Tanghalang Ateneo

Tanghalang Ateneo

Tanghalang Ateneo, the longest-running theatre company of Loyola Schools, Ateneo de Manila University, weaves into its work the theatrical traditions of the University’s sesquicentennial past: the devotion of the salon de actos at the Escuela Municipal, the eloquence of the Ateneo Dramatics Guild, the joie de vivre of the Ateneo Players Theatre, and the innovative spirit of the Ateneo Experimental Theatre. Like these companies, Tanghalang Ateneo uses the theatre to foster eloquentia, sapientia, and humanitas – the pillars of Jesuit pedagogy. It sees itself as a theater company in the service of student formation, and by extension, given the Jesuit ideal of magis, a theater as well in the service of the nation.

Since its founding in 1972, and given formal recognition in 1979, Tanghalang Ateneo has grown from a fledgling band of student players to one of the country’s leading school-based theatre companies. Its repertoire of plays is daunting: world classics, Filipino originals, and documentary texts turned into theatre pieces. Its productions are noted for their thought, generosity and energy, while its lingua franca on stage is Filipino and English. Its members come from diverse academic fields. Many have pursued careers in theater, television, and film; many more use their theater experience to excel in management, law, teaching, human resources, as well as in the media and in the culture industry. Professional theater actors have graced its shows, and several outstanding designers and choreographers have served in its artistic staff. Moreover, its audience base extends outside the campus to embrace students in schools within and outside the metropolitan area.

Tanghalang Ateneo has won Aliw Awards for Best Non-Musical Production and Best Director (for Ricardo Abad) for 2008 and 2012. The company has also received production grants from the Loyola Schools, National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Spanish Program for Cultural Cooperation. Its shows have also been shown in campuses and venues across the country, and recently in international festivals. Its past achievements have also facilitated the creation, in School Year 2000-2001, of a degree program in Theatre Arts within the Fine Arts Program of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Tanghalang Ateneo productions educate and delight; they also stimulate the imagination and provoke thought. Jesuit pedagogy fuses with theatre arts to interrogate the Filipino social world so that students can invent themselves as critical Filipinos – sharp in thought, expressive in action, deep in faith, and attuned to others, fellow players and audiences whose lives intersect with their own.

Ricardo G. Abad has been the Artistic Director and Moderator of Tanghalang Ateneo since 1984. Salvador F. Bernal, National Artist for Theater Design, served as the company’s Resident Production Designer from 1996 until his death in 2011.

Read more about Tanghalang Ateneo:  History of Tanghalang Ateneo, The 34 Seasons of Tanghalang Ateneo, About Tanghalang Ateneo