Teatro Panalo opens call for original plays, musicals for 2027 festival

MANILA, Philippines — Aspiring and established Filipino playwrights will get a chance to see their original works brought to the stage as Puregold Teatro Panalo opens its search for one-act plays and musicals for its inaugural festival in 2027.

The theater festival is accepting submissions from amateur and professional playwrights aged 18 and above, with 12 works to be selected for professional staging.

The lineup will consist of eight straight plays and four musicals, all of which will receive production support and be staged during the festival, which is scheduled to run between February and March 2027. The venue will be announced at a later date.

Here are six things aspiring applicants need to know:

Any genre, style or theme is welcome

Playwrights are encouraged to explore a wide range of stories and theatrical styles. Entries may be comedy, drama, experimental works or musicals, among other genres.

Scripts may be written in English or any Filipino language. Entries written in regional languages, however, must be accompanied by an English translation.

The competition is open to both amateur and professional playwrights aged 18 and above.

Only 12 works will be selected

The festival’s Selection Committee will choose 12 works from all submissions—eight straight plays and four musicals.

The selected works will be professionally staged as part of the 2027 festival, giving the winning playwrights an opportunity to see their scripts performed before a live audience.

AI-generated writing is prohibited

Puregold Teatro Panalo requires the submitted works to be primarily created by their human authors.

The use of artificial intelligence to generate major creative elements—including plot, characters, structure, scenes, dialogue and lyrics—is not allowed.

AI may be used for non-creative purposes such as general research, fact-checking, organization, formatting and proofreading.

Each selected playwright will receive ?100,000

Each of the 12 selected playwrights will receive a ?100,000 fee for their work.

The festival will also cover production expenses, including the professional fees of the cast and crew.

Playwrights may recommend a director for their production, although the festival organizers will have the final say on the director.

Playwrights retain ownership of their works

The selected playwrights will retain ownership of their submitted works while granting Wishbone Collective the right to stage and produce them under the festival's terms.

The opportunity may extend beyond the 2027 festival.

Wishbone Collective reserves the right to further develop and stage selected works as full-length theatrical productions for up to five years after the festival run.

This means a one-act play initially presented at Teatro Panalo could potentially be expanded into a full-length production in the years ahead.

Deadline is September 11

Interested playwrights may submit up to two entries, although only one work per applicant may ultimately be selected.

Applications must be submitted online by 11:59 p.m. on September 11.

The application form, which also contains the complete festival mechanics, is available through the official submission portal.

For Filipino playwrights with a completed script—or an idea waiting to be developed—Puregold Teatro Panalo offers an opportunity to move an original work from the page to a professional stage.

For the 12 selected writers, the festival could also serve as the first step toward developing their one-act works into full-length productions.

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