TWO THOMASIAN playwrights highlight the need for political literacy in the interactive musical titled “Charot,” which opened last Feb. 1 at the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) Theater Center, Quezon City.
Faculty of Arts and Letters alumni J-mee Katanyag and Michelle Ngu, who wrote the script, focused on charter change and related issues.
“Every election sa Pilipinas, laging gumagawa ‘yong PETA ng voters’ [education] campaign so we made the point din na how to educate the voters at the same time make them aware kung ano ba talaga ‘yong change na maaring mangyari sa’tin,” Katanyag, a UST journalism graduate, said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
Set in the year 2020 in a fictional country called “P.I.”, characters from different walks of life decide whether or not they accept the proposed shift to a federal system of government in their country while caught in a traffic jam.
The interactive feature of the play enable the audience to participate by accessing a website on their mobile phones to vote and decide on the course of the story.
Ngu, a communication arts graduate, said they wanted the play to discuss the changes happening and to hear people’s thoughts on these changes.
After each show, the members of the cast and the production team conduct a talk back, entertaining any questions the audience may have.
“Kaya ngayong season din, mayroong talk back kasi we really wanted to do the creative campaign mainly for dialogue,” Ngu explained.
The musical is part of PETA’s “Stage of the Nation,” a creative campaign for its 51st season.
“Charot” runs until March 17.
