Starring Eula Valdes and Martin del Rosario, Joshua Lim So’s Filipino adaptation of Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” turns a family’s struggle with corruption, accountability, and a buried past into a theatrical reflection on the country’s troubled flood control projects.
What happens when the people desperate to escape accountability become entangled in the very truth they are trying to hide?
That question drives “REX,” a contemporary Filipino adaptation of Sophocles’ classic tragedy Oedipus Rex, which brings the consequences of corruption and the pursuit of truth into a distinctly Philippine setting.
Produced by De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) through its School of Arts, Culture and Performance (SACP), the production reimagines the ancient Greek tragedy against the backdrop of alleged corruption surrounding flood control projects—a national concern that has intensified public scrutiny of infrastructure spending and accountability.
Written by Palanca Hall of Famer and Benilde Film faculty member Joshua Lim So, and directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio, the play places a powerful family at the center of a crisis that becomes both political and deeply personal.
A family, a construction company, and a buried truth
In Benilde’s published synopsis, the Po family grapples with its links to corrupt flood control projects as torrential rains leave more than a hundred people dead in the fictional city of Tebes.
Facing possible prosecution and desperate to save its company, St. Paul the Apostle Constructions, the family finds itself confronting a past that has remained buried but continues to shape its present.
The premise echoes the central conflict of Sophocles’ tragedy: the pursuit of truth can become a devastating journey when the answers threaten those who hold power.
In this adaptation, the ancient city of Thebes becomes Tebes, while the timeless questions of responsibility, denial, and fate acquire contemporary resonance through the realities of infrastructure failures and the human consequences of corruption.
The production does not merely transplant a Greek classic into a modern setting. It uses the structure of tragedy to examine what happens when private interests collide with public responsibility—and when the truth can no longer be contained.
Eula Valdes and Martin del Rosario reunite onstage
The production brings together Eula Valdes as Jacosta and Martin del Rosario as Eddie Po.
According to Hello Mnl, “REX” marks their first project together in 12 years, adding another dimension to a production already built around family ties, concealed histories, and the consequences of revelation.
The announced cast also includes Bong Cabrera, Sheryll Ceasico, Emilio Macabanta[d], and EJ Jallorina, whose names appear in the official production poster. The spelling of the fourth surname should be confirmed against the production’s official cast list.
Behind the production is a creative team led by Rutaquio, who is also credited as set designer. The team includes movement designer Christine Crame, lighting designer Joaquin Jose Aranda, sound designer and engineer TJ Martinez, costume designer Phillip Domingo, projection designer Ces Valera, and lead photographer Mei Lim.
Their work will help translate the play’s atmosphere of tension, revelation, and impending tragedy into a live theatrical experience.
Why ‘REX’ matters now
Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex has endured for centuries because its central conflict extends beyond one ruler or one family. It asks whether power can protect people from the truth—and what happens when the pursuit of answers exposes the failures of those entrusted with responsibility.
That question carries particular weight in a country where flood control projects, infrastructure spending, and allegations of corruption have become subjects of intense public concern.
Flooding is not merely an engineering problem. When projects fail or public funds are misused, the consequences can reach homes, livelihoods, and human lives. The play’s fictional tragedy invites audiences to consider the human cost of decisions made far from the communities that bear their effects.
Theatre cannot replace investigations, audits, or legal accountability. But it can create space for public reflection, challenge comfortable silences, and make abstract issues of governance more immediate through human stories.
By placing a family and its construction company at the center of the drama, “REX” brings the question of accountability into the intimate sphere of relationships, loyalty, ambition, and fear.
Its central warning is as unsettling as it is familiar: the truth may be delayed, but burying it does not make its consequences disappear.
Performance schedule and tickets
“REX” opens on November 12, 2026, at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater in Circuit Makati City. Its gala performance is scheduled for November 13 at 7 p.m.
The announced performance schedule is:
– November 12: 7 p.m. — premiere
– November 13: 7 p.m. — gala night
– November 14–15: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
– November 19–20: 7 p.m.
– November 21–22: 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Tickets are listed through Ticket2Me:
Direct purchase link:
Audiences can expect a Filipino reimagining of a classic tragedy that connects the ancient questions of truth and responsibility with the urgent realities of contemporary society.
In “REX,” the past is never entirely past. What has been concealed continues to shape the present—and confronting it may be the only way to understand the tragedy unfolding before us.
