Earnest Hope Tinambacan

Earnest Hope Tinambacan is a theatre actor, director, playwright and singer-songwriter based in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines. He started his theatre journey at the age of 12 as a member of the LIYAB cultural group in Misamis Occidental. As a student at Silliman University, he performed in university musical productions such as The King and I and Man of La Mancha. He is also a senior member and former president of Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts (YATTA), with whom he has acted in plays all around the Philippines, including Aaah Bakus!, performed at PETA Theater in Quezon City. He has also written plays for YATTA, including Isla Tawak, performed at the Asian Youth Theatre Festival 2018 in Singapore. 

Hope performed in the devised play ArmMUT in Stuttgart, Germany; the award-winning play In My Father’s House directed by acclaimed Filipino director Amiel Leonardia, and Heaven As The Sea (An Ulahingan Story) directed by ITI alumna Denise Aguilar. He has directed several plays, including the musical Scharon Mani, The Vagina Monologues and The VManologues. In 2018, Hope was a collaborator-actor in Kolab Mindanao and Kolab2 Theatre Devising Workshop and Performance organised by La Salle University, Ozamiz City, in partnership with ITI. In 2020, Hope launched D Salag Collective, an innovative and artist-oriented theatre collective.

In 2023, Ernest was elected Assistant Secretary of the Committee on Dramatic Arts of the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)

Read his Q&A here 

Recent work: 
1. Collaborator, COALateral (2022), inITIatePH for Tangal 2022 
2. Director, DAGAT (music video) (2021)
3. Writer & Performer, MGA MAMSER (music video) (2021) 
4. Facilitator, MUSIKADAGATAN: Songwriting Workshop Advocating for Sustainable Fishing (2021), Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts; Online
5. Actor, Fighting the Invisible (2021), D Salag Collective; Sidlakang Negros Village Function Hall
6. Performer, TAHANAN (2021), Japan Foundation Manila Center for Japanese Culture, Tanghalang Ateneo, Kasing Sining and Teatro Guindegan; Online
7. Playwright, Pulang Langob (2021), Youth Advocates Through Theater Arts

Last updated: 30 January 2024