Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — In celebration of the National Children’s Month, Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (MULAT) is staging a Filipino adaptation of the timeless classic “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
Prinsipe Bahaghari (Rainbow Prince), written by Vladimeir Gonzales and directed by Aina Ramolete, revolves around the journey of Prinsipe Bahaghari in search of a companion that would help him in caring for his flower, the Gumamela, and keeping her safe in his home planet.
His encounters with a number of extraordinary characters ultimately led to his realization of what his relationship with the flower meant to him. Prinsipe Bahaghari offers life lessons (on loneliness, friendship, love, and loss) not only to children but even to adults.
This adaptation celebrates Filipino culture, myths, and language to make the play accessible especially to children. The puppets are made from rattan while local materials were also utilized in the production.
The Rainbow Prince/Prinsipe Bahaghari was the thesis production of Aina Ramolete in 2021 which received the UP Diliman Creative/Critical Thesis Grant in the Arts, Culture and the Humanities. It is a filmed stage production which was livestreamed in May 2021 via the Facebook pages of Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas and UP Diliman Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts.
The production was also featured during the 14th Annual Meeting and International Conference of the Asian Theatre Working Group (March 3, 2022, Quezon City, Philippines) and Puppet Power 2022: Celebration! (May 23-30, 2022, Calgary, Canada).
The Rainbow Prince/Prinsipe Bahaghari was also one of the Six Finalists from across the globe in The Red Curtain International’s Good Theatre Festival for Young Audiences (Sept. 24-25, 2022, India).
During the festival, an international jury recognized The Rainbow Prince/Prinsipe Bahaghari with the following awards:
– Best Script (Honorable Mention) – Vladimeir Gonzales
– Best Production Design – Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas
– Best Production – Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas
– Best Direction (Joint Winner) – Aina Ysabel B. Ramolete
MULAT is a puppet theater company founded by the late National Artist for Theater Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio, who was conferred the Order of the National Artists of the Philippines in 2018
Tickets for the November 11, 3:38 p.m. show at the Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Teatro Papet Museo in Quezon City are still available at Ticket2Me.
