A festival of contemporary Filipino plays written entirely in Tagalog is returning to Bindlestiff Studio in San Francisco, marking a comeback after a three-year hiatus. TAGALOG 2026 gathers three one-act works by playwrights based in Manila, performed in Tagalog with projected English supertitles so Bay Area audiences can follow along.
The lineup includes “Ang Pag-Uulyanin Ni Olivia Mendoza” (The Forgetting of Olivia Mendoza) by Rolin Cadallo Obina, centered on an older woman named Olivia Mendoza, directed by Allan “Samson” Manalo; “Mommy G” by Jobert Grey Landeza, directed by Joe Cascasan; and “Identité” by Jhudiel Clara D. Sosa, directed by Aureen Almario, according to Bindlestiff Studio. “Mommy G” depicts a mother preparing to make a major announcement on her 65th birthday, while “Identité” depicts a daughter explaining the pleasures of masturbation to her old-school religious mother, per the San Francisco Chronicle.
In “Mommy G,” a child tells the mother, “You’re making it sound like you’re coming out of the closet,” while in “Identité,” a character named Luz tells Olivia, “You are the driver, not the passenger. Maneuvering your way along the winding roads with confidence!” The Chronicle piece, written by Lily Janiak and published in the Theater section as a Datebook Pick, says the festival takes place at Bindlestiff Studio, 185 Sixth St., in San Francisco, where tickets cost between $35 and $50.
A Stage Built for the Philippine Diaspora
Bindlestiff Studio is described as the only community-based venue in the United States dedicated exclusively to showcasing performing arts of the Philippine diaspora, according to Theatre Bay Area. The outlet describes the space as an 89-seat black box theater situated in San Francisco's SOMA Pilipinas Cultural District. TAGALOG 2026, the same report notes, centers work by contemporary playwrights living in the Philippines and brings it into dialogue with Filipinx American artists and Bay Area audiences.
Theatre Bay Area frames the festival's mission as an effort to reclaim Tagalog as a living theatrical language and to affirm Filipinx stories, humor and emotional truth. That framing echoes the venue's history: Bindlestiff launched its first Tagalog festival in 2016, drawing plays from Manila's Virgin Labfest and pairing them with English surtitles collectively translated by members of the Bay Area's Filipino American community, as reported by American Theatre. The venue hosted two more bilingual festivals before the pandemic, then shifted to virtual programming blending Tagalog language classes with playwriting, the same outlet notes.
Honoring a Co-Founder's Legacy
TAGALOG 2026 honors co-founder Joyce Juan-Manalo, who died in 2023, per the Chronicle. Juan-Manalo and her husband, Allan Samson Manalo, took over Bindlestiff in 1998 and transformed it into what Bindlestiff Studio calls an epicenter of Pilipin@ performing arts. A memorial site for Juan-Manalo states she produced the Tagalog festival of plays from 2019 through 2022 and died on July 17, 2023.
The festival Juan-Manalo built, known as Tagalog Fest, presented plays selected from Manila's Virgin Labfest, according to Bindlestiff Studio. That pipeline from Manila continues in this year's selections: “Mommy G” was part of the Virgin Labfest's 2025 lineup, as reported by BusinessWorld Online, which also reported that “Identité” was one of three plays brought back from the prior year's edition for the 2025 Virgin Labfest.
Who's Performing, and When
The cast includes Trixia Apiado, Paolo Asuncion, Raphael Louis Buenaventura, Jay Bordon, Nic Feliciano, Eve Ganderosa, Nix Guirre, Archie Lacanilao, Faye Lacanilao, Samantha de la Serna, Nikki Santiago and Patrick Silvestre, according to Bindlestiff Studio's listing.
Sources differ on the festival's exact run. The Chronicle lists TAGALOG 2026 as running November 5-21, 2026, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, November 5-7. Theatre Bay Area, however, states the festival will be performed in October 2026. Those interested in attending can reach Bindlestiff Studio at 415-796-3848 to confirm showtimes before planning a visit.
