Bulakta Theatre is launching “Houses on Waters,” an open-call performance forum that brings together artists from Bulacan to explore the emotional and social realities surrounding flooding and natural calamities.

The workshop will take place on September 12, 2026 in Malolos, Bulacan, with priority given to artists currently residing in the province.

The forum invites participants from different creative disciplines—including writing, visual art, performance and filmmaking—to use their own experiences as material for artistic exploration.

Bulakta developed Houses on Waters in collaboration with Melvin Waje of The Postscriptum.

At the center of the project is a question familiar to many Bulakenyos: What does it mean to repeatedly live with water—on streets, around homes and within communities that have learned to navigate the consequences of flooding?

The forum is also an important step toward Bulakta Theatre's first full staging, Leptospirasi ’26, a devised performance centered on the idea of “houses on waters.”

The project is being spearheaded by Bulakta founder and managing director Laurence De Vera alongside artistic director and co-founder Rhain Alcoriza.

Rather than beginning with a finished script, devised theater typically develops through collaboration, improvisation, research and the experiences of its creators and performers—an approach particularly suited to what Bulakta hopes to uncover through the forum.

The company intends for the eventual production to carry the voices and experiences of the people who understand its subject most intimately.

Its creative influences stretch beyond Philippine theater. De Vera and Alcoriza have looked toward filmmaker Bong Joon-ho's treatment of class, climate and human realities, with the Academy Award-winning film Parasite serving as one of the project's major inspirations.

Bulakta had initially considered adapting the Korean film The Host. As the project developed, however, the company recognized that the experiences it wanted to place onstage called for a work built specifically around Bulacan.

The team subsequently shifted toward creating an original devised production grounded in the experiences of local artists.

That decision gives Leptospirasi ’26 an opportunity to approach the climate conversation from a distinctly Filipino—and more specifically, Bulakenyo—point of view.

Founded in 2025 by De Vera and Alcoriza, Bulakta Theatre emerged from their observation that Malolos had room for more contemporary theater groups and works.

The independent movement has since set out to build what it describes as bold, topical and fresh Filipino theater created and performed by Bulakenyos.

Its ambitions extend beyond producing individual shows. Bulakta hopes to help strengthen a creative community outside Metro Manila and encourage audiences and the larger theater industry to look north toward the work being developed in Bulacan.

The group has already mounted art and community initiatives including WANAK (One Act) Vol. 1 and THE BACK: Stage Reads.

For artists interested in participating, registration for the performance forum is available through bit.ly/HousesOnWatersForm.

Houses on Waters takes place on September 12, 2026 in Malolos, Bulacan.