Dulaang UP Launches 46th Season: SIDHI'T SILAKBO

Manila, Philippines--Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Dulaang UP) celebrates women in its 46th season, which will be launched on November 23, 2023, at the IBG-KAL Theatre. The season titled SIDHI’T SILAKBO launches via a double-feature production of female narratives performed in monologues and masterclasses given by trailblazers in Philippine theatre.

SIDHI: This season launches DUP Studio, the company’s newest initiative in Philippine theatre education. Dulaang UP alumna, FAMAS Best Supporting Actress, and internationally acclaimed actress Dolly De Leon (BAFTA, Golden Globes, Los Angeles Film Critics nominations) will mentor a new breed of theatre talents in its first-ever master class, titled “Auditioning for a Role and Landing It," to be opened to the public

SILAKBO: DUP Artistic Director Issa Manalo Lopez and Virgin Labfest Festival Co-Director Tess Jamias will direct the production of SIDHI’T SILAKBO with five female actors: Shamaine Buencamino, Uzziel Delamide, Chic San Agustin, Wenah Nagales, and Adrienne Vergara in a collection of all-female monologues reimagined by writer Maynard Manansala from classical theatrical works. The production weaves women’s stories through spaces where women confront their realities and assert their choices of what is true, what is right, and what makes them happy.

The company will also restage the female-led “Kung Paano Nanalo Sa Karera Si Rosang Taba” in April 2024.

One of the season’s highlights is Dulaang UP’s collaboration with the International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) and Kolab Co. for a twin-billed staging of Layeta Bucoy’s “Ellas Inocentes” to be directed by Lopez and Eljay Castro Deldoc’s “Walang Bago sa Dulang Ito” to be directed by Jamias and Herbie Go in July 2024.

To Lopez, SIDHI’T SILAKBO (title of the season and its all-female season opener) celebrates the authenticity and validity of female realities. “It is an awakening, a breaking of the cycle, breaking stereotypes, of women liberating themselves through a series of performances of freedom, fury, wit, rage, love, and ruin. All fueled by their ferocity and frenzy,” she said--with reporting by Marc Stanley Mozo and Holden Kenneth Alcazaren.