Carlos Celdran
Philippines
‘I can’t change the way Manila looks, but I can change the way you look at Manila’ says Carlos Celdran, a Philippines-based performance artist, dubbed ‘The Pied Piper of Manila’.
Walk This Way is a one-man work and site-specific walking tour developed by Carlos Celdran as a personal reaction to his home city of Manila. Specially commissioned by the 2017 Castlemaine State Festival for performance within the Old Castlemaine Gaol, Celdran takes audiences on an extraordinary journey into Philippine history, society, arts, culture, and international geo-politics, placing Philippine/Pinoy identity firmly and provocatively within the global context.
Through the use of comedy and purposeful melodrama, Celdran analyses his country’s complex and paradoxical relationships with the Catholic Church, the United States, Japan, and post World War II governing personalities, such as Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos.
‘Mr Celdran’s charm and showmanship turn into pure theater’
New York Times, Anita Gates
