QUEZON CITY, Philippines — After months of anticipation, the Philippine Educational
Theater Association (PETA) officially opens the first live theatrical installment of the iconic
satirical franchise, “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 4: Oh Sht! It’s Live sa Cheter!”, running from
June 19 to August 16, 2026 at the PETA Theater Center.
The production embraces everything audiences have come to love about the “Ang Babae sa
Septic Tank” universe: humor, larger-than-life personalities, outrageous situations, and a
meta look at the messy business of making art. The result is a theatrical experience that is
hilarious, self-aware, and chaotic.
At the center of the story is a play within a play—a wildly ambitious adaptation of AurelioTolentino’s “Kahapon, Nga kill yon at Bukas,” one of the most significant works in Philippine theater, first staged in 1903. Somehow, against all odds and perhaps better judgment, itfinds itself inside the world of “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank,” where questions of power,resistance, and revolution are refracted through celebrity, spectacle, and theatrical chaos.
Caught in the middle of it all is Eugene Domingo, who recruits the “Ugeng-gengs” (a troupe
of aspiring performers personally recruited by Eugene), rallies an eclectic team of
collaborators, and pushes the project far beyond the limits of practicality. Visionary,
charismatic, exasperating, and impossible to ignore, she becomes the driving force behind a
production that threatens to spin gloriously out of control just as she tries harder and harder
to keep it under her full control.
Yet the production deliberately resists easy or didactic conclusions. As playwright Chris
Martinez explains: “The play doesn’t try to resolve that. It just puts it onstage.” The
production invites audiences to laugh at them, wrestle with them, and continue the
conversation long after the curtain falls.
That philosophy has always been central to the “Septic Tank” franchise. Previous
installments challenged audiences to confront uncomfortable truths about independent
filmmaking, commercial cinema, and historical revisionism. This latest chapter continues
that tradition by exposing the tensions within contemporary theater and the society it
reflects.
As Marlon Rivera, director of the first three “Septic Tank” installments and now a cast
member in the fourth, puts it: “Once the tyrant is expelled and the star is covered in shit,
does the audience walk out clean, or are they left holding the ticket stubs of their own
complicity?”
Audience demand has already translated into strong ticket sales, starting with two sold-out
weeks and several other performances fully booked throughout the run.
Tickets are still available via TicketWorld at bit.ly/SepticTank4Tickets and through
Showbuyers at bit.ly/SepticTank4Showbuyers.
For more information and updates, follow @petatheater on social media.
