Mae Paner's one-woman play 'Tao Po' tours Europe

Courtesy of Hon Sophia Balod

Amsterdam, The Netherlands — As the death toll from the war on drugs climbs, a new form of protest through theatrical play is also rising.

The chilling one-woman play "Tao Po," which premiered at the CCP in 2017, has reached major European cities like Geneva and Amsterdam.

RELATED: In a play about the drug war, Mae Paner portrays both victim and killer

“Tao po” (Is anybody home?) tells the heartbreaking narrative of families and friends of people killed in the drug war.

Performed by actress Mae Paner (also known as Juana Change), the 90-minute act breathes life to these stories through a series of monologues based and researched from real-life events.

The play features four main characters: an award-winning photojournalist who covers the crime beat, a Zumba instructor whose husband and son were killed in one of the police operations, a policeman turned mercenary and hired killer of drug addicts, and an orphaned child.

Courtesy of Hon Sophia Balod

In this European series, the team wanted to raise awareness about the drug war in the Philippines.

“We believe that there is power in creative narratives because they speak directly to our core as human beings. We believe that if our message reaches the international community, members of the Parliament and human rights advocates and the youth, we can combine our efforts and hopefully achieve justice,” Mae Paner said.

According to Paner, it is not easy to perform such a highly controversial and political piece. “We have been getting a lot of threats because of the message of our play, but I hope that this will raise the level of discourse about EJK. I also hope that more artists are encouraged to take a stand about the issue,” she added.

After the show in Amsterdam, families of EJK victims participated in an open forum to tell their struggles in achieving justice for their loved ones.

“It has been two years since my stepson died from the war on drugs and we are still far from getting justice from his death. I hope that through this performance, our voices will be heard. I hope to encourage other families of EJK victims to also tell their stories,” Katherine Bautista said.

Ultimately, “Tao po” hopes to remind its audience about the humanity of the victims of the drug war, and that these victims and families are not just numbers in the death toll, but are real people who have struggled and lost in this war.

“Tao Po” will head to Rome, Vienna, London and Berlin this month. — LA, GMA News