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
