The Gloriously Unmarketable Adventures of Madam Tseter follows the migration of Madam Tseter (theatre personified) into the galaxies of the Filipino livestreaming app Kumu after the 2020 shutdown of physical stages. A search for refuge becomes an unfolding artistic experiment. Each stream becomes a rehearsal; each glitch a provocation; each viewer a co-creator in real-time.
The thirteen-part series Ang Paglalakbay ni Madam Tseter sa Kumuniverse (Madam Tseter’s Journey in Kumuniverse), created by Olive Nieto streamed through the Ampalaya Monologues’ channel, reveals how performance mutates under digital pressure. Roughness turns into method–a rejection of polish in favor of malleability and responsiveness. Inside this digital economy where visibility is currency and the coveted “blue check” tempts and blocks, Madam Tseter embraces “failure” as a dramaturgical engine. This friction produces new practices such as selfie-acting, manananggal (half-body) acting, and the chaotic generosity of budol (playful teasing to send gifts) engagements.
Madam Tseter’s shifting personas map the possibilities and limits of performance inside an algorithmic machine. The livestream rewards improvisation, hyper-presence, and the ability to swim through waves of comments. Madam Tseter emerges as a figure of survival through constant mutation. Like the virus, she transforms to resist neoliberal digital optimization by refusing to be streamlined.
Ang Paglalakbay ni Madam Tseter sa Kumuniverse insists on new co-presences, creating a space where spectators act as co-dramaturgs rather than consumers. Performance creates a new home for the actor-livestreamer where virtuosity means staying unpredictable, relational, and gloriously unmarketable.
*The International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) World Congress 2026, 6-10 July, University of Melbourne, Australia
