IN PHOTO above (from left to right): Jerom Andrei Canlas, Dolly Dulu, John Lapus, and Joshua Lim So, all four now in Teatro Panalo’s final lineup.

Updated October 14, 2026

Puregold’s theater festival has its lineup. Out of 373 submissions, a shortlist of 26, and three days of pitches to the Selection Committee, Teatro Panalo has picked the 12 one-act works it will stage in its first season: eight straight plays and four musicals. The festival is the stage counterpart to Puregold’s CinePanalo film festival, and both are run by Wishbone Collective, Inc.

How the Cut Fell

The straight plays split down the middle: eight of the 16 shortlisted made it. The musicals were the tighter race, with four of ten advancing. Counted against the full pool, the final 12 are about three percent of everything submitted. Festival director Vincent de Jesus had promised as much when the shortlist came out, saying only “the very best of the best” would reach the stage in February.

Each of the 12 playwrights receives a ₱100,000 honorarium and production support from the organizers. For more on how the program is set up, see ElysPlanet’s report on the 373 submissions.

The Familiar Names Held

Most of the writers with film, television, and stage credits survived the final cut. Film and television director Dolly Dulu is in with “The Boy Foretold by the Stars,” which shares its title with her 2020 film, a coming-of-age romance billed at its release as the first mainstream Filipino Boys’ Love feature.

Comedian and actor John “Sweet” Lapus, currently onstage in “Bongga Ka, ‘Day!”, made it with “True to Life.” So did Joshua Lim So, a Davao-based playwright with 11 wins at the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, the country’s longest-running literary prize, and a place in its Hall of Fame, with “Walang Maliit na Bagay.” Earlier this year he was in the cast of “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 4: Oh Sh*t! It’s Live sa Cheter!”, the Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA) stage installment of the film franchise.

Jerom Andrei Canlas, brother of actor Elijah Canlas, is in with “Youngstunna.” “@Home,” written by a team of six, also advanced. In the musicals, performer Steven Hotchkiss made the four with “Manang-Mana Nga!”

The one prominent name that didn’t advance is Senedy Que, a screenwriter on the 2009 Vilma Santos drama “In My Life.” His “City in Darkness: A Lockdown Musical” missed the cut.

Festival chair Ivy Hayagan-Piedad, Puregold’s senior marketing manager, credited the field as a whole: “The volume and quality of submissions reflect the depth of Filipino talent and the continued vitality of the country’s theatrical community.”

The Final 12

Straight Plays

• “@Home” by Edralin Cabrera, Kathlyn Castillo, Michael Ian Lomongo, Marjorie Lorico, Maria Teresa Jamias, and J. Victor Villareal
• “Nothing But Dreams” by Ricardo Novenario
• “The Boy Foretold by the Stars” by Dolly Dulu
• “The Girl Scout Law” by Rhain Arabella Alcoriza
• “Trahedya ng Kamote” by Marjay Manalastas
• “True to Life” by John “Sweet” Lapus
• “Walang Maliit na Bagay” by Joshua Lim So
• “Youngstunna” by Jerom Andrei Canlas

Musicals

• “Ang Maayong Balita Sumala Kang Bibo Bautista” by Jude Thaddeus Gitamondoc
• “Baka Mali ang Tamaraw” by Emmanuel Benbinuto Antonio
• “Manang-Mana Nga!” by Steven Hotchkiss
• “The Fourth Wall Has Fallen” by Heber Justin O’Hara

Shortlisted, Not Selected

Straight Plays

• “Ang Huling Panawagan sa Pagdarasal” by Mubarak Tahir
• “Ang Pagbabalik ng Voltes V” by Neil Arkhe Azcuna
• “Mga Diwata IRL” by Jay Crisostomo IV
• “Nang Muli Kang Makakanta” by Ma. Angelica Chiuteña
• “Palabas/Exit” by Angel Oclarit
• “Pax Silica” by Robert Arlou De Guzman
• “Silang mga Bayani’t Banal” by Anthony Kim Vergara
• “Soap Opera” by Jerry O’Hara

Musicals

• “At Bumaba Ang Mga Tala” by John Rey Tayag Magin
• “City in Darkness: A Lockdown Musical” by Senedy Que
• “Feverish Time” by John Edrick Alcontado
• “Outside Looking In” by Timothy Carlo Racho and Michael Angelo Lopez
• “Tagpuan” by John Austin Perez
• “Tala” by Jiezl Virmy Chua

What’s Next

The 12 works will be staged during the festival’s run from February 20 to March 14, 2027. After the festival, one straight play and one musical will receive development grants to grow into full-length productions.