Paul Christian Ocampo

REVIEW: PETA’s ‘Children of the Algo’ confronts reality and survival in the digital world

Article (news)

Alyana De Guzman

Push Team

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770285684153COTA-Cast-1.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><p><em>Children of the Algo</em> has grown into one of the most talked-about productions of the season after first appearing under PETA’s <em>Control + Shift</em> in 2024 and later in <em>Control + Shift: Changing Narratives Festival</em> in 2025. Written by Mixkaela Villalon and directed by Johnnie Moran, the play returns to the PETA Theater Center from January 27 to February 7, 2026, now headlining the company’s main theater season alongside<em> Kislap at Fuego.  </em></p><p>While its twinbill looks back at history and folklore, <em>Children of the Algo</em> shows off the present – placing the audience inside the fast-moving, filtered, and often exhausting world of Gen Z online.  </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/events/2026/1/23/here-are-the-ticket-prices-for-peta-s-kislap-at-fuego-and-children-of-the-algo-twinbill-1833" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>READ: Here are the ticket prices for PETA’s ‘Kislap at Fuego’ and ‘Children of the Algo’ twinbill</strong></a></div><p>From its opening moments, <em>Children of the Algo</em> makes it clear that it knows its audience. The language, gestures, and the pacing of the story all feel like something pulled straight from daily scrolling. At first, the experience felt light and almost comforting as the audience laughed easily, recognizing themselves in the characters’ humor and online personas. By making the audience feel at home, the play prepares them for the discomfort that follows. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Lives lived through the screen  </strong></div><p>The story follows four young content creators, each building an online persona while hiding personal struggles behind carefully curated posts. Yani (Nyla Festejo) is a corporate girl who talks about lifestyle and motivation. Jen (Frances Marie Akol), a college student, shares content on art, beauty, and food. Owen (James Pe Lim), a graphic artist, centers his channel on gaming and “sigma” ideas of manhood, often portraying toxic masculinity. Mark (Otep Madriaga) is a fast-food server who came from the province, sharing his experiences of trying to survive life in the city.  </p><p>The content creators open their idealistic digital world to the audience with a light and familiar touch that the younger audience loved. As the play goes on, real-life problems slowly break through, offering a more truthful view of each of the characters’ lives becoming less about content creation and more about survival.  </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Online success, offline struggle </strong></div><p>Yani’s story as a corporate worker with a low salary hit hard because it reflects a reality many young professionals live with daily. Her optimism and online representation of herself on being successful masked the frustration of working hard without seeing growth. Her reflections on why many young adults choose not to have children – because survival already feels too heavy – strike a quiet but deep chord. </p><p>Mark’s journey as an LGBTQIA+ <em>probinsyano </em>working in Manila carries a different kind of weight. His character shows how migration to the city, often sold as a dream, becomes a cycle of sacrifice and silence. He reveals the reality behind his cheerful vlogs: long hours, little pay, and the need to hide his struggles from his family. Everything he earns goes back home, leaving him with almost nothing for himself. The play makes it clear that his resilience is not a weakness but survival in hopes to give a better life for those left in the province.   </p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770285703273COTA-Cast-3.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><div><br/></div><p>Jen’s story as a college student and a child of an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) reflects another kind of absence. Though she performs well and appears stable for her to prove that she can stand on her own, her dreams feel delayed and impossible to achieve, shaped by years of growing up without the guidance of her parents.    </p><p>Owen, meanwhile, finds comfort almost entirely online. Through gaming terms, he talks about his truth, justice, and principles that seem too idealistic. He believes that the digital world offers an escape where everything feels better than real life. His story reveals how digital spaces become emotional shelters for many young people.  </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Gen Z language that hits close to home   </strong></div><p>One of the play’s biggest strengths is its use of humor through Gen Z terms, memes, and online references, not just to entertain. They act as a doorway, pulling the audience in before confronting them with serious themes like depression, low wages, corruption, and digital addiction. The dialogue feels current, natural, and sharp. Even though the play first premiered in 2024, the script has clearly been updated to keep up with how fast online language changes, and it shows how committed the play is to stay truthful to its world. </p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770285719494COTA-Cast-4.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></div><div><br/></div><p>This attention to detail makes the audience feel seen. Younger viewers, in particular, react strongly by laughing loudly at jokes they recognize from daily scrolling. The remarkable thing about the dialogue is that everyone also became silent when those same jokes turn into reflections of their own struggles. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>When the country enters the feed </strong></div><p>Beyond personal struggles, <em>Children of the Algo</em> also speaks about the state of the Philippines. The characters talk openly about recent typhoons, corruption, flood control projects, and the kind of forced resilience Filipinos are expected to show because there is often no one else to rely on.    </p><p>Each time the characters try to speak out, the stage responds with glitches. Lights flicker; sounds distort. The characters themselves are stunned, as if they were electrified by the glitch. These moments are clear and effective, showing how the algorithm controls not just what is seen, but what is allowed to be said. Silence, in their world, is not chosen – it is enforced. </p><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1770285733855COTA-Cast-2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/></div><div><br/></div><p>The two-tiered metal scaffolding set design, which the actors constantly climb and circle, becomes a clear symbol of the algorithm. No matter how much they move, they remain inside the same structure. Always moving within, but never truly leaving.    </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Breaking through the Algorithm  </strong></div><p>The audience response is one of the most telling parts of the experience. For much of the play, the theater is filled with laughter. The characters are funny, creative, and painfully accurate, adding to the successful use of Gen Z slang. But when the tone shifts, the theater room changes with it. The laughter fades, replaced by silence and heavy attention to every word each character says.  </p><p>Among the four, Otep’s portrayal of Mark stands out as the emotional core of the play. His struggle to escape the algorithm and the fake smiles it demands feels raw and deeply personal. Some audience members are moved to tears as he voices thoughts many people carry but rarely say out loud. When he tries to break free, the audience feels the weight of years spent pretending everything is fine. </p><p>The most powerful choice the play made is refusing to give easy answers. When the characters attempt to escape the algorithm, the play does not promise freedom or happiness. Instead, it ends with a sense of collective courage. </p><p>The final moments of Owen, Yani, Jen, and Mark as they break through the algorithm suggest that change may not be instant or guaranteed, but being radical and choosing activism is worth trying. In a world governed by structured rules to be followed, their act of resistance feels deeply human.<em> Children of the Algo</em> recognized its viewers and gave hope for the real change the future may bring.  </p><p><em>Children of the Algo</em> is currently playing at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City from January 27 to February 7, 2026.</p>

<p>'Children of the Algo' feels uncomfortably close to real life. What begins as a funny, meme-filled look at Gen Z content creators slowly reveals the exhaustion, fear, and quiet anger behind curated online lives.</p>

'Children of the Algo' feels uncomfortably close to real life. What begins as a funny, meme-filled look at Gen Z content creators slowly reveals the exhaustion, fear, and quiet anger behind curated online lives.