The recent success of the play Twenty Questions, performed before a full house, is an affirmation of the continuing success of its producers, the Theater Titas, a twosome of friends and former teacher-student Chesie Galvez Carino and Cheese Mendez.
Chesie shared with the Daily Tribune that the group recently joined the ranks of other top theater companies in the membership roster of Philstage, the organization of professional theater companies in the country.
Reacting to their acceptance into this exclusive fold of the best thespians in this part of the world, Chesie said: “We’re proud of being a part of Philstage now. We were telling ourselves, sino ba naman kami? One has to qualify with three professional productions to one’s name.”
She enumerated all three — What’s in the Dark, Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio and Macbeth. “We also had one online during the pandemic, and we got a good number of people who watched it.”
So, what are they known for, the way certain theaters bring in their audiences because of their adaptation of world literature or their interpretations of Broadway hits? Chesie claimed, “because we do what we want to do. Macbeth was different. I like to think that ours is an accessible and enriching theater. Like we’re deliberately accessible and enriching.”
Of her first play, Chesie said: “I wrote it during a drama workshop that I was giving with Juan Ekis, the writer of Twenty Questions. He was giving the playwriting portion, so I said I would join. I had been working on it for several months. Then, he said, ‘Chesie, I really like your play, let’s just do it.’ I said, ‘Okay, let’s do it.’”
To Chesie, “being a producer is not just about providing the money. It’s like, if they need rehearsal space, then come over to our house. Theater is family to us.
“And even my kids, Sofia and Franco, are exposed to actors coming to our home. Sometimes they watch, and they both act. Carlos hired Sofia as his production assistant in Macbeth. Theater is part of our family life and we’re all happy and fulfilled being in theater.”