Watch These 3 Transformative Theatrical Performances in Season of Power
You need to witness these three powerful stories of love, struggle, and creation on the theater stage
Words Marc Nathaniel Servo
Photo Courtesy of Theatre Group Asia
February 16, 2026
Known for melding the Filipino experience with global theatre, Theater Group Asia (TGA) is set to return for their 2026-27 season with three globally-celebrated works to premiere in the Philippines with reflections on the human capacity to influence through love, survival, and creation.
With The Notebook: The Musical, Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba, and Sunday in the Park with George, TGA encapsulates the human gift of moving hearts and changing minds in the bleak reality.
“While each production proudly spotlights artists and narratives, the season ultimately celebrates something even greater: the power every person holds to shape hearts, defy limits, and leave a lasting mark,” Clint Ramos, TGA Creative and Overall Artistic Director, shares.
Headlining the season in September 2026, The Notebook: The Musical makes its international premiere in Manila, following a more intimate and reflective take on Nicholas Spark’s iconic novel as titular characters Allie and Noah endures contemporary romance across multiple stages of their lives.
Adapted to film in 2004 starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams, the theatre production debuted in 2022 at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre under the direction of Michael Greif and Schele Williams, featuring music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson and script by Bekah Brunstetter.
Touted for its emotional restraint and lyrical storytelling, the production expands on the lives lived by Noah and Allie, as the audience bear witness to how their love matures, fractures, and eventually, endures, as they redefine how memory, aging, and devotion is explored in new age romance.
Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba is set to take the stage in February 2027, a Filipino adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s final and most powerful play by Chay Yew, and transposed by Guelan Varela-Luarca.
A domestic retelling of the universal struggle for freedom, dignity, and life, the story follows the tyrannical mother, Bernarda Alba, who, after her husband’s death, enforced an eight-year mourning period on her daughters—ruling the house with fear, tradition, and repression. Under the pressure of suffocating silence, desire and rebellion loomed, eventually driving the family to tragedy.
Regarded as one of the greatest Spanish plays of the twentieth century, Bernarda Alba remains to be the iconic searing critique of authoritarian control, patriarchy, and social conformity—and in its Filipino iteration, it represents the struggles of the nation under duress of contemporary issues.
Ending TGA’s seasonal run in June 2027 is Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Sunday in the Park with George, the musical inspired by Georges Seurat’s painting A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
The work revolves in a tale of obsessive drive by an artist consumed by creation, and the personal cost that accompany artistic brilliance. It combines the past and the present by structuring the story in the life of the artist, and a parallel narrative set a century later in reflection of legacy, innovation, and facets of meaningful art. Together, the play asks the audience to reflect on creativity, sacrifice, and the power of art to transcend time.
Under Lapine’s direction, the story challenged conventional musical theatre audiences through its intellectual ambition and emotional depth—now regarded as one of the greatest musicals ever written.
With the support of Ayala Land, Bank of the Philippine Islands, and Philippine Airlines, TGA is set to affirm its goal of performing its boldest season yet.
For more information, visit TGA’s website www.theatregroupasia.com, Instagram @theatregroupasia, or Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/theatregroupasia.
