The inaugural batch of Guang Ming College (GMC) students, the first to complete the 4-year Bachelor’s of Performing Arts (BPA) at the Tagaytay Campus so generously built by Fo Guang Shan (FGS), successfully completed their creative capstone projects last February 27-28, and March 6-8, 2026. All three productions initiated engagements and opportunities that went beyond Capstone Projects of the past, and sought to connect to more audiences.

The BPA Theater presented two original plays “Kulilipaw” written by Arielle Racsa (4BPAT) and directed by Rocelle Harayo from the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA), and “She” written by Maxine Godino (4BPAT) and directed by Jewelaine Jade Cereno. “Kulilipaw” is a children’s play that brings a protagonist to a different world to learn how to be kind and to value nature. The play was presented during a Three Acts of Goodness visit to the Tagaytay Campus. Notably, it was extended to 5 shows to accommodate the demand from public schools that attended. The teachers who attended appreciated the show for the values it taught, while the young students enjoyed the theatricality and spectacle in the play.

“She”, on the other hand, focuses on two sisters with different experiences of gender: Francine is a transgender woman, and Lorraine is her cisgender sister. Through the play, clashing views on womanhood, love, and family come to bear. For its part, “She” was performed at Pasinaya and the Tanghal Lusong with support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Artist, Inc. They are slated to perform at the Act Avenue Theater Festival in Quezon City with support from NCCA at the NCCA Auditorium Intramuros. These engagements show how the BPA Theater students are able to platform contemporary issues relevant today.

The BPA Dance presented an original full-evening choreographic work, “Pahid” choreographed by Evan Joe Asuela. “Pahid” is based on Asuela’s experiences of friendship’s influence on one’s identity, where movement themes developed through the piece were based on his dancers’ own personalities and how he saw they each influenced the other’s identity. For their part, the production hosted fourteen (14) Bataan High School for the Arts students, led by BPAD alumni Erwin Cupla, to not only watch the performance. They were also given a ballet and contemporary dance workshop led by the BPA Dance students. The production also hosted a “talk-back” where the students asked questions related to performance and design.

Aside from original production, it must also be noted that a few dance and theater students also joined professional musicals Tanghalang Pilipino’s Gregoria Lakambini and Newport Performing Arts Theater’s Bagets: The Musical.

Ultimately, these Capstone Projects indeed show that students from this inaugural batch are now well-poised to make a mark in their industry as they share and embody the knowledge and values as scholars of the Institution’s Founder, Venerable Master Hsing Yun.