As the country continues to grapple with historical revisionism and collective forgetting, Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Dulaang UP) responds with a theatre season that asks audiences to remember, reflect, and act.
For its 49th Theatre Season, Dulaang UP adopts the timely theme “Paano Umalala nang may Pag-alaga?”, drawing inspiration from Dr. José Rizal’s enduring call for civic responsibility and intervention. More than a celebration of theatre, the season serves as an invitation to protect the nation’s collective memory through storytelling, critical reflection, and radical care.
Coinciding with the 130th anniversary of Rizal’s death, Dulaang UP presents back-to-back productions inspired by the national hero’s revolutionary novels, Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. The milestone season continues the legacy of the company’s founding Artistic Director, National Artist for Theatre Tony Mabesa, who championed the reimagining of classic works to speak to contemporary struggles.
Rather than treating history as something confined to textbooks, Dulaang UP transforms the stage into a living archive where the past is continuously examined and reinterpreted. By bringing Rizal’s novels into conversation with present-day realities, the productions encourage audiences to confront the nation’s enduring social issues while recognizing theatre as a vital space for preserving cultural memory.
The season also reinforces Dulaang UP’s role as both an artistic institution and a training ground, where professional theatre practitioners and student artists collaborate to create works that bridge scholarship and performance. Through this process, theatre becomes a shared act of remembering, questioning, and imagining a more equitable future.
More than a century after they were written, Rizal’s novels remain strikingly relevant. Their depictions of systemic corruption, abuse of power, political opportunism, and civic complacency continue to mirror the realities of contemporary Philippine society. While colonial rulers have long disappeared, the structures of inequality and exploitation they exposed persist in new forms, making Rizal’s works as urgent today as they were during his lifetime.
The contrasting journeys of Crisostomo Ibarra and Simoun likewise continue to resonate. Ibarra’s faith in education, truth, and reform underscores the importance of critical thinking in an age marked by misinformation and historical distortion. Simoun’s descent into violent revolution, meanwhile, offers a cautionary reflection on what happens when peaceful avenues for justice are denied. Together, the novels challenge every generation to reject indifference and actively participate in shaping a more just nation.
Opening the season is Fiestas y Muertos, directed by José Estrella and based on National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario’s Filipino translation of Noli Me Tángere. The production reimagines Rizal’s classic through the opposing images of celebration and decay, juxtaposing the spectacle of public fiestas with the quiet realities of death, oppression, and societal collapse.
Estrella’s vision exposes how grand religious festivities become instruments that conceal poverty, corruption, and collective suffering in the fictional town of San Diego. Framed through ritual and symbolism, the production transforms the beloved novel into a haunting meditation on a society trapped in cycles of illusion and injustice, echoing Elias’ poignant warning about a people who may perish without ever witnessing the dawn.
The second production, Nitrogliserina, shifts the conversation toward revolution. Directed by Dexter M. Santos and written by Guelan Varela-Luarca, the new play draws inspiration from El Filibusterismo while imagining an alternate path beyond Rizal’s unfinished revolutionary vision.
As it examines the limits of reform, the collapse of oppressive systems, and the uncertain possibilities of liberation, Nitrogliserina asks a provocative question: What if the story history handed down was not the one the nation needed? The play explores the difficult cost of rebuilding a country after revolution and the fragile futures that emerge from dismantling entrenched power.
Fiestas y Muertos will run from October to November 2026, while Nitrogliserina is scheduled from February to March 2027. Both productions will be staged at the IBG-KAL Theatre in UP Diliman, featuring regular evening performances and weekend matinees.
Ticketing details will be announced soon. For sponsorship opportunities, block reservations, show-buying, and early ticket inquiries, interested groups may contact the Dulaang UP Marketing Team at [email protected] or follow Dulaang UP’s official social media platforms for updates.
