Teatro Pilipino was a resident drama company 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. ...
(CCP) from 1976 to 1987. It was founded by Filipino playwright, translator, director, and educator
Rolando S. Tinio
Rolando Santos Tinio (March 5, 1937 – July 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet, dramatist, director, actor, critic, essayist and educator."Philippine Theater", Nicanor G. Tiongson (ed.), CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Volume VII, 1994
Biograph ...
, 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 cultural development and support of the Filipino language through theater.
Teatro Pilipino popularized a number of classic masterpieces among Filipino audiences by translating them into Filipino. Tinio believed that by presenting these works in translation, he was translating the philosophies and ideologies behind those plays as well.
After a 1975 pilot season of two plays sponsored by the Department of Public Information and 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. ...
, the company was formally introduced as one of two resident drama companies of the CCP. After a change in government in 1986, the new CCP Management decided to abandon the drama companies, forcing Teatro Pilipino to move to a 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 curtain fell for the last time, after a performance of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' (Ikalabing-Dalawang Gabi). The play was produced as a showcase for Unang Tagpo (National Theater Festival).
Teatro Pilipino held annual summer workshops on acting, directing and stage management.
Notable productions
Plays by Filipino playwrights staged by Teatro include
Francisco Baltazar
Francisco Balagtas y de la Cruz (April 2, 1788 – February 20, 1862), commonly known as Francisco Balagtas and also as Francisco Baltasar, was a Filipino people, Filipino Tagalog people, Tagalog litterateur and poet during the Spanish colonial ...
’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.
Artists
See also
*
Tanghalang Pilipino Tanghalang Pilipino (''Philippine Theater'') is the leading exponent of Philippine theater and the resident drama company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines since its organization in 1987. It has successfully presented hundreds of production ...
External links
*
References
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Theatre companies in the Philippines