Sixteen Philippine universities from across the country were selected to stage 16 European theatre plays under the “Teatro Europa, The Second Edition” cultural program that will kick off Friday, July 16, 2021.
After its successful staging last year, Teatro Europa is returning for the second time ready to fill the virtual air with a wider range of emotions ranging from laughter, giggles, tears, anguish, sighs, and trepidation.
The European Union Delegation to the Philippines, together with its member states and 16 university partners, launched the official opening of Teatro Europa through an online press conference parading at least 16 of Europe’s highly acclaimed playwrights.
The EU announced that Teatro Europa is coming comes back with table reads from July 16 to 30; with full video performances from August 1 to 31, and re-runs from September 1 to 30 via its official Facebook Page Teatro Europa @TeatroEuropaPH.
These masterpieces --- carefully curated from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden --- focus on genres such as comedy, tragedy, drama and romance.
“Theatre is a mirror of all human emotions and helps to better understand Europe and its culture, from the plays played in ancient Greece to the current online performances,” says EU Ambassador Luc Véron. “Teatro Europa provides a platform for artistic Filipino youth to share their talents in acting, directing and production design”.
Following its success last year that generated more than 300,000 viewers, the EU welcomes this year 16 participating universities from all over the country with new universities from Metro Manila, Baguio, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, and Ozamiz City from the original seven theatre groups that participated in 2020.
While Teatro Europa, The Second Edition is still primarily a virtual theater festival due to the ongoing pandemic, the EU said there are new and exciting things to expect as the government opens up the economy more. The festival will hold a limited physical performance in late August in the walled city of Intramuros.
A series of webinars with known theatre directors will also be held during the Teatro Europa season. These webinars aim to engage discussions on the similarities, intersections and differences between Philippine Theater and European Theater.
The16 selected partner universities performing theater pieces include the following:
1. Colegio de San Juan de Letran – Taruffe by Moliere of France;
2. Saint Louis University – Rur by Karel Čapek of the Czech Republic;
3. Wesleyan University – Pariah by August Strindberg of Sweden;
4. University of the East – Life’s a Dream by Pedro Calderon de la Barca of Spain;
5. University of Makati – The Horrid Little Princess by Geneviève Damas of Belgium;
6. Meridian International College - The Salt Princess (Hungarian Folktale) of Hungary;
7. University of San Agustin – Snow by Stanislaw Przybyszewski of Poland;
8. La Salle University – Erasmus Montanus by Ludvig Holberg of Denmark;
9. Mapua University – Riders to the Sea by John Millington Synge of Ireland;
10. Jose Rizal University – The Birds by Aristophanes of Greece;
11. Arellano University – II Vero Amico by Carlo Goldoni of Italy;
12. Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Marikina – Lucifer by Josst van den Vondel of the Netherlands;
13. First City Providential College – La Ronde by Arthur Schnitzler of Austria;
14. Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela – My Three Angels by Sam and Bella Spewack of Romania;
15. University of St. La Salle – Broken Heart Story by Saara Turunen of Finland;
16. Rizal Technological University – Leonce and Lena by Georg Büchner of Germany;