CCP National Theatre Live adds more screenings following sold-out shows, public demand

MANILA, Philippines — The Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) initiative to screen broadcasted stage performances by National Theatre Live (NTL) in the Philippines will get additional screening dates due to popular demand.

The first season of CCP NTL began last September 26 with Lolita Chakrabarti's stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s best-selling novel "Life of Pi" about a teenage boy stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.

The second installment on October 31 was initially going to be the 2011 Danny Boyle and Nick Dear adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternating as the titular character and his monster.

Instead, the Halloween offering of CCP NTL will be Phoebe Waller-Bridge's one-woman show "Fleabag," the play inspiring the hit BBC series of the same name also with Waller-Bridge, bumped up from February 27 next year.

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The two screenings of "Fleabag" at Greenbelt 3's Cinema 1 quickly sold out, prompting CCP to open two more screenings which also sold out and fans are clamoring for the addition of more screenings.

Beginning the third installment on November 28, Anya Reiss' 21st century retelling of Anton Chekhov's classic play "The Seagull" starring "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke in her West End debut, there will be two screenings for each featured CCP NTL production.

From an initial 5:30 p.m. sole screening, the dual screenings going forward will be at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

"We have intentionally adjusted the screening schedule for audiences who would be coming out from their workplaces at 5 p.m. We take into consideration the rush hour traffic around that time," said CCP vice president and artistic director Dennis Marasigan.

Other shows in CCP NTL are "Much Ado About Nothing," "The Crucible," "Othello," "King Lear" with legendary actor Sir Ian McKellen, and "Hamlet" also starring Cumberbatch.

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