TANGHALANG PILIPINO

Company Profile

TANGHALANG PILIPINO was founded in 1987 as the resident theater company

of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). It aims to promote Philippine
theater that is rooted in centuries-old Filipino culture and history while being
responsive to evolving contemporary society.

Tanghalang Pilipino is unique among other theater groups in the Philippines as it

maintains a core of actors whose full-time training in acting is subsidized by the
company. Known as the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company, these actors are
tapped for the company’s season repertoire and special performances. The
actors who have graduated from the Actors Company now comprise the most
sought-after stable of talents in television, cinema and commercial advertising.

Tanghalang Pilipino maintains the highest standards in artistic discipline,

technical skill and professional conduct. It presents an annual season of plays at
the CCP consisting of original Filipino works, both classic and contemporary, as
well as translations and adaptations of theater materials from Asia and other
parts of the globe. It also conducts regular theater education and training
programs in acting, directing, playwriting and production management. These
programs are open to students, non-professional theater enthusiasts, corporate
clients and professional theater practitioners. In addition to honing skills for
onstage performance, Tanghalang Pilipino also commits itself to the development
of an active audience for Filipino theater through its nurture of the native
language as its primary medium for its productions and by bringing its
performances to venues outside its home at the CCP -- including non-traditional
performance spaces – to various parts of the country and overseas, especially
locations with large Filipino communities.

TP has successfully presented more than 200 full productions within 22 seasons
while generating one of the best audience attendance records among CCP’s
resident companies. Its earliest repertoire was guided by the vision of Nonon
Padilla, its founding Artistic Director (1987-2002), and sustained by Herbert Go
(2002-2006), and Dennis Marasigan (2006-2008). Tanghalang Pilipino is
currently on its 22nd Theater Season under the artistic direction of Fernando
Josef.

THE LOGO_______________________________________________________

The logo that Tanghalang Pilipino Foundation, Inc. has adopted is an image from
one of the primitive tribes in the Philippines, the Hanunoo-Mangyan of Mindoro.
It is a standard motif dominant in the tribe’s basket and mat weaves. The image
of man was chosen among the other symbols in the belief that this theater
company has a commitment to contribute aggressively in the development of
Philippine drama. It is our belief that the actor is the cornerstone of the theater,
and man, as subject, focuses on his privileged function to express the great
archetypes, the great myths.

The pattern from the weaving was deemed appropriate, and indeed significant, in
the light of the communal nature of theater work, an interlacing of many artistic
elements and disciplines creating the tapestry of human endeavor and
experience.

But why a symbol from a primitive tribe? The image of man is universal and if we
take the original Latin meaning of the word primitive, it reflects the very nature of
the actor as springboard for the art of theater: “Primitivus”, originally meant the
first of its kind, the origin.

Tanghalang Pilipino desires to develop a theater that is universal, presenting in

Filipino the best in theater pieces: William Shakespeare, Anton Chekov,
Aristophanes, Maxim Gorky, Samuel Beckett, Luigi Pirandello, Oscar Wilde,
Vaclav Havel, Henrik Ibsen, Jean Genet, Moliere and others; but most of all, our
very own playwrights: Nick Joaquin, Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero, Jose Dalisay,
Bienvenido Noriega, Rolando Tinio, Orlando Nadres, Tony Perez, Rene
Villanueva, Paul Dumol, Mario O’Hara, Malou Jacob, Bienvenido Lumbera, and
the others.

THE ACTORS’ COMPANY________________

In line with its vision of developing well-trained Filipino actors, the company
maintains a regular training program for actors through its Actors’ Company. The
Actors’ Company is directed towards developing the activity of a theater from a
dilettante’s passatiempo or hobby to a profession, whereby he is recognized and
given credit for his duties and responsibilities as artists in residence. The only
one of its kind in the country, the Actors’ Company is a pool of professional
theater actors who go through intensive training in acting, movement, dance,
voice, script analysis, improvisation, directing and other related courses.
Members of this prestigious and privileged group are among the most respected
artists in Philippine theater, television and film communities. Some of the actors
who trained under this program are: Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, Noni
Buencamino, Irma Adlawan-Marasigan, Allan Paule, John Arcilla, Garry Lim and
CCP’s former Vice President and Artistic Director, Fernando Josef.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES / COMPANY OFFICERS

ANTONIO O. COJUANGCO
Chairman

EMILIE TIONGCO
Treasurer

JOSE CLARO TESORO

Corporate Secretary

MARIEL FRANCISCO
MA. LOURDES GAMBOA
MARIA THERESA PRIETO VALDES
MARIA RESSA
IMELDA NICOLAS
DOREEN YU
Members