I am sitting inside a dark theater, cowering, covering my eyes, like I do when I’m watching horror films. But I’m not watching a movie, I’m watching a play–Studio A Productions’ “Gising Na.”
I had stumbled upon Studio A Productions on Instagram and was intrigued. I tried buying tickets to their show “Tulog Na” but I was too late—they were gone in a flash. The following week, when they announced that tickets to “Gising Na” were available, I made sure I bought mine quickly.
A few days later, my friend Jason and I walked through a nondescript gate in Pasig and followed signs that led to a warehouse door. We walked in and found ourselves in the black-and-gold world of Studio A Productions.
We grabbed food and drinks from the cafe—the honey peach iced tea is delicious and theirs is the biggest pile of nachos we’ve ever seen.
A book case opened, we walked through the haze of smoke and found our seats. That’s how I ended up in that dark theater—except it didn’t feel like your usual theater. We were inside someone’s house, the house of the show’s lead character Era, played by Kathy Arguelles.
On the front row, we were so close to the actors that we could touch them.
Every time it got dark, literally and figuratively, Jason and I elbowed each other in fear. “Pawis na pawis na ako,” he whispered not even two minutes in.
The dark is an important part of the show. It’s almost like another character. It’s pitch black, the kind of darkness that your eyes cannot adjust to. But the show wasn’t all darkness—there were lighter moments too. But when it got dark, it got really dark.
Days later, I returned to Studio A Productions to meet the people behind the show. The theater company was started just a year ago by a group of people “who have been friends for decades.”
Russell Tee and his friends spent a lot of time hanging out at his Artienda Art Gallery in Project 4, Quezon City. Because they’d heard horror stories about the gallery building, they’d try to scare one another. “Mahilig talaga kami magtakutan,” said Rhea Farrah Era.
Until one of them asked this question: “Gumawa kaya tayo ng stage play na nakakatakot? (What if we created a stage play that was scary?)”
The gallery’s aesthetics lent itself to the idea. “We would say things like, ‘Parang ang sarap mag-play sa hagdan na ‘to (It would be great to use these stairs in a play),’” said Farrah. “Fun fun lang nung una.”
But it wasn’t such a far-fetched idea. Some of them have theater experience, including Farrah who’s been acting for 30 years. “I’ve been in theater for a long time. I’ve worked with a lot of theater companies,” she said. Plus, all of them are creatives.
They decided to make it happen.
Something different
Danna Bernardino, an artist and sculptor who writes the plays and is also Studio A’s operations manager, said, “Our aim was to do something different. Something never seen before.”
“Something not done by the typical theater company,” added Farrah, who directs the shows and acts in them, and also serves as studio manager.
Unlike other shows that cast actors who fit the material, for “Gising Na,” their first production, they started with the cast.
“We asked ourselves, ‘If we were going to do a play, who would we want to work with?’” Farrah said.
On top of that list was Kathy. “I’ve worked with her a number of times. We came from the same theater company—the Sining Lahi Polyrepertory of PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines),” said Farrah.
For Kathy, it was an easy yes. “Since I’ve been in theater for more than 35 years, I welcome new things that are to my liking. This is new to me. This is my first time to do horror. So I was very interested.”
Danna said, “We built the story around the cast.”
They all agreed that Era was a role that only Kathy could play. “We molded the character based on her,” said Danna.
While Danna had never written for theater before, she had been writing since she was young. The group collaborated on the story and she fleshed it out. “There’s always a bit, if not a lot, of me in each line, in each story,” she said.
The role of Era is a demanding one—but it’s a challenge Kathy relishes. “It’s a matter of concentration. And of course, I’m very passionate about what I do. That’s my motivation.”
Farrah says that “Gising Na” is “50-percent acting, 50-percent technical.
We really take time rehearsing the lights and sounds because we have to be precise. One mistake and it could ruin a scene.”
A show needs an audience and so, when their friends showed up for an exhibit opening at Artienda, the Studio A Productions team handed out tickets along with a GCash code for payment.
Did they buy the tickets? “Wala silang choice, they’re our friends!” they said, laughing.
The first performance happened in November 2023, right there, at Artienda’s main gallery, with 120 people watching.
By the third show, the team rejoiced because a stranger had purchased tickets. “‘Uy, sino ‘to? Hindi na natin ‘to kilala ah,’” Danna recalled them saying.
Soon, more and more people were buying tickets.
Intimate
It’s a different experience both for the actors and audiences. It’s such an intimate show. Kathy said, “The closer the audience is to me, the more challenging it is. But it’s a good hugot. You get energy for them and you are motivated more. It’s that connection. Ang ganda na may engagement ka with the audience without actually talking to them. Minsan eye to eye, ‘di ba?”
It’s also a unique challenge for Farrah who is the show’s director but also plays Era’s sister Gie. “It’s hard in a way… But ang saya din. It’s an experience. It’s also easier when you’re directing actors you know well. Dito lang din ako nag-direct sa Studio A. (I only started directing here at Studio A.)”
There are a lot of firsts for the people of Studio A—firsts that they dive into with uncommon fearlessness.
“Tapang lang,” said Farrah.
That courage has been paying off. One testament to this are the audiences who keep asking for more.
A few months into the run of “Gising Na,” people started asking Studio A what was next. In response to clamor from audiences, they created a new show, called “Tulog Na.”
Russell said, “We wanted to make a play that sends the message to live life to the fullest.” And what better way to send that message than through the dead?
“Tulog Na” is set in a morgue. “It’s a dark comedy drama,” said Danna.
Kathy is part of it as well. “I am very thankful for the trust that Studio A has given me. Maraming magagaling na actors, maraming batikan, but I was chosen to do this. I feel flattered, of course, by the trust they’ve been giving me since day 1. As long as they want me, I’m willing to be here.”
Ethyl Anne Osorio, stage and TV actress, joined the cast as well. And I got to ask her a question I’ve never asked any interview subject before: “Isa ka sa mga bangkay?”
Ethyl does play one of the corpses and she is also Studio A’s acting coach.
What does she like about being part of the company? She said, “There’s always something new. And it’s like a family. It’s a collaboration… hindi lang yung, ito lang, andito ka lang. Malalabas mo lahat ng creative juices mo to its limit.”
“Tulog Na” began its run in March, also at Artienda Art Gallery, and just like “Gising Na,” it was embraced by audiences.
But Artienda is a gallery first, and often, they’d have to take down the set to make way for exhibits. They realized it was time to find a new home for Studio A Productions.
The group started dreaming again: What if they could build a theater where their shows can run simultaneously?
They started looking for spaces and they found one, on Facebook Marketplace, of all places. The warehouse in Pasig was the perfect spot. It was big enough, it was near their homes, it was near the art gallery, and there, they could continue their mission of bringing art to places outside of the usual hubs.
They moved to the new place just two months ago and they celebrated their new home by introducing a new show—“Salve,” which Danna says was the hardest for her to write.
The show delves into Filipino folklore. Salve is a manananggal and she’s played by Ethyl.
She said, “Every show is challenging and exciting. Each show feels like a brand new one. That’s how it should be, para iba din yung feeling na mabigay mo sa audience.”
“Salve” runs in their main theater and it’s always sold out as well, even though its theater capacity is twice and thrice the size of the other shows.
Why did “Salve” needed a bigger theater? “A lot of magic happens here,” was all the would say.
To get to the “Gising Na” and “Tulog Na” theaters, you need to walk through a book case. At the “Salve” theater, you have to walk into a wardrobe. “Like Narnia,” said Russell, except in this case, Narnia is a Filipino shanty town with an aswang.
They may be in their new home but there’s something that Studio A has taken with them from Artienda. Russell said, “We don’t have a backstage. That’s become our signature, we got used to it because that’s how we did it at Artienda. We worked with what we had in terms of the venue.”
Community
In just one year, Studio A Productions has built a community of people eager to see and experience what they do and what they’ll do next.
“Gising Na” had run at the gallery for 10 months but even at the new venue, people still couldn’t get enough. And it’s not just first-timers—they also have people who watch again and again.
“They keep coming back and they bring friends, their loved ones,” said Farrah
Kathy said, “Nakaka-overwhelm kasi hindi sila nagsasawa. It makes you want to do better, to give good energy, to deliver more. It inspires you more.”
“Some people watch 3 times, 5 times…. Some audience members have become our friends,” said Farrah. “We’ve even surprised some with birthday cakes during the show.”
They staged “Gising Na” on Valentine’s Day, selling tickets just the day before, and were shocked when it was sold out quickly.
Farrah said, “We started to see that we weren’t limited to one kind of audience. We started to see families, even kids, seniors.”
People react to the shows in different ways. Some get anxiety attacks while watching “Gising Na.”
They talked about one audience member who cried through a performance of “Tulog Na.” Later on, they’d share with the team that before watching the show, they had made plans to take their own life. They were ready, they knew how they would do it, but “Tulog Na” changed their mind. “You saved a life,” that audience member told them.
Farrah, who plays Rose in “Tulog Na,” said, “I also experienced an audience member hugging me and crying, saying thank you. She said, ‘I remembered my mom, that’s exactly what happened when she died…’ It’s very rewarding.”
People go for the scares—but leave with more than that.
Danna said, “People get more than they bargained for. Our shows are just horror-themed… but they’re not really scary.”
But they will turn up the scare factor in “Bisita,” a new production which will begin its run on Oct. 26. It’s about communicating with the dead.
This is their first show with no comedy or drama. “It’s full on horror,” said Danna, and it’s meant to be a Halloween special.
We went up to the “Bisita” theater, the same theater where “Tulog Na” was staged. There are people who believe that this part of the warehouse is haunted. They were doubtful, the Studio A team said, until they started experiencing it themselves.
During rehearsals, one of the actors felt a co-star push her—but there was no one close enough to have done it. Another actor started crying because they bumped into someone, something in the dark—and whoever, whatever, it was, was as cold as ice.
I asked: Can you say this is your scariest production yet? The answer was a resounding yes.
They said that the show is scary, so scary that, “Seryoso, kami mismo natatakot.”
I asked: Do they think the show is so scary that not everyone can handle it? Again, a resounding yes.
In fact, they don’t think they’ll ever create a show this dark again. It’s so dark that those who will watch will be asked to sign a waiver. And at every performance, their plan is to have a doctor, psychiatrist and a priest on standby. Yes, a priest.
Kathy and Ethyl will both be in “Bisita.”
Kathy said, “We have to be prepared mentally, physically and spiritually. We have to be ready. We never know what’s going to be happen. Hindi siya nakatali sa script eh, so unexpected things might happen.”
Ethyl added, “Psychologically, this is experimental so you really have to be well prepared. Nag-uusap pa lang kami about this, natatakot na kami.. And we’re doing it in the scary place here.”
“Bisita” is a show definitely not for the faint of heart. Danna said, “Kung takot ka, kung duwag ka, it’s not for you.”
If you do go, go early—for “Bisita” and the other shows. If you’re late, you will not be allowed in because you will ruin the experience for everyone else.
Busy
Things have gotten so busy at Studio A that Farrah has quit her day job to focus on the company. They’ve also been able to give more people jobs. The carpenters who built their sets now also work as their front of house staff.
“Sila-sila, kami-kami,” said Farrah. “Masipag sila and they understood what we were trying to do. We want to work with people who see our vision.”
Their staff also includes working students. “They grow as we grow. It’s really become a family. They learn and they enjoy because this is also a new experience for them.”
So much has happened for and at Studio A Productions in just one year. They’re not just fearless, they’re fast. “We work well under pressure,” said Farrah.
“We operate like a start-up,” said Russell. “Salo-salo.”
Like for one “Tulog Na” performance, it was Russell who operated the lights, while Danna was also able to step in for the sound guy.
The past year has been overwhelming, said Danna. “We’re so happy we get to see our passion come to life.”
What else is next for them?
Russell said, “Definitely, with the way we tell stories, we will continuously innovate… Our culture is so rich, we want to bring it [to the theater].”
Dannah said, “We’re trying to send out the message that theater is for different people from different walks of life. You are all welcome here.”
Studio A Productions is at 57 Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Avenue Pasig City. For show announcements and ticket availability, follow @studio.a.productions.