How normal is normal, really? Local theater company Teatro 77 explores our so-called “new normal” in an interactive, experimental play about the realities of contemporary living. Teatro 77 and the Theater Arts Program of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde will be staging a play called “The Boarding House,” right from the comfort of our homes.
A two-act “play You playthrough”, The Boarding House exhibits the lives of seven artists in Lunan City: a Metro Manila-esque alternate universe. Set in the year 2030, the world hosts a variety of the strange and the mundane: mythical creatures live alongside humans, surveillance cameras follow you wherever you go, and the citizens are quarantined due to a toxic Flying Fish infestation. Each character in the Boarding House must confront their individual crises while adapting to the circumstances of their new normal.
The play is designed and created for our new normal. You navigate through a fully-interactive map online to learn about the play’s characters and the surreal setting of the show’s universe. As an immersive theatrical experience, you decide which episode you want to watch in whichever order you wish. No two shows are the same with you in control of your own experience — theater in a new form.
If the show cannot be live, then #TheShowMustGoOnline. Explore and experience Lunan City at explorelunan.web.app on November 7, 2020 for Act 1 and November 12, 2020 for the Act 2. As the play is designed for a global audience, all scenes have full English and Filipino subtitles. Admission is free with an open call for donations to support Filipino artists affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can visit their Facebook, Teatro 77, Twitter, @teatro77, and Instagram, @teatro77_ph, for announcements, updates, and trivia about the play.
