National En ...
serving as structural engineer and Filipino firm DM Consunji as the builder. Originally called the Theater of Performing Arts, it was completed and inaugurated in 1969. Its first major renovation occurred in 2005 for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 112th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; french: Union Interparlementaire, UIP) is an inter-parliamentary institution, international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and coop ...
held in Manila. Included in the renovation were cleaning and replacement of the marble trim, installation of a new air-conditioning system and new carpeting.
Architecture
The façade of the Tanghalang Pambansa is dominated by a two-storey travertine block suspended high by deep concave cantilevers on three sides. The rest of the structure is clad in concrete, textured by crushed seashells originally found on the reclamation site. The building is built on a massive podium, and entry is through a vehicular ramp in front of the raised lobby and a pedestrian side entry on its northwest side. In front of the façade and below the ramp, there is an octagonal reflecting pool with fountains and underwater lights. On the main lobby, three large Capiz-shell chandeliers hang from the third floor ceiling, each symbolizing the three main geographical divisions of the Philippines: Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, Visayas
The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
and Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. At the orchestra entrance, a brass sculpture, ''The Seven Arts'' by Vicente Manansala
Vicente Silva Manansala (January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981) was a Filipino cubist painter and illustrator.Endaya, Imelda Cajipe (artist and independent curator) and Cecilia B. Rebong (Philippine Consul-General). ''"Pamana: Modernong Sining"' ...
welcomes the audience into the main theater. From the pedestrian entrance, Arturo Luz
Arturo Rogerio Dimayuga Luz (November 26, 1926 – May 26, 2021) was a Filipino visual artist. He was also a known printmaker, sculptor, designer and art administrator.
A founding member of the modern Neo-realist school in Philippine art, he r ...
's ''Black and White'' is displayed as spectators enter the little theater or ascend to the main lobby through a massive carpeted spiral staircase. Most of the interior is lit artificially, as there are few windows, most of which are located along the sides of the main lobby. Large areas on the upper floors are open to the ground floor lobby, emphasizing the large chandeliers and fluid interior spaces on northeast side of the building. Galleries and other rooms surround these open areas, occupying the space created by the huge cantilevered block. Whenever possible, the walls surrounding these rooms are used as additional venues for displaying art works.
Much of the criticism of the building's architecture is directed towards its vehicular ramp. Since there are usually no valet services or parking areas directly accessible from the lobby entrance, the ramp's use is ideal only for audience members who are chauffeur-driven; at the expense of pedestrians, who may enter through the side entrance or a narrow (and potentially hazardous) pathway on the ramp. In defense of the design, Andy Locsin (a partner of his father's firm) explained that the decision of raising the whole structure on the podium (and consequently, the addition of the ramp) was in response to the high sea levels on the reclaimed land, and was not intended to promote an elitist view of art and culture.
Venues
The or the Main Theater is the largest performance venue inside the ''Tanghalang Pambansa''. It can accommodate up to 1,815 people in four levels: orchestra, boxes, and two balconies. The stage is from the main curtain line to the back wall and from the left wall to the right. The proscenium
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
opening has a height of and width of . A deep orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
contains two elevators that can accommodate up to 62 musicians. The stage floor, unwaxed and painted matte-black (originally not stained), is made from a species of Philippine Mahogany Philippine mahogany is a common name for several different species of trees and their wood.
* Botanically, the name refers to '' Toona calantas'' in the mahogany family, Meliaceae. It is endemic to the Philippines.
* In the US timber trade, it is o ...
.[Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo: Technical Rider. Cultural Center of the Philippines. Retrieved 28 October 2011 Full Text availabl]
here
The main stage curtain is patterned after the painting ''Genesis'', a work of National Artist Hernando Ocampo. A variable acoustics hall designed by Bolt, Beranek and Newman
Raytheon BBN (originally Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.) is an American research and development company, based next to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown ...
, the Main Theater was planned for flexibility. It was built to accommodate sound requirements of various types of presentations, and can typically hold opera and orchestra performances without further amplification. New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
critic Howard Taubman
Hyman Howard Taubman (July 4, 1907 – January 8, 1996) was an American music critic, theater critic, and author.
Biography
Born in Manhattan, Taubman attended DeWitt Clinton High School and then won a four-year scholarship to Cornell University, ...
praised the theater's acoustical flexibility in his review of the center's opening night, writing that the architect and his team seem to have built a venue "that will be equally congenial for drama, instrumental and vocal music and dance."
The or the Little Theater, inaugurated a few years after the opening of the main theater, is a conventional proscenium stage, designed for drama, chamber music, solo recitals, lectures, and film screenings. It seats 413 people in one orchestra section. From the main curtain line to the back wall, the stage measures with a proscenium width of and features the same Mahogany flooring as the larger Main Theater. A covered orchestra pit extends into the apron gives additional performance space, similar to a thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performe ...
.[Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino: Technical Rider. Cultural Center of the Philippines. Retrieved 28 October 2011 Full Text availabl]
here
The stage curtain is a tapestry woven in Kyoto
Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, based on a painting of Roberto Chabet
Roberto "Bobby" Rodríguez Chabet (March 29, 1937 - April 30, 2013) was an artist from the Philippines and widely acknowledged as the father of Philippine conceptual art.
Career
Chabet studied architecture at the University of Santo Tomas where h ...
, visual artist and former director of the CCP Museum. When unfolded, the curtain acts as a natural sound reverberation medium.
The Tanghalang Pambansa has a lone black box theater
A black box theater is a simple performance space, typically a square room with black walls and a flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interaction. The black ...
named or the Studio Theater, after the pseudonym of Filipino poet José Corazón de Jesús
José Cecilio Corazón de Jesús y Pangilinan (November 22, 1894 – May 26, 1932), also known by his pen name Huseng Batute, was a Filipino poet who used Tagalog poetry to express the Filipinos' desire for independence during the American occu ...
. Depending on the size of the stage or acting area, it can seat up to 240 people in two levels. The 100-seat or the Dream Theater, a joint project of the CCP and Dream Broadcasting, is used as a venue for film screenings and lectures; and has the capability to receive and show films directly through satellite.
Exhibit halls
The Tanghalang Pambansa has three exhibit halls and another three hallways that can be used for displaying artwork. The largest exhibition space is the , which serves as the Main Gallery. Located on the third floor, it has a floor area of . Two smaller galleries are named after Filipino painters Fernando Amorsolo
Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (born Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto; May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes. Nicknamed the "Grand Old Man of Philippine Art," he was the first-ever to be recognized as a N ...
and Carlos Francisco
Carlos Domingo Francisco Serrano (born 22 May 1990) is a Cuban international footballer who plays for Santiago de Cuba, as a left back.
Club career
Francisco plays his club football for hometown side Santiago de Cuba.
International career
He mad ...
. The latter is usually used for large scale installations and is located at the lobby of the Little Theater. Hallways lining the Main Theater on the upper three storeys are also used for display and measure high by wide each. These spaces are named after visual artists Victorio Edades
Victorio Candido Edades (December 23, 1895 – March 7, 1985) was a Filipino painter. He led the revolutionary Thirteen Moderns, who engaged their classical compatriots in heated debate over the nature and function of art. He was named a Nat ...
, Guillermo Tolentino
Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (July 24, 1890 – July 12, 1976) was a Filipino sculptor and professor of the University of the Philippines. He was designated as a National Artist of the Philippines for Sculpture in 1973, three years before his de ...
and Vicente Manansala
Vicente Silva Manansala (January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981) was a Filipino cubist painter and illustrator.Endaya, Imelda Cajipe (artist and independent curator) and Cecilia B. Rebong (Philippine Consul-General). ''"Pamana: Modernong Sining"' ...
.
Established in 1988 the ''Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino'', also called the CCP Museum, is an integrated humanities museum that studies, collects and preserves Filipino artistic traditions. It has two permanent exhibitions: one on Filipino tradition, art and aesthetics; and the other showcasing the CCP's collection of traditional Asian musical instruments. The museum also presents special changing exhibitions, provides curatorial assistance, and organizes workshops on indigenous art forms.
In popular culture
* The main theater lobby features in Eraserheads
Eraserheads (sometimes stylized as ERASƎRHEADS or ƎRASƎRHƎADS) are a Filipino alternative rock band formed in 1989. With a line-up comprising Ely Buendia, Buddy Zabala, Marcus Adoro, and Raimund Marasigan, the band became one of the most ...
' music video for their 1997 single, "Spoliarium".
* Various venues inside the theater were featured in Itchyworms
The Itchyworms is a Filipino rock band. The band is composed of Jazz Nicolas on drums, Jugs Jugueta on guitars, Kelvin Yu on bass guitars and Chino Singson on lead guitars. The group made their name in the OPM (Original Pilipino Music) scene in ...
' music video for their song, "Di Na Muli". The video was shot as a tribute to lighting designer Teodoro Hilado, who served as technical director of the CCP from 1969 to 1973.
References
{{authority control
Theaters in Manila
Opera houses in the Philippines
Buildings and structures in Malate, Manila
Leandro Locsin buildings
Theatres completed in 1969
Brutalist architecture in the Philippines