The Philippine Educational Theater Association’s building, located behind the Quezon City Sports Club, has been in use since 2005.
Eight years after it opened, the PETA Theater Center has become one of Manila’s hottest theatre venues. It is not only because of what the 36-year-old organization has staged there, including recent long-running productions such as Caredivas, and the 2012 play Bona, a stage version of the Lino Brocka film.
A Sugarfree jukebox musical by the organizers of the upcoming Manila Fringe Festival, Sa Wakas, played to packed houses all throughout April, and in March the Center played host to a concert version of Himala: The Musical. Playing host to all these productions is part of its efforts to build a wider community around its building—and beyond.
But there is one space few people have actually been to, unless they were PETA’s guests for a reception or event. The Roofdeck is an open-air space on the top of the Theatre Center, and your correspondent can confirm that it is indeed a great place to gather and celebrate. Imagine, however, being there for SPIT—the Silly People’s Improv Theater—and taking part in their brand of comedy.
“We’ve always shared talent [with PETA]…” Gabe Mercado, SPIT’s founder and artistic director, told Coconuts Manila, “so there’s always been a good friendship with them.” Mercado was approached by PETA about taking part in a new Roofdeck Series. “[It] was a spin-off from a series of events we did way back in the summer of 2007 and 2008,” said Hazel Gay Balignasay, PETA’s account manager for the Business Development Unit.
The series, called Midsummer Nyts, was PETA’s way of holding fun events during the lean summer months.
Using the Center’s PETA-Phinma Theater beyond the usual season of plays became a recent priority for the organization, and a fundraising concert by Noel Cabangon, was the first activity held under the “Theatre Center Presents” series.
“We also had to think of other ways we can promote other activities in the Center,” Balignasay said. And it was this that led to SPIT coming unto the Roofdeck for its first Quezon City area performance in a long time, on the 15th of May.
The company once shared a regular venue with the nearly-four-year-old Geek Fight! Trivia Nights, founded by a music writer and comic book fan, and now run by a small group known as the Committee, and known for its often competitive but light-hearted atmosphere. Geek Fight was taken on board on Mercado’s recommendation.
Dante Gagelonia, one of the organizers, told Coconuts Manila about their new space, “There’s plenty of space on the Roofdeck, and it’s easily reconfigurable depending on PETA’s needs.” It could accommodate the tables for six needed to host a Geek Fight, and Gagelonia is confident that the location could draw new participants to the Quiz Nights, usually held in venues further south.
“GeekFight, at least the way I see it, has always been intended to provide a source of entertainment that is inclusive, rather than exclusive, for people who like geekery and pop culture,” he said, “[and] while that may seem contradictory given the competitive nature of the game, we see it as part of the fun.”
He added that he knew a number of people who would want to go to a Geek Fight but were turned off by the possibility of heading to Makati on a pay day night. “Having it in PETA will ideally make it more accessible,” he said.
Beyond having Roofdeck Nights between plays, partnerships become more extensive. In that same conversation that led to SPIT’s PETA engagements, something interesting happened.
“While we were talking about [the Roofdeck Series], sabi namin [we said], ‘Hey, we have a festival, [would] you guys want to work together on it?’” Mercado said, “And they just jumped on it.”
PETA is hosting the second Manila Improv Festival, which runs from 27 to 30 June this year. Mercado and festival director Dingdong Rosales both emphasize that in a way, it is a coming home. “It was when we looked further and we realized that we could trace the history of improv [comedy] in the Philippines back to PETA,” Rosales said, “and so it all made sense—we didn’t plan it. It was all providential, I suppose.” And in a way, PETA’s interests in exploring culture in a wide sense may be a perfect fit too for Geek Fight.
The partnerships go beyond the building itself, Balignasay explained. “We also offer our expertise in turning concepts into actual events,” she said, “whether it’s an advocacy video or a results conference or a play celebrating the lives of heroes.”
In November 2012, PETA helped stage a conference to discuss the results of the Joint Programme on Alternatives to Migration: Decent Jobs for Filipino Youth, a program which included an intensive career creation effort in four of the country’s poorest provinces. It was uncanny to see them turn such an otherwise staid event into an entertaining one, with a closing call to action ceremony that reminded your correspondent of something from a PETA musical.
For a theatre company that is turning forty, new partnerships such as these may very well be a great way of staying as young as ever. Who knows where these will lead?
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The next Roofdeck Series event will be another show from SPIT on May 22. Geek Fight! will be held on May 31.
Parking at the PETA Theatre Center is available on Eymard Drive itself, at the Christ the King compound (with free shuttle service), or on the side streets near St Joseph’s College. For more information on PETA’s activities, including the Roofdeck Series and the upcoming Manila Improv Festival, visit http://petatheater.com
Photo: Hazel Gay Balignasay
