Jaehwa Bernardo

The cast of 'Ateng' with writer Vincent de Jesus (third from the left) and director Rem Zamora (fifth from the left) during a press conference for the play at Rampa Club in Quezon City, October 29, 2025. Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Staged at drag club, play 'Ateng' shows LGBTQ+ struggles

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761735895619photo_2025-10-29_19-02-51.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The cast of &#x27;Ateng&#x27; with writer Vincent de Jesus (third from the left) and director Rem Zamora (fifth from the left) during a press conference for the play at Rampa Club in Quezon City, October 29, 2025. <em>Jaehwa Bernardo, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The stage of Rampa, a popular drag club in Quezon City, is set to transform as it hosts &quot;Ateng,&quot; a dark comedy play exploring the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community in the 2000s.</p><p>Based on the Palanca Award–winning piece by composer Vincent de Jesus, &quot;Ateng&quot; is set in 2005 and follows Juicy, an impersonator who is smitten with — and often taken advantage of by — his boy toy Onyx, a situation that sparks tension with his older sibling, Kiwi, who runs a beauty parlor.</p><p>At a press conference held Wednesday, De Jesus shared that the re-staging of &quot;Ateng,&quot; which was first presented in 2005 at the Virgin Labfest, has been seven years in the making.</p><p>TV personality Boy Abunda, who co-produces the play, had long encouraged De Jesus to revive &quot;Ateng,&quot; having seen a previous staging. Their plans were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Abunda reached out to De Jesus again in June to finally push through with the production.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s really a struggle of Ateng (Kiwi) fighting for his worth in a society that marginalizes him, but he&#x27;s fighting that struggle for his &#x27;sister,&#x27;&quot; De Jesus said.</p><p>De Jesus said the play aims to show young people &quot;how the LGBT community was during 2005,&quot; a time before social media and when people weren&#x27;t as open as they are today.</p><p>&quot;Ibang-iba &#x27;yong mundo 20 years ago. So that&#x27;s the reason why we&#x27;re mounting it again — para lang matingnan natin [if] may improvement na ba, gaano kalaki,&quot; he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761736096505ATENG - WITH ARTIST (1).jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><p>The cast features Jason Barcial and Io Balanon as Juicy; Thou Reyes — returning to the stage after eight years — and De Jesus as Kiwi; and Kokoy de Santos, in his stage debut, alongside Dyas Adarlo as Onyx.</p><p>&quot;Challenge para sa akin ito... iba &#x27;yong commitment ng teatro eh,&quot; said De Santos, known for starring in the boys&#x27; love series &quot;Gameboys&quot; in 2020.</p><p>&quot;As an ally of the community, ang gandang mensahe noong materyal,&quot; he said.</p><p>Reyes said he chose to do &quot;Ateng&quot; since his character, Kiwi, was not the stereotypical &quot;parlorista&quot; (parlor gay).</p><p>&quot;I like to represent this kind of character na hindi binabatuk-batukan, hindi siya kinakawawa. I think matagal nang nasanay &#x27;yong manonood natin na kapag sinabing gay character o bakla, puro patawa,&quot; Reyes explained.</p><p>&quot;Iyon &#x27;yong binabago nang ganitong klaseng materyal and I don&#x27;t think maraming materyal [na ganoon]. I think kulang pa nga eh. Dapat gumawa pa nang maraming materyal para mas malinawan sila,&quot; Reyes said.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761736116622photo_2025-10-29_19-02-48.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">(From left) Thou Reyes, Kokoy de Santos and Jason Barcial perform a scene from &#x27;Ateng&#x27; during the press con</span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>Drag club as venue</strong></div><p>&quot;Ateng&quot; also marks the first theatrical production to be staged at Rampa, which De Jesus described as &quot;the perfect place,&quot; noting that one of the characters is a Tina Turner impersonator while the venue itself is a drag club.</p><p>De Jesus shared that he also wanted to mount the play in an unconventional venue.</p><p>&quot;Aside from puno na lahat ng usual venue for theaters, naisip ko, wouldn&#x27;t it be nice to mount it at a bar?&quot; he told ABS-CBN News, noting how, in the past, plays were often held in spaces such as bars, restaurants and libraries.</p><p>While the preview performance during the press conference featured a bare stage, director Rem Zamora said the Rampa stage will be fully transformed with set pieces for the actual run of &quot;Ateng.&quot;</p><p>“Ateng” will run from November 14 to December 7, with performances every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are available via <a href="https://ticket2me.net/"><strong>Ticket2Me</strong></a> or through walk-in purchases at Rampa.</p>

<p>The stage of Rampa, a popular drag club in Quezon City, is set to transform as it hosts 'Ateng,' a dark comedy play exploring the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community in the 2000s.</p>

The stage of Rampa, a popular drag club in Quezon City, is set to transform as it hosts 'Ateng,' a dark comedy play exploring the struggles of the LGBTQ+ community in the 2000s.

Staged at drag club, play 'Ateng' tackles LGBTQ+ struggles

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Staged at drag club, play 'Ateng' tackles LGBTQ+ struggles

Jaehwa Bernardo,

ABS-CBN News

Published October 29, 2025 07:31 PM PHT

Read More:

theater

play

Ateng

Vincent de Jesus

Rem Zamora

Thou Reyes

Kokoy de Santos

Rampa Club

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