With the successful launch of the first season of CCP National Theatre Live, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Ayala Malls Cinemas heard the public demand and are happy to announce that the filmed Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi will have a re-run on Dec. 19, with a back-to-back screening of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, another featured filmed production under the new CCP program. 

In partnership with National Theatre Live and the Ayala Malls Cinemas, CCP brings the best of British theater from Sept. 26, 2023 to May 28, 2024. Much to the delight of theater enthusiasts and the broader public, the new program provides an exceptional and accessible “live” performance experience filmed live from the UK's most exciting stages.

The first season kicked off recently with the screening of Life of Pi at Greenbelt 3 cinema. Ayala Mall Cinemas head Remedios “Emee” Aganon, who made the welcome remarks, and British Embassy political counselor Kim Clark, who expressed her support for CCP National Theatre Live, graced the launch. Puppet Theater Manila brought their puppets, Clara the Carabao and Puraw the Aspin Dog, for the pre-program show.  

The audiences who watched Life of Pi were in awe of the beautiful storytelling of 16-year-old boy Pi’s journey of endurance and hope while he was stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors, a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a Royal Bengal tiger. The story was made all the more magical with the state-of-the-art visuals and puppetry. The filmed theater version shown was adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti, under the direction of Max Webster. 

Highlighting this event as the first in the country, CCP vice president and artistic director Dennis Marasigan encouraged guests and audiences to support the Philippine premieres of all nine featured filmed theaters.

“It has been our mandate to bring new experiences to Filipino people, to have that cultural exchange to widen our perspective and create new conversations. Bringing the National Theatre Live shows here is a very cost-effective way to bring the best of British theater here in the country,” said Marasigan. 

This Oct. 31, catch the CCP NTL’s second installment, Fleabag. Written and performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and directed by Vicky Jones, Fleabag is a rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life. Fleabag may seem oversexed, emotionally unfiltered, and self-obsessed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose.

The hilarious, award-winning play that inspired the BBC’s hit TV series of the same title was captured live on stage from London’s West End in 2019. 

The one-woman show reaffirms its record-breaking box-office success with two sold-out screenings (5:30pm and 8pm at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 1) in the Philippines. CCP and Ayala Malls Cinemas have decided to open another cinema (at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 2), with two more screenings at 6pm and 8pm, still on October 31, to accommodate more fans of the show. As of the latest update from Ayala Cinemas, the added screenings are also sold out, and there are public clamors for additional screenings for Fleabag. 

Starting from the third installment, Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, there will be two screenings for each featured production, 6pm and 8pm.

“We have intentionally adjusted the screening schedule for audiences who would be coming out from their workplaces at 5p.m. We take into consideration the rush hour traffic around that time,” shared Marasigan. 

Other National Theatre’s world-class stage productions to watch out for include: The Seagull, Much Ado About Nothing, The Crucible, Frankenstein, Othello, King Lear, and Hamlet, all filmed live in high definition. NTL films their plays in front of live theater audiences but optimized for the big screen and made accessible to theater fans across the globe.

Be sure to catch the full lineup of the CCP National Theatre Live. The regular ticket price is at ₱250.00 while the special ticket price for students is at ₱150.00. Tickets will be sold via sureseats.com

To get the latest updates on CCP National Theatre Live, follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.