DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 June 2026) — Laughter erupted from a roomful of aspiring performers — many of whom had never stepped into a musical theatre workshop before — as they belted songs, stumbled through choreography, embraced mistakes, and cheered one another on in the dance studio along F. Torres Street.
Thursday, June 25, marked the close of the three-day musical theatre workshop organized and facilitated by Davao-born musical theatre performer Andrew Topinio, who had just returned home from Australia to be met with an unexpectedly strong response from aspiring performers, with participants ranging from their early 20s to late 30s.
One workshop participant shared how, for years, she believed that pursuing theatre meant eventually leaving Davao.
“I thought that after graduating, there would be no more opportunities in Davao. It’s all in Manila,” she said. “But when I saw the post about this workshop, doon ko na-realize na, may mga opportunities din pala (that’s where I realized that, there are opportunities [here] as well).”
“You are not alone,” she added. “There will always be people with you.”
It was a sentiment echoed throughout the room.
Some spoke of putting lifelong dreams on hold out of fear of being judged. Others admitted they had searched for years for adult theatre workshops in the city, only to find programs largely geared toward children. Several described the workshop as the first time they had found a genuine, creative space where making mistakes felt safe.
For Topinio, those reactions affirmed why he came home.
“I always felt like I wished that I could get something that has to do with theatre,” Topinio told MindaNews. “One of the things that I have drilled into myself is: if there are no open doors, bust a door open.”
“I always wanted to be what I wanted when I was younger — which was to be a resource for people who want to do theatre,” he continued.
Having recently returned to Davao, Topinio conducted a three-day adult musical theatre workshop, introducing participants to stage acting, choreography, vocal performance, and even a feel of the audition process. But more than teaching technique, he hoped to address what he saw growing up as the biggest barrier to theatre: accessibility.
“When I was younger, accessibility was really about having money,” he said. “If you didn’t have money, you couldn’t see shows. You couldn’t see theatre.”
Today, he believes the internet has begun changing that by making performances available online. Still, he said access to quality acting training remains limited outside major cities.
“Acting training. It’s rare to see an acting teacher here in Davao,” he said. “Abroad, it’s so accessible.”
Yet his message to aspiring performers was not to sit and wait around until the “perfect” opportunity arrives.
“Just because walang opportunity dito (there’s no opportunity here), doesn’t mean you can’t do what you want to do,” he said. Before moving to Australia, Topinio staged his own one-man show version of SpongeBob the Musical for family and friends simply because he wanted to perform.
“You don’t need to go outside in order to do what you love,” he said.
For many participants, the workshop became less about learning choreography than overcoming fear.
One participant, who described herself as a perfectionist, said she had always believed performers needed to look and sound flawless.
“Growing up… I thought I had to look so pretty for the part,” she said.
Hearing the instructors encourage participants to “embrace your ugly voice,” she said, felt “very liberating.”
“In the theatre world, it’s very healing,” she continued.
Another participant said joining the workshop helped dispel a fear that had kept them from similar programs.
“It’s okay to make mistakes,” they said. “That’s the highlight for me… because one thing that stopped me from joining workshops was the people. I’m afraid na ma-judge (to be judged).”
Others echoed that sentiment, describing the workshop as “a safe space,” praising the instructors’ honest feedback and saying they left not only with new skills but also with more confidence in themselves to perform.
Topinio said he was surprised by the response. Expecting he would have to heavily promote the workshop, he instead saw all slots fill within days.
“What really surprised me was how much it resonated with people … they really want this,” he said.
“It’s not just me hoping for this,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino. “A lot of people want it as well.”
Building a theatre rooted in Mindanao
Beyond the workshop, Topinio is already laying the groundwork for future productions — ones he hopes will help foster not just a theatre community in Davao, but a distinctly Mindanawon theatre practice.
The first is a cabaret-style production featuring songs and scenes that he hopes will ease newcomers into musical theatre. The second is a one-act adaptation of a classic 19th-century Gothic novella centered on a queer relationship, one that he is reimagining in Cebuano for local audiences.
Rather than simply translating the work, Topinio said he wants to reshape it through collaboration with Mindanawon writers, performers and visual artists.
“I want to translate it in a way that makes sense for people in Mindanao,” he said.
“That’s the beauty of it — you get to collaborate with other people,” he added. “You get to learn from them.”
“In a way, it doesn’t become a narcissistic project. It’s a way for us to highlight what we can do and share that as a team,” he continued.
Rather than beginning with a familiar musical or commercially proven title, Topinio chose to develop a literary work centered on a queer relationship — one he believes can resonate with local audiences when reimagined through familiar language and grounded in local contexts.
For him, however, the productions are not an end in themselves. They become part of a larger effort to prove that theatre in Davao need not revolve around importing productions or sending artists elsewhere.
Here, Davao becomes a place where new work is created, where stories from elsewhere are transformed through local languages and perspectives, where homegrown artists shape the creative process, collaborating across disciplines, and where Mindanawon voices help determine not only who performs, but what stories get to be told.
“I’m very open for other people to start their own theatre company,” he said. “At the end of the day, we just want people to value the arts.”
“If Manila can do it, Cebu can do it, Davao can also do it,” he concluded.
His hope, he said, is not to become the city’s only theatre-maker, but to create enough momentum that others begin building productions — and even their own companies — alongside him.
For participants, the workshop suggested that such a future may already be taking shape.
Several described arriving with the assumption that meaningful theatre opportunities existed only in Metro Manila. They left instead with a growing sense that Davao’s theatre community could expand not simply through visiting productions, but through artists choosing to build new work at home. (Bea Gatmaytan / MindaNews)
