Why Bicol theater revived a century-old epic

DEFEND IBALONG. In a scene from ‘Ibalong Z: A New Bikol Musical,’ Baltog lfigures in a bone-crushing struggle against the 'tandayag,' a monstrous, tusked terror laying waste to the farmers' sacred taro fields. 

REINNARD BALONZO/RAPPLER.

The playwright behind ‘Ibalong Z: A New Bikol Musical’ hopes the younger generation will ‘fall in love with the story and feel inspired to read’ the epic

AT A GLANCE

• 'Ibalong Z: A New Bikol Musical' revitalizes the ancient 'Ibalong' epic, aiming to reconnect younger audiences with Bicolano cultural heritage.
• The production addresses the challenges of declining literacy and cultural disconnection in the region, encouraging appreciation for local literature through theater.
• Despite financial and logistical hurdles, the musical has successfully engaged thousands of attendees, fostering a deeper understanding of Bicolano roots and the importance of preserving regional stories.

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ALBAY, Philippines — Far from a simple adaptation, Ibalong Z: A New Bikol Musical gives the classic epic a fresh life on stage. It honors the roots of Bicolano culture while also taking a closer look at how the region’s stories have nearly been forgotten.

Drawn from the 60 surviving stanzas of the Ibalong epic, which chronicles the tales of ancient Bicol, the musical explores a growing disconnect between the younger generation and the region’s cultural heritage. These challenges have made it more difficult for traditional and cultural stories to be remembered and staged for public viewing.

Playwright and Bicol University theater instructor Jobert Gray Landeza shared that while the musical offers audiences a fresh theatrical experience, its ultimate goal is to introduce audiences to the original material, inspiring more readers and advocates to help preserve these regional stories.

“My best hope is that when the audience watches the play, they will fall in love with the story and feel inspired to read the original material,” Landeza said.

“I wanted to show them how great and powerful the epic is and how it deserves to be read and talked about in our age.” 

Landeza also noted that transforming the epic into a play gives the younger generation an opportunity to appreciate Ibalong, especially since most of them are not inclined to read and understand ancient literature.

This reluctance to read has been documented, with Bicol ranking fourth among the regions in the country struggling most with reading. In August 2026, the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) reported that at least 42,000 learners in the region struggle with reading, based on a comprehensive rapid literacy assessment. 

“With the looming literacy drought in the region, it’s very hard to make the younger generation read and understand Ibalong. Through theater and by using the language they are most familiar with, they were able to understand the cultural significance of Ibalong,” Landeza said. 

“Of course, theater is our best hope to cultivate the most important values and lessons from the epic for our younger audiences.”

With at least 12,500 attendees across six show schedules — the majority of whom were students and younger viewers — Landeza said the play successfully inspired many learners to read ancient and local literature. He added that this engagement helps in their journey to develop literacy skills while honoring the culture of the region.

Artistic hurdles

Ibalong originally bears influences from Indian Hindu epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata, and was traditionally narrated by a local poet known as a kadunung. 

In Bicol, the root word dunong means wisdom, portraying the kadunung as a wise bard safeguarding the survival of the ancient epic.

The story follows the three hero-warriors of Bicol: Baltog, Handyong, and Bantong. These heroes face various challengers and evil creatures that aim to destroy the land and people of Ibalong. 

Despite inspiring its own festival, previous Ibalong runs suffered from a low audience turnout, largely due to a lack of public funding and support for the local theater community and the scarcity of modern kadunungs who can retell the story.

Ibalong Z production manager Julie DM Vega noted that the costs entailed for such a production demand a larger budget, but local theater companies are left with minimal funding and restrictions on venues where they can rehearse.

“The budget allocated for Ibalong Z was too small for the demands of the production, leaving the team with so little resources for the preparations, given that the venue for practice was also very hard to find and outsource. We even had our rehearsals in the venue sometimes with the air conditioning shut down,” Vega said.

Because of this, Vega said that much of the younger generation has a very limited and surface-level knowledge and appreciation for Ibalong and other local epics. She believes that through this musical, audiences will not only discover the story but also learn more about the region and themselves.

“We want our audience to have their own experience and appreciation of Ibalong. Despite the hurdles, we saw how the audience embraced the play and the story of Ibalong, making the show boom,” she said.

Modern ‘kadunungs’

Izel Manata, who watched the play with her family and friends, shared that the play taught her about her Bicolano roots through the lens of a Gen Z kadunung.

“Watching Ibalong Z was very grounding and expansive because of how it made us realize the global and contemporary resonance of an epic that was first told centuries ago” she said. “The play was able to transform the historical relic into a humanizing methodology that deeply touched me.”

Manata added that in a fast-evolving world, it is crucial that Bicolano folktales be preserved through vigorous and expansive storytelling, much like what was achieved with Ibalong Z.

With the rest of the unrecovered original parts of the epic forever lost, Bicolanos must now take on the role of modern kadunungs. 

Landeza emphasized that it is vital for them to help preserve the story of Ibalong and make it more meaningful. He noted that audiences should retell their experiences, grounding the epic in their contemporary realities of living in and loving the land of Ibalong.

“It is very important that we document and write our reviews of the play and of the story of Ibalong because it can help us reach more people,” he said. “That can greatly help not only the theater scene to thrive, but also promote our cultural identity as Bicolanos.”