Repertory Philippines (REP), one of the country’s leading theater companies, has appointed Liesl Batucan as its new Artistic Director, following in the footsteps of theater stalwarts Zeneida “Bibot” Amador, Baby Barredo, and Joy Virata.
Batucan returned to REP as its Managing Director in 2018. Prior to this, she was the Associate Artistic Director of Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
As one of the REP’s celebrated alumna, Batucan has performed in over 100 plays, ranging from dramas, comedies, musicals, and Shakespearean classics, to children’s theater, while extensively training under Amador and Barredo for over 20 years. She also portrayed diverse roles, from Maria in Sound of Music to Portia in Merchant of Venice.
Batucan is also an Aliw Award Hall of Famer, winning the Best Actress title three times for her performances in Wait Until Dark, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino, and Baler Sa Puso Ko; as well as a two-time Gawad Buhay Awardee for Best Featured Actress for her exceptional performances in Sweeney Todd, and August: Osage County. Batucan has performed Off-Broadway at the La Mama Theater in New York and in various international musical shows.
Batucan had also directed a Triple Threat Concert for CCP and numerous CCP Main Theater concerts with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. She graduated Magna Cum Laude at the University of the Philippines and served as a corporate finance consultant at SGV & Co. before pursuing a career in theater.
According to the REP’s Board of Trustees, “Liesl brings a wealth of experience to her new role of providing artistic leadership in the planning and implementation of quality-based productions. The Board of Trustees wishes her every success and will give her all the support she needs to lead Repertory Philippines through the 21st century.”
With her new role, Batucan is expected to bring creative guidance and control to REP’s dramatic realm in keeping with the theater company’s mission of producing excellent, resilient, entertaining theater to Filipino audiences for the last 52 years. REPs new Artistic Director also aims to champion the integrity of the Filipino Artist as well as to enrich the cultural life of the community.
Batucan has started her new role at the REP last June 1 as the theater company prepares to produce The Quest for the Adarna, an original REP’s Theater for Young Audiences play that will run from Sept. 14 to Jan. 12.
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