Geolette Marie Esguerra

Spike Theatre Presents JONAH: Meet the Cast and Creative Team

Spike Theatre Presents Jonah: Meet the Cast and Creative Team

Article (news)

<p>If you&rsquo;ve been waiting for the local theatre scene to stop playing it safe and start actually feeling something, Spike Theatre is effectively calling your bluff. Their debut production, <strong><em>Jonah</em></strong><strong>&nbsp;by Rachel Bonds</strong>, isn&rsquo;t interested in the kind of fluff that makes for a polite, forgettable evening out. This is a one-act memory play that treats trauma and intimacy not as dramatic tropes, but as the messy, jagged, everyday realities they actually are.</p><div><br></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788198965763Screenshot 2026-08-31 at 11.18.15 AM - Edited.png" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"></div><div><br></div><p>But behind every visceral performance is an assembly of people who clearly aren&rsquo;t afraid to lean into the discomfort. As the show prepares to open at <strong>Dance Royalties Studio PH</strong>, we&rsquo;re taking a look at the creatives of this emotional landscape.</p><div><br></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788199022363Edith Garcia-Director.jpg" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"></div><div><br></div><div><strong>The Visionary: Edith Garcia</strong></div><p>Directing a play as structurally and emotionally demanding as JONAH is no small feat, but <strong>Edith Garcia&nbsp;</strong>seems to be making a habit of bold choices. A Benilde Theater Arts graduate with a CV that spans musical theatre, straight plays, and film, Garcia isn&#39;t just &quot;directing&quot;&mdash;she&rsquo;s orchestrating. Having cut her teeth on stage as Lady Capulet in <em>Romeo x Juliet</em> and making her directorial debut with Dustin Celestino&rsquo;s <em>Fermata</em>, Garcia is pivoting from actor to auteur with a specific, sharpened focus. For <em>Jonah</em>, she&rsquo;s not looking for stage-managed perfection; she&rsquo;s looking for the raw, human stuff.</p><div><br><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1231656630036243%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div><br></div><div><strong>The Heart: Chelsea Nikole Apolto</strong></div><p>At the center of this storm is Ana, played by <strong>Chelsea Nikole Apolto</strong>. It&rsquo;s a role that requires more than just acting chops; it requires the kind of emotional availability that leaves you exposed on stage. Ana is the vessel through which the play&rsquo;s themes of fractured memory and survival are funneled, and based on what we&rsquo;re hearing about the production, Apolto is tasked with walking the tightrope between the person she was and the person she&rsquo;s struggling to become.</p><div><br><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1077192691395474%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div><br></div><div><strong>The Ensemble: Riel Geli, Johnny Maglinao, and Edward Solon</strong></div><p>A memory play is only as strong as the people who haunt it, and in <em>Jonah</em>, the burden&mdash;and the beauty&mdash;of that falls on <strong>Riel Geli</strong> (as Jonah), <strong>Johnny Maglinao</strong> (as Danny), and <strong>Edward Solon</strong> (as Steven). This isn&rsquo;t a cast designed to hide in the background; they&rsquo;re the catalysts for the friction, the memory-triggers, and the confrontations that make the play, well, stick.</p><div><br><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1076143221630116%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div><br><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F2019031002151104%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div><br><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=315&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Freel%2F1802477921108377%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="315" style="border:none;overflow:hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></div><div><br></div><div><strong>The Engine: Spike Theatre</strong></div><p>It&rsquo;s worth noting that this production wouldn&rsquo;t exist without the sheer audacity of Spike Theatre&rsquo;s founding quartet: <strong>Xavier Tiam, Edith Garcia, Katrina Gamba</strong>, and <strong>Chris Abecia</strong>. They&rsquo;ve built their production house on a &quot;Brave Space&quot; ethos, which, in a local scene often dominated by the usual suspects, feels like a necessary, sharp-elbowed disruption. They&rsquo;re betting that the audience is ready for theatre that doesn&rsquo;t demand we be fine, and frankly? It&rsquo;s a bet we&rsquo;re happy to see them win.</p><div><br></div><div><em>JONAH runs for two weekends&mdash;August 29 to 30 and September 5 to 6, 2026&mdash;at Dance Royalties Studio PH.</em></div>

<p>The visionaries behind Spike Theatre—and why they’re the only ones keeping the local scene honest.</p>

The visionaries behind Spike Theatre—and why they’re the only ones keeping the local scene honest.

Spike Theatre Presents Jonah: Meet the Cast and Creative Team

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Spike Theatre Presents Jonah: Meet the Cast and Creative Team

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Published August 29, 2026 12:00 PM PHT

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Updated September 01, 2026 02:07 AM PHT

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