15 May 2006 – Philippine Ambassador to Canberra, Australia Cristina Ortega opened on 5 May 2006 in Sydney a special preview of Perigrinasyon, a Philippine theatre production to be shown at world premier for the UNESCO-International Theatre Institute's 31st  Congress and Theatre Olympics of Nations, which the Philippines will be hosting in the coming weeks.

According to Ambassador Ortega, Perigrinasyon is relevant to everyone as it depicts life and coming home.  “It is about movement, wandering, discovery, transformation or spiritual journey." she said

In her opening speech, the Ambassador noted that  man’s desire for self-discovery and actualization are accompanied by a number of challenges that could make or break him as a person. “With Peregrinasyon, we too are reminded that while diaspora and migration strike a familiar chord in the psyche of the Filipino people, these phenomena are as old as the history of mankind.”

The featured artists of this new production are well-decorated achievers Enrico Labayen (dancer-choreographer), Mars Cavestany (action-playwright-director) and Vienna Parreno (media artist-independent curator).   They thanked the Ambassador for her support of this  collaborative art form.

Mr. Cavestany explained that the threatre production “ is a unique hybrid of dance, drama and multi-media touching on some of the most sensitive issues that confront our global community in this millennium - such issues as health and gender, including HIV/AIDS."
 
Peregrinasyon will be shown to more than a thousand theatre artists and leaders when they convene in Manila for the Theatre Olympics and Congress being organized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts with local and international collaborators. END