PETA opens season with 'Rated:PG'
MANILA, Philippines - After ending its 42nd theater season with a musical comedy on the Philippine Elections, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), through its ARTS Zone Project, opens its new theater season with another pioneering work in the use of theater for the cause of education of development. Through the support of Terres des Hommes Germany and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), PETA presents Rated:PG, a play on positive discipline written by Liza Magtoto, directed by Mae Quesada-Medina and with music by award-winning composer Vincent A. De Jesus.
Rated:PG tells the story of Joselle (essayed by May Bayot alternating with Raye Baquirin), a hardworking, entrepreneurial multi-tasking mother of two who is about to make a major decision in her life that will affect her family. She is contemplating whether or not to take a job abroad which will surely answer their financial needs without her having to go into several businesses just to make ends meet. Her problems arise when she thinks of her youngest child, Tonton (Arthur Castro, Leon Matawaran), who is just six years old and who will be the best person to leave him with. Her family would be the best options, of course, except that she has some discomfort about their personalities. Her husband Romy (Jack Yabut, Joel Saracho) is too preoccupied with his own job to actually be bothered with raising a son; her older child Rosalie (Joan Bugcat), is, in her mind, still an irresponsible young adult at the threshold of her teenage years; and her own mother uses scare tactics as disciplinary methods.
Throughout the play, the dynamics of a family are presented, the most poignant of which is — how does one raise a child to be a disciplined, responsible being?
There are just one too many options to achieve such, the adults having once been children themselves and gone through being raised and disciplined through the old ways — spanking, hitting, sometimes verbal abuse when committing mistakes.
Rated:PG creatively shows through enjoyable music and production numbers the what-ifs, whys and wherefores of disciplining the young without having to experience what is now considered corporal punishment. It delves into the psyche and developmental stage of a child so that a better understanding is reached between parent and child therefore bringing a more harmonious relationship to the family.
PETA’s ARTS Zone Program is an educational campaign on children’s right to safety and violence through theater and the arts.
The show opens on July 9, 6 p.m., at the PETA Theater Center, 5 Eymard Drive New Manila, Quezon City (behind QC Sports Club). Other performance dates are as follows: July 10, 11, 17 and 18 (10 a.m. and 3 p.m.). For inquiries, contact PETA’s Marketing and Public Relations Office at 725-6244, 410-0821 to 22 or SMS 0917-8044428, e-mail petampro@yahoo.com.
