Filipino Playwright Writes An Off-Broadway Play Halfway Around The World In Manila

For Dennis Posadas, a Manila based playwright and screenwriter, getting his play to the stage means sending it halfway around the world, to NYC.

"It's not ideal," said Posadas, "as you don't get real time feedback from the audience unless you stay up late or early and watch it on videoconference." His stage play, The Court Martial of Almirante Montojo, was read off-Broadway on West 45th Street last December 2017 at the Manhattan Repertory Theatre.

Posadas says it's not for everyone. "Obviously if I had written a play that had mostly Filipino characters, I would have probably done it in Manila," he said.

His play, The Court Martial of Almirante Montojo, is based on the true story of how US Admiral George Dewey came to the court martial aid of his defeated Spanish naval foe at Manila Bay, Almirante Patricio Montojo. "But in this case, I think it works well to do it here."

Posadas is raising funding to get the Montojo play fully produced off-Broadway this 2018. "The off-Broadway theatre district is perhaps the best place to launch a play anywhere. As Sinatra said, if you can make it there you can make it anywhere," he said.

Which just goes to show that NYC's theatre district isn't just for New Yorkers, but for anyone from around the world.

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