Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang Returns to PETA Theater Center, September 21–30

More than a century after Severino Reyes first wrote her into the pages of Liwayway magazine, Lola Basyang is back on a PETA stage — the same stage she’s been returning to for 21 years running.

Severino Reyes was 64 years old, and the editor of Liwayway — the Tagalog-language magazine he’d co-founded three years earlier, in 1922 — when he started writing children’s stories under the pen name “Lola Basyang” in 1925. The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), the Quezon City-based theater company and UNESCO-affiliated arts education institute, first staged those stories in 2005, the same year it moved into the building it still calls home, the PETA Theater Center. Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang has been PETA’s longest-running production since, staged so many times across the Philippines and abroad that the company has reportedly lost count somewhere past a thousand performances.

This September, the show returns for a run at the PETA Theater Center from September 21 to 30, with a longer engagement planned for February 2027.

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang at PETA Theater - Ang Prinsipeng Mahaba ang Ilong. — Ang Prinsipeng Mahaba ang Ilong.

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang at PETA Theater - Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Hari — Ang Binibining Tumalo sa Hari.

The Storyteller Who Outlived Her Author

Reyes wrote as Lola Basyang until his death in 1942, completing more than 400 stories — fairy tales built around cursed princes, clever maidens, talking animals, and a clean moral lesson at the end of each one. He modeled the character on a real neighbor, a grandmother known locally for gathering children around her to tell stories. PETA’s stage version keeps that same framing: Lola Basyang in her rocking chair, working through a rotating set of her own tales for a new room of kids each run.

The 2026 Creative Team

The production splits into two tracks this year. Phil Noble, who has directed the full staging for years and has described building the show as a kind of “playground” drawing on his own childhood memories of watching circus performers, returns to direct the full-length version. Maribel Legarda, PETA’s longtime artistic director, directs the shorter excerpt used for school and community touring. Noel Cabangon, who has written music for PETA productions for years, composed the score, with Kabaitan Bautista as musical director and arranger. Gio Gahol — who performed in past runs of the show, including a 2015 touring version in South Korea — steps into the role of associate director and choreographer for this staging.

Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang at PETA Theater - Directors and Brain Behind — The 2026 Creative Team behind Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang at PETA Theater this September.

Field Notes

Where and when: PETA Theater Center, New Manila, Quezon City. September 21–30, 2026, with a longer run to follow in February 2027.

Touring version: Available for school and community bookings as either a shortened excerpt or the full 90-minute performance, staged in Filipino, English, or the host community’s preferred language.

ElysPlanet has covered PETA’s stage work before — including its own take on PETA’s “Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 4”.