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PRESS RELEASE
1st MSTR Awards Winners Announced
MANILA, Jan. 10, 2026 -- The Manila Society of Theater Reviewers (MSTR) today announced the winners of the 1st MSTR Awards, recognizing outstanding achievements in theater across Metro Manila for productions that opened during the 2025 calendar year. The winners were revealed on January 10, 2026 online on MSTR’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Founded in 2025, MSTR aims to promote, support, and celebrate the theater industry of Metro Manila. It is composed of regular reviewers of the Manila theater scene writing across print and online platforms. The Society fulfills its mission through consistent, publicly accessible theater reviews and through the presentation of annual awards honoring the year’s most outstanding theatrical work. Beyond these goals, MSTR seeks to cultivate and elevate discourse on theater among industry practitioners, journalists, academics, and the general theatergoing public.
For the 1st MSTR Awards, winners were chosen from 66 eligible productions that opened in Metro Manila during the 2025 calendar year. Eligibility was determined according to MSTR’s established criteria: fully staged theatrical works developed, created, and premiered in the Philippines, including productions by professional companies, campus-based or student-led organizations, and thesis performances. All eligible productions must have been seen by a minimum of three voting members to be considered in the awards deliberations.
The winners of the 1st MSTR Awards were chosen by the following voting members: Vladimir Bunoan (ABS-CBN News Online), Gibbs Cadiz (Philippine Daily Inquirer), Christa De La Cruz (Esquire Philippines), Nikki Francisco (TheaterFansManila.com), Arturo Hilado (Independent), Emil Hofileña (TheaterFansManila.com/Independent), Ricky Toledo (Philippine Star), Chito Vijandre (Philippine Star), and Vincen Gregory Yu (The Diarist/Independent).
In addition to winners, the Society also recognized honorable mentions in all categories, reflecting the depth and competitiveness of the year’s theatrical output. You can find the complete list of winners and honorable mentions below.
Here's the list of winners for the 1st MSTR Awards:
Best Production of a Play
Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati - produced by Arete Ateneo and directed by Guelan Varela-Luarca
Best Production of a Musical
Si Faust - produced by Arete Ateneo and directed by Nelsito Gomez
Best New Filipino Work
Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati - translation by Jerry Respeto and adaptation by Guelan Varela-Luarca of Nick Joaquin's A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino
Best Director
Guelan Varela-Luarca, 3 Upuan and Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati
Best Lead Performance in a Play
Jojit Lorenzo, 3 Upuan
Best Featured Performance in a Play
Benedix Ramos, Dagitab
Best Lead Performance in a Musical
Maita Ponce, Si Faust
Best Featured Performance in a Musical
Marvin Ong, Side Show
Best Achievement in Design
D Cortezano (set), Ali Figueroa (costumes), Jethro Nibaten (lighting), and Ronelson Yadao (movement) - Quomodo Desolata Es? Isang Dalamhati
Emerging Talent Award
Benedix Ramos (performance), Bar Boys: The Musical, Dagitab, and Next to Normal
Outstanding Contribution to Theater
GA Fallarme
George De Jesus III
PRESS RELEASE
Manila Society of Theater Reviewers Officially Launches to Champion Theater Reviews in Metro Manila
MANILA, Dec. 2, 2025 — The Manila Society of Theater Reviewers (MSTR) officially launches today, bringing together a collective of respected theater reviewers committed to fostering informed, consistent, and publicly accessible discourse on the theater industry in Metro Manila.
Founded in 2025, MSTR is composed of reviewers from major print and online publications, professionals whose coverage of the theater scene spans decades. The Society aims to promote, support, and celebrate the industry by strengthening critical engagement at a time when the Manila theater landscape is experiencing renewed growth and visibility.
“Our theater community is thriving, but meaningful engagement requires a reliable and diverse critical voice,” said Nikki Francisco, MSTR Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheaterFansManila.com. “We formed the Society to help ensure that the productions, artists, and companies shaping our cultural life are met with thoughtful, publicly accessible reviews—reviews that treat this art form with rigor, respect, and perspective. A strong culture of criticism also empowers audiences: it helps them navigate an increasingly busy season, understand the intentions behind the work, and engage more deeply with what they’re seeing.”
At the core of MSTR’s work is the belief that theater reviews plays a vital role not just in documenting the scene, but also in elevating creative conversations among audiences, journalists, educators, and practitioners. Through regular writing and industry-wide dialogue, the Society seeks to help preserve the memory of contemporary theater while encouraging new generations of readers, reviewers, and theatergoers.
“Manila’s theater ecosystem–dynamic as it is now–is not just a phenomenon of the ‘now’; it’s also history in the making, one show at a time,” added Vincen Gregory Yu, co-founder and convener of MSTR. “By coming together as a community of reviewers, we hope to contribute to a more robust public conversation–one where reviews and analyses are seen not as gatekeeping, but as forms of care for the art and the people who make it.”
Current members include:
Vladimir Bunoan (ABS-CBN News Online)
Gibbs Cadiz (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Christa De La Cruz (Esquire Philippines)
Nikki Francisco (TheaterFansManila.com)
Arturo Hilado (Independent)
Emil Hofileña (TheaterFansManila.com / Independent)
Ricky Toledo (Philippine Star)
Chito Vijandre (Philippine Star)
Vincen Gregory Yu (The Diarist / Independent)
The Society welcomes ongoing dialogue with theater companies, academic institutions, and the broader performing arts community. Its website, mstrawards.com, will serve as the central hub for public updates, member information, and published works.
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