Puregold Takes Its Storytelling Ambitions to the Stage

Fresh from the conclusion of CinePanalo 2026, Puregold turns its attention from the big screen to the stage, with 26 one-act plays now vying for a spot in its inaugural theater festival.

Words Gerie Marie Consolacion
Art by Nicole Vinco
October 14, 2026

Art by Nicole Vinco

The hype has barely faded from the latest Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival, but Puregold is already preparing for another kind of spotlight.

After the recently concluded 2026 CinePanalo, which saw BC Amparado’s Mono No Aware take the top prize in the full-length category and Samantha Palaje’s Limlim emerge as the winning student short, the brand is shifting its storytelling platform from the cinema to the theater. 

The next stage is Teatro Panalo.

For its inaugural theater festival, Puregold received 373 original submissions from Filipino playwrights—an early indication that its move into live theater has found a receptive creative community. Now, 26 one-act plays remain on the shortlist: 16 straight plays and 10 musicals.

Only 12 will eventually make it to the festival stage.

The transition from CinePanalo to Teatro Panalo is a natural one for a company that has increasingly positioned its cultural initiatives around giving Filipino storytellers a platform. CinePanalo has built that model through film; Teatro Panalo seeks to extend it to live performance. 

From the cinema to the stage

CinePanalo’s latest edition brought together seven full-length films and student shorts, giving established filmmakers and emerging creators an avenue to put original Filipino stories before audiences. The 2026 festival ran from September 23 to October 4, with screenings held in several Metro Manila cinemas. 

The festival concluded with Mono No Aware dominating the full-length awards, taking nine honors including Pinakapanalong Pelikula, Panalong Direktor for BC Amparado, Panalong Aktor for Juan Karlos, and awards for cinematography, editing, sound design, and ensemble. 

In the student shorts category, Limlim took the top prize, while other student filmmakers were recognized across categories including international jury, story, audience choice, acting, cinematography, editing, and sound design. 

Now, the same broader philosophy of nurturing Filipino storytelling is moving into another medium.

Teatro Panalo was launched in August as an incubation theater festival designed to discover, develop, and stage original Filipino one-act plays and musicals. The program is presented by Puregold and produced and organized by Wishbone Collective Inc. 

In just over a month, from August 8 to September 11, the festival received 373 submissions from both emerging and established playwrights. 

Another 26 stories step into the light

From those hundreds of submissions, 26 works have now emerged as the shortlist.

The straight-play category includes “@Home” by Edralin Cabrera, Kathlyn Castillo, Michael Ian Lomongo, Marjorie Lorico, Maria Teresa Jamias, and J. Victor Villareal; “Ang Huling Panawagan sa Pagdarasal” by Mubarak M. Tahir; “Ang Pagbabalik ng Voltes V” by Neil Arkhe Azcuna; “Mga Diwata IRL” by Jay M. Crisostomo IV; “Nang Muli Kang Makakanta” by Ma. Angelica S. Chiuteña; and “Nothing But Dreams” by Ricardo C. Novenario.

Also shortlisted are “Palabas/Exit” by Angel Oclarit, “Pax Silica” by Robert Arlou De Guzman, “Silang mga Bayani’t Banal” by Anthony Kim Vergara, “Soap Opera” by Jerry O’Hara, “The Boy Foretold by the Stars” by Dolly Dulu, “The Girl Scout Law” by Rhain Arabella Alcoriza, “Trahedya ng Kamote” by Marjay S. Manalastas, “True to Life” by John ‘Sweet’ Lapus, “Walang Maliit na Bagay” by Joshua Lim So, and “Youngstunna” by Jerom Andrei M. Canlas.

The 10 shortlisted musicals are “Ang Maayong Balita Sumala Kang Bibo Bautista” by Jude Thaddeus M. Gitamondoc; “At Bumaba Ang Mga Tala” by John Rey Tayag Magin; “Baka Mali ang Tamaraw” by Emmanuel Benbinuto Antonio; “City in Darkness: A Lockdown Musical” by Senedy Que; “Feverish Time” by John Edrick R. Alcontado; “Manang-Mana Nga!” by Steven Hotchkiss; “Outside Looking In” by Timothy Carlo Racho and Michael Angelo Lopez; “Tagpuan” by John Austin Perez; “Tala” by Jiezl Virmy Chua; and “The Fourth Wall Has Fallen” by Heber Justin P. O’Hara.

The 26 works represent another batch of Filipino stories waiting to be developed and experienced by audiences—this time without a cinema screen separating performers from viewers.

A different kind of storytelling gamble

If CinePanalo gives filmmakers the opportunity to take a story from script to screen, Teatro Panalo is attempting a similar journey in real time.

On stage, there are no retakes. A scene happens in front of the audience and disappears. Actors respond to one another in real time. The relationship between performer and audience becomes part of the experience.

That makes the festival’s development component particularly significant.

Each of the 12 selected playwrights will receive 100,000 php in financial compensation, along with development and production support from Wishbone Collective Inc. The eventual festival lineup will consist of eight straight plays and four musicals, which will be staged from February 20 to March 14, 2027. 

For festival chair and Puregold senior marketing manager Ivy Hayagan-Piedad, the response to Teatro Panalo reflects the same creative energy that has fueled the company’s film initiative.

“We received a remarkable level of interest in the first Puregold Teatro Panalo,” Hayagan-Piedad said, describing the volume and quality of submissions as a reflection of the depth of Filipino talent and the continuing vitality of the country’s theatrical community.

From one festival to another

The connection between CinePanalo and Teatro Panalo goes beyond their shared name.

Both are built around the idea of giving Filipino creators the resources and platform to develop original work and reach audiences. Teatro Panalo, in particular, has been described as an incubation festival where works can evolve from script to stage through dramaturgical support, production resources, and audience engagement. 

That model also gives the theater festival an opportunity to build on the momentum generated by CinePanalo.

The recently concluded film festival demonstrated the range of stories that can emerge when Filipino filmmakers are given a platform. Teatro Panalo now asks what happens when that same commitment is applied to playwrights and live performance.

Festival director Vincent de Jesus believes the 26 shortlisted works show enough promise to make that experiment worthwhile.

“It was difficult enough narrowing things down to 26 deserving one-act plays,” de Jesus said.

The next cut will be harder: only 12 works will make it to the festival.

The story continues after the curtain

Teatro Panalo’s ambitions also extend beyond its March 2027 conclusion.

At the end of the festival, one straight play and one musical will receive development grants intended to transform the winning one-act works into full-length productions.

That means the festival is not necessarily the destination for the stories it selects.

Like CinePanalo, where a festival screening can serve as an important introduction for filmmakers and their work, Teatro Panalo is creating the possibility that a short theatrical work can become something larger.

For Puregold, then, the move from CinePanalo to Teatro Panalo is more than a change of venue.

The cinema screen is giving way to the theater stage, but the larger project remains the same: finding Filipino stories, giving their creators a platform, and helping those stories travel further.

After three editions of CinePanalo, the next act is now taking shape.

And this time, the lights are going up on a stage.