By Regina Elaine Vendivil

The Broadway Theatre Troupe of Ateneo (BTTA) brought Between Lands, a three-part musical series project of the Year 4 Juniors, to a successful conclusion last June 2, 2021.

Between Lands is a play revolving around the friendship of three girls, Dana, Mandy, and Audrey, with the pandemic continuously bringing unexpected changes and challenges to their relationship. 

With Mandy’s desire to “strengthen their bond”, she persuaded her friends to participate in a friendship ritual, and with the twists and turns of their fate, they were brought to a new dimension, where their friendship was truly tested amidst odd circumstances. 

In an interview with one of the directors of Between Lands Regina Manalo, she mentioned how this play was inspired by different plays and musicals which helped the organization arrive on a united theme: To creatively portray the very peculiar year we’ve had. 

“Ultimately, Between Lands was a fantastical interpretation of what everyone in the community is experiencing, albeit in varying levels — the need to escape 2020, finding a way to escape it (literally and figuratively), confronting the challenge to help others, and trying to keep your friends through all this chaos,” Manalo said. 

Manalo stated that the concept of having three episodes released at different times was decided upon as they put different factors into consideration. 

“We felt that it would be too long to post on Facebook and that its length would be intimidating for viewers. Besides this, we thought that producing an episode at a time would make it easier for everyone involved,” she said. 

Similar to the challenges of different theatre organizations, BTTA has struggled to keep plays alive due to the absence of the physical and live setting, from schedule setbacks to manpower issues. 

However, BTTA was still able to push through and produce an undoubtedly successful play, all thanks to the members of the organization. 

“BTTA is an org full of talented and resilient individuals who are always there for one another, and as cheesy as this sounds, our mutual support for each other helped us overcome these obstacles. Coffee, too,” Manalo said. 

BTTA also released Step One, a performance by the Between Lands ensemble to officially conclude the play. 

Manalo assured us that we can certainly look forward to the future productions of BTTA.

“Our juniors next year will lead their own project as well, and who knows, maybe BTTA Year 5 has something else in store!”

All three episodes of Between Lands can still be watched on Broadway Theatre Troupe of Ateneo’s Facebook page, or on tinyurl.com/bttaBetweenLands

Photo Source: Broadway Theatre Troupe of Ateneo on Facebook