The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) is bringing back “Control + Shift: Changing Narrative” this April, continuing its effort to use theater as a space for confronting urgent social issues and reclaiming Filipino stories.
Set to run from April 10 to 19, 2026 at the PETA Studio Theater, this year’s showcase will feature a “StudioLab” of new and restaged productions developed through collaborations among PETA artists, students and community partners.
First launched in 2024 and expanded into a month-long festival in 2025, “Control + Shift” has positioned itself as a platform for experimental and socially engaged works.
For this year, the StudioLab presents four productions—two new works developed through the PETA Artist-Teacher Training and two returning pieces, including one created with a partner community theater group.
‘Cleaners’
Among the featured plays is “Cleaners,” written by Jhudiel Clare Sosa and directed by Julio Garcia. The play follows a group of senior high school students who discover that graduating may depend on more than simply cleaning their classrooms. As they navigate authority, violence and truth, they are confronted with the compromises and silences that shape the system around them.
‘Monit-Oh! Monit-Ah’
Also in the lineup is the restaging of “Monit-Oh! Monit-Ah!,” written by Herlyn Alegre and directed by Norbs Portales. Structured as a forum theater piece, it tells the story of Jaylord, a rookie waiter whose attempt to impress his boss during a Christmas monito-monita exchange draws him into the deeper workings of a corrupt palakasan culture.
Together, the two works make up the festival’s first thematic set, “When Power Falls Into Our Hands,” which examines how violence, corruption, and silence can quietly take root in everyday spaces such as schools and workplaces—and what it means to either comply with these systems or interrupt them.
‘At Nagkatawang-Tao ang Verbo’
Returning to the festival is “At Nagkatawang-Tao ang Verbo,” a work by Tanghalang Bagong Sibol, written by Mikaela Regis and directed by Anthony Cruz. Set in a small urban fishing community along Ilog Tullahan, the piece reimagines religious and biblical figures through the lives of ordinary residents, framing faith as something lived through labor, hardship and hope.
‘Baga ng Gumuguhong Langit’
Completing the lineup is “Baga ng Gumuguhong Langit,” written by Anj Heruela and directed by Ian Segarra. The play follows orphaned children trying to endure the devastation of war while searching for care in communities already stretched to their limits.
These two productions form the second set, “When Care Becomes Survival,” turning toward communities shaped by war, displacement, and environmental precarity, and asking how care can still be practiced when survival itself is uncertain.
PETA said the festival remains rooted in creating stories that respond to the present while imagining “more humane and democratic futures.”
Set A, “When Power Falls Into Our Hands,” will be staged on April 10 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., April 12 at 2 p.m., April 18 at 7 p.m., and April 19 at 7 p.m.
Set B, “When Care Becomes Survival,” will run on April 11 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., April 12 at 7 p.m., April 18 at 2 p.m., and April 19 at 2 p.m.
Tickets are priced at P700 per set and are available through Ticket2Me and the event’s official booking link.