2TinCans Philippines Brings Ang Kawatan to The Kabilin Center This June
What happens when a story is not just told, but taken?
That is the uneasy question at the center of Ang Kawatan (The Thief), the second production of Kulukabildo II: Stories in Direct Light, presented by 2TinCans Philippines and The Kabilin Center this June in Cebu City.
Written by journalist and playwright Maverick Avila and directed by Vanessa Fe, Ang Kawatan runs on June 27 and 28, 2026 at The Kabilin Center on Eduardo Aboitiz Street, Tinago, Cebu City.
Quick Facts: Ang Kawatan in Cebu
- Production: Ang Kawatan (The Thief)
- Presented by: 2TinCans Philippines and The Kabilin Center
- Series: Kulukabildo II: Stories in Direct Light
- Playwright: Maverick Avila
- Director: Vanessa Fe
- Venue: The Kabilin Center, Eduardo Aboitiz Street, Tinago, Cebu City
- Show dates: June 27 at 7:00 PM, June 28 at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM
- Tickets: Available online at 2tincans-philippines.yapsody.com
- Content advisory: Strong language and mature themes including sexual violence. Suitable for ages 15 and above. Younger audiences must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Ang Kawatan is described as a tragicomedy set during a live televised book launch for Open Book with Frankie, a fading cultural program hosted by veteran host Frankie, played by Lord Lawrence Latonio.
The guest is celebrated novelist Mateo Robles, played by Dave Feril, who arrives ready to talk about the story behind his acclaimed bestselling book. What he does not expect is for Ana, played by Judee Kriselle Rallos, to walk into the studio and refuse to stay invisible.
Ana’s story, the production says, is one Mateo allegedly silenced, repackaged, and sold as fiction. From there, the live program becomes a public reckoning, not only for the man who benefited from another person’s truth, but also for the creative community that applauded, enabled, or looked away.
A Story About Who Gets to Own the Narrative
What makes Ang Kawatan immediately compelling is how specific its setup is. A televised literary interview. A respected author. A host trying to hold the room together. A survivor who refuses to be managed as a footnote.
But the questions it raises are bigger than the studio. Who gets believed? Who gets published? Who profits from pain? And when a community keeps clapping, is silence still neutral?
For a Cebu theater audience, this feels like the kind of work that does not just ask people to watch. It asks people to sit with what they recognize.
Vanessa Fe Makes Her Directorial Debut
Ang Kawatan also marks Vanessa Fe’s directorial debut, and the material appears to be an intentional, emotionally charged choice for a first full directorial outing.
In the production notes, Fe says the tragedy of the story does not enter loudly. It lives in quiet moments: “a community that keeps applauding, people who knew and said nothing.” She also makes clear that she did not want to put a survivor’s trauma on display. Instead, the goal is to make audiences recognize complicity, silence, and the systems that expose harm without necessarily protecting the person harmed.
That distinction matters. Stories about trauma can easily become extractive themselves. Ang Kawatan, at least from its premise, seems aware of that danger. It is not only about what Mateo may have taken from Ana. It is also about what audiences, institutions, and creative circles are willing to accept when the stolen story comes packaged as art.
From College Development to the Cebu Stage
The play comes from a long creative partnership between Fe and Avila, who first developed the story in college. According to the production, that shared conviction took three years to reach the stage.
That history gives the piece a different kind of weight. Ang Kawatan is not being positioned as a casual topical play. It sounds like a work that has been carried, questioned, and sharpened over time.
2TinCans Producing Artistic Director Sarah Mae Enclona-Henderson hopes audiences leave the production with curiosity, awareness, and responsibility. She says that if the play encourages even one person to see an issue differently, ask a difficult question, or take meaningful action, then it has fulfilled its purpose.
Part of Kulukabildo II: Stories in Direct Light
Ang Kawatan is the second installment of Kulukabildo II: Stories in Direct Light, a monthly theater series running from April to November 2026.
The series takes its name from the Bisaya concept of kulukabildo, described as an informal exchange or the kind of honest conversation that happens when people feel safe enough to speak freely. The series features the work of eight emerging Cebuano directors under the 2TinCans Directors Program.
For Manila-based theater followers, it is also another reminder that important Philippine theater conversations are not only happening in Metro Manila. Cebu’s theater scene has its own rhythm, urgency, and communities of artists telling stories from where they stand.
Cast and Creative Team
Ang Kawatan features Lord Lawrence Latonio as Frankie, Dave Feril as Mateo Robles, and Judee Kriselle Rallos as Ana.
Completing the cast are 2TinCans Theatre Company members Shiella Pestaño-Gemperoa as Gab, Shane Rennel Ayong as Kirby, and Grant Bacaltos as Patrick. The production is supported by stage manager Regina Binueza.
Why Ang Kawatan Is Worth Watching
The promise of Ang Kawatan is not just in its premise, but in the discomfort of its mirror.
It is a play about stolen stories, yes. But it also appears to be a play about the systems that make theft profitable, the rooms that reward charm over truth, and the communities that sometimes only react once the reckoning becomes impossible to ignore.
That makes its Cebu staging feel timely, especially in a cultural moment when questions of authorship, consent, accountability, and who gets to tell whose story continue to matter across art, media, publishing, and performance.
Show Details
Ang Kawatan (The Thief) runs on June 27, 2026 at 7:00 PM and June 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM at The Kabilin Center, Eduardo Aboitiz Street, Tinago, Cebu City.
Tickets are available online through 2tincans-philippines.yapsody.com.
Content advisory: The production contains strong language and mature themes including sexual violence. It is suitable for ages 15 and above. Younger audiences must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
Photos courtesy of 2TinCans Philippines and The Kabilin Center.