This September, Scene Change brings Bantayog: Alaala at Gunita to the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater in Circuit Makati, presenting two works that revolves around Martial Law, disappearance, public memory, and the difficult discipline of remembering. 

After mounting 3Upuan, Dagitab and Ang Linangan on the theatre stage and producing the Cinemalaya-winning film, Mag-Iina, Scene Change, is now embarking on a limited staged reading cycle with Guillermo Calderón’s Villa and Desaparecidos, adapted from the novel by Lualhati Bautista. 

Remembering Chile Through Villa

Opening the cycle on September 19 and 20 at 7:30 PM is Villa, a work by acclaimed Chilean playwright Guillermo Calderón.

The staged reading is translated and directed by Giancarlo Abrahan, following his recent Cinemalaya wins for Best Director and Best Film in the Full Length Feature category. The cast features Martha Comia, Meann Espinosa, and Ness Roque.

In Villa, three women—all named Alejandra—sit around a table and confront a difficult question: how should Villa Grimaldi, a real-life site where political prisoners were tortured and murdered during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, be memorialized?

Desaparecidos Returns to the Years of Martial Law

The second half of the cycle turns its attention to the Philippines.

On September 26 and 27 at 7:30 PM, Scene Change presents Desaparecidos, adapted by Guelan Varela-Luarca from Lualhati Bautista’s 2007 novel of the same name.

The staged reading features Sheenly Gener, Marco Viaña, Jojit Lorenzo, Jam Binay, Ge Villamil, Gio Gahol, Yshma Aquino, Toni Go-Yadao, and Maliana Beran. Varela-Luarca directs alongside co-director Kat Batara.

Desaparecidos follows activists Anna and Roy through the turbulent years of Martial Law and into the quieter, more complicated decades that come afterward.

The production has previously been named among the best productions of the decade by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, with the press release describing it as a work that continues to hold a mirror to history while keeping the lives of those who endured it at the center.

By placing Villa and Desaparecidos within the same cycle, Bantayog: Alaala at Gunita creates a conversation across two countries and two histories: Chile and the Philippines, Pinochet and Marcos, disappearance and denial, public memory and public forgetting.

Show Schedule

September 19, 7:30 PM — Villa
September 20, 7:30 PM — Villa
September 26, 7:30 PM — Desaparecidos
September 27, 7:30 PM — Desaparecidos

Bantayog: Alaala at Gunita will be staged at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater, Circuit Makati.

Tickets are priced at ₱850 and are available through tinyurl.com/scbantayog2026.