There is no easy answer to the question ‘What is contemporary Manila theatre?’ Instead it generates more questions: is Manila theatre representative of Filipino theatre? Are there specific theatrical forms that capture its essence? Can Manila theatre be essentialized? Theatre scholar and critic Sir Anril Pineda Tiatco attempts an answer through the metaphor of entanglement, or buhol-buhol in Tagalog, examining theatre's knotty relationships that result from the country's ‘contexts of colonialism and its aftermath; archipelagic narratives and migration; transnational relations; and connections and narratives about participation with globalization’ (p. 24).

In chapter 1, Tiatco addresses the criticism that Filipino performers are but master mimics of their American colonizers and that Manila theatre is just a derivative of Western traditions (p. 8). He explores the concepts of ‘mimicry’ and ‘pastiche’ – two words with negative connotations that he suggests can also make space for subversion and potential. He then proposes a more neutral idiom, buhol-buhol, for examining the complexities of contemporary Manila theatre and the challenges brought about by such entanglements (such as the effects of colonialism and globalization). He expounds on buhol-buhol through four ‘models’ (p. 37) which he analyses in each succeeding chapter respectively: ‘pista (fiesta), kapuluan (archipelago), patibong (trap), and nangingibangbayan (the overseas worker)’ (p. 37).

Chapter 2 looks at the Filipino fiesta and how its qualities, particularly as an amalgamation of different and sometimes conflicting traditions, are reflected in today's Manila theatre scene. Tiatco elaborates on this by analysing theatre company Dulaang U.P.’s Rizal X, a play about the country's national hero, Jose Rizal, which was staged in 2011. He problematizes the play's fiesta-like fragmented structure and varied performance styles, to suggest that it may have fallen short of genuine critical engagement. Chapter 3 discusses how the archipelagic geography of the Philippines lends itself to interconnected, yet distinct, identities and practices that challenge the concept of an essentialized nationhood. Tiatco then analyses and problematizes the advocating of the komedya as a national theatrical form, as proposed by Filipino culture scholar Nicanor Tiongson. While the form is performed throughout the islands, Tiatco points out how the komedya was a colonial tool of the Spanish religious and how, until today, its narratives split the archipelago between Catholics and non-Catholics, favouring the former over the latter.

While the first two models arise from a general observation of Manila theatre and are supported by examples of local productions, the next two offer a different approach to entanglement by starting with a critique of a play (or plays) and expanding on its themes. In chapter 4, ‘Patibong (Trap)’, Tiatco takes a multidimensional look at how Chris Millado's play Welcome to Intelstar (which is set in a call centre), wrestles with how the ‘local [the global South] is entrapped [by the global North] in globalization’ (p. 134) and how it is not. He also investigates how theatre itself entraps its audience, and how his own experience of being ‘captivated’ (p. 130) by the play made him more critical of its contents. Chapter 5 also touches on globalization, particularly on how ‘the sending or home country and the receiving country are entangled in the body of the nangingibang-bayan [overseas worker]’ (p. 38). Tiatco expands on this by looking at two local musicals about Filipino migrant workers: Dulaang U.P.’s The Silent Soprano and the Philippine Educational Theatre Association's Care Divas. He then uses the same model of nangingibang-bayan to explore how the Western musical theatre genre is localized.

A trend in Philippine theatre, as Tiatco himself mentions, is to disentangle (p. 205), to pin down Filipino-ness to one thing; the book challenges the possibility and the usefulness of such an endeavour. However, it is hard not to notice what he does not include as part of the contemporary Manila theatre scene, such as the Western, English-language plays and musicals staged by local theatre companies, like Repertory Philippines. He also does not cover performances by smaller ensembles, for example Sipat Lawin and other Manila-based community theatres. Hence, while Tiatco's ideas are compelling and are worth reading, a more comprehensive book on contemporary Manila theatre has yet to be written.