recently i contacted former up fine arts college sec leo abaya re his invitation to watch PETA’s staging of ROMULUS D’GRAYT, where he is involved as production designer. he sent me an mms of the stage design and it looked great, so we were excited to watch it. i feared carlo and i wouldnt be able to catch the show on the later dates so we setup time to see it that weekend.

the featured play of peta before this one was BATANG RIZAL, which was a delight to watch. the story was simple enough but the performances were brilliant and on spot. the actors playing batang rizal and his present day alter ego was engaging and charming, the other kids in the play likewise wonderful to watch. the lessons it imparted werent preachy but still remained relevant. we thought this play was just wonderful we were eager to watch the next PETA play in the season!

come oct 7 we made it to the PETA theater for ROMULUS D’GRAYT and got great seats and a fantastic view of the stage. the play was translated and modernized in everyday-filipino-speak to great effect. some of the players were standouts (especially those actors from ateneo) but the show belonged to dido who played romulus. the design of the production was impeccable, and chickens in the play were also great.  notably the costumes were fantastic and was really imaginative in its use of material.

carlo and i had a blast watching venus, the only female in the cast, and a non-speaking role at that ! a statue who on instinct jumps off her pedestal when frightened or gossips at courtly drama. super funny we had to have our picture taken with her.

met actor nor domingo also at the lobby at the end of the play and made chitchat re the next play for PETA which he’ll be directing. looking forward! SKIN DEEP (libretto and book by vincent de jesus of zsa zsa zaturnnah ze musical & ze movie, batang rizal) up next. cheers! salamat sir leo for inviting us to romulus! we had a wonderful time yey