Madonna Brava ng Mindanao will open on September 18 at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute (Studio Theater), Cultural Center of the Philipppines. This is the second offering of Tanghalang Pilipino for its 23rd season, which has the theme "Women of Substance."

Described by TP artistic director Nanding Josef as "a relevant and exciting new production," Madonna Brava ng Mindanao features award-winning actress Shamaine Centenera Buencamino as the lead character Madonna Brava. She is joined by members of the TP Actors Company and actors of the Mindulani Group from Mindanao. Under the direction of Nestor Horfilla, founding artistic director of Kaliwat Theater Collective, Inc. of Davao, the production also features music composed and arranged by Mebuyan.

Based on Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, Madonna Brava ng Mindanao is Don Pagusara's paean to the German master. Madonna Brava (Shamaine) is a ubiquitous witness to the rough and tumble wherefores of the Mindanao War. She follows its warpaths with the flamboyance of a trader and the bravado of a woman who needs to survive with her family in a milieu of uncertainty, terror and death. Her multicab, a veritable mobile mini-bazaar loaded with an assortment of wares that cater to soldiers, takes her and her tri-ethnic brood—a Moro, a Christian and Lumad—to long distances and unseemly spaces of war-torn Mindanao.

Madonna Brava ng Mindanao will run for four weekends from September 18 to October 11, with evening shows at 8:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays and matinees at 3:00 PM on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are priced at P600 and P300 are available at the CCP Box Office (832-3704) and Ticketworld (891-9999) outlets.

For more information, please call Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) at 832-1125 locals 1620 & 1621/telefax: 832-3661 or e-mail at ccptanghalan@yahoo.com or visit TP's website: www.tanghalangpilipino.com