MARY STUART and THE THREEPENNY OPERA Cited Best Plays of 2009

Philippine Daily Inquirer writer and theater critic Gibbs Cadiz cites local productions of Friedrich von Schiller's "Mary Stuart" and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's "The Threepenny Opera" as best plays of 2009 in his annual "Bravo! Best of Theater" roundup.

Stage actress Ana Abad Santos, who essayed the role of Mary Stuart in the recent staging by Dulaang U.P. (the official theater organization of the University of the Philippines), is named Best Actress in a Play.  Singer/actress Bituin Escalante, who played Pirate Jenny in World Theater Project's short-lived revival of "The Threepenny Opera," is mentioned Best Featured Actress in a Musical. 

Dulaang U.P.'s production of "Mary Stuart" is based on the Donmar Warehouse production directed by Phyllida Lloyd, starring Janet McTeer as Mary Stuart and Harriet Walter as Queen Elizabeth I, which opened on Broadway April 19, 2009 and ran for four months.  It had Tony Award nominations including Best Revival of a Play. 

On the other hand, university professor and stage director Anton Juan helmed "The Threepenny Opera," which is basically a satire of the opera as intended by Brecht and Weill. The material paradoxically delves into the most urgent, serious issue of poverty and corruption.  At least seven productions of "The Threepenny Opera" have been mounted on Broadway and Off-Broadway since 1933.

Cadiz also cites the following productions and performing artists in his theater review roundup:

"Doc Resureccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan" - Best One Act Play; Jonathan Tadioan (Doc Resureccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan) - Best Actor in a Play; Dido dela Paz (A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino) - Best Featured Actor in a Play; Peewee O' Hara (Apples from the Desert) - Best Featured Actress in a Play; Audie Gemora (Sweeney Todd) - Best Actor in a Musical; Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (Sweeney Todd) - Best Actress in a Musical; and Marvin Ong (Sweeney Todd) - Best Featured Actor in a Musical.

Read full article HERE.