- Dulaang UP’s Founding Artistic Director Antonio Mabesa celebrates 70 Years in the Business
- New artistic director Banaue Miclat-Janssen strengthens the branding of Dulaang UP as a professional mentorship theatre
Antonio “Tony” Mabesa, founding artistic director and Professor Emeritus at the College of Arts and Letters in UP Diliman, marks his 70th year in the theatre industry this 2018.
The esteemed director and actor has staged timeless classics over the years including Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero’s “Wanted: A Chaperone,” John Webster’s “The Duchess of Malfi,” and William Wycherley’s “The Country Wife.” With 170 productions under his belt, Mabesa has left an indelible mark on the industry, mentoring impeccable talents such as Shamaine Buencamino, Ces Quesada, Irma Adlawan, Frances Makil-Ignacio, Candy Pangilinan, Neil Ryan Sese, Andoy Ranay, RS Francisco, and current DUP artistic director, Banaue Miclat-Janssen.
Now at 83, Mabesa continues to mentor the next generation of actors in Dulaang UP’s 43rd season opener, Luigi Pirandello’s “Six Characters in Search of an Author,” with a Filipino translation by Rody Vera, “Anim na Tauhang Naghahanap ng May-Akda.”
The plays will run from September 5 to 30 at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theatre, Palma Hall 2nd floor, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City.
New artistic director Banaue Miclat-Janssen strengthens the branding of Dulaang UP as a professional mentorship theatre
As an alumna of the Theatre Arts program of UP Diliman who finished her Master of Fine Arts in the City University of New York and made herself a name with her performances in the prestigious Metropolitan Opera in the US as well as in the theatre scene in the Philippines, Dulaang UP’s new artistic director Banaue Miclat-Janssen wishes to acknowledge her roots and pay it forward to the next generation of theatre practitioners that Dulaang UP and the Theatre Arts program will produce.
Part of Miclat-Janssen’s vision as the new artistic director of the theatre company is to strengthen the branding of Dulaang UP as a professional mentorship theatre where professional theatre practitioners guide and work closely with theatre students to continue the mission and legacy of Dulaang UP in contributing to the Philippine and world theatre. She also showed her support for UP Dulaang Laboratoryo under the Dulaang UP umbrella, where the golden productions Dekada 70s (Sitenta) by Pat Valera and The Yellow Boat by Charm Aranton were conceived before their successful commercial staging. She is hopeful that more students will be inspired to take on projects that uphold the artistic boldness of the Dulaang UP brand.
