Early this year, Repertory Philippines became homeless as Greenbelt 1 was set on closing down for renovation in April. The country’s pioneering theater company, known simply as Rep, had been putting on shows at the Onstage Theater of that Ayala Center mall in Makati City for the last 20 years.

But as fate would have it, a Rep staff member had a friend working at Megaworld Corp., a developer of several malls, including the cluster found at the Eastwood City property in Quezon City. The connection led to Megaworld Lifestyle Malls head Graham M. Coates, whose two daughters Rachel and Becca happened to be alumni of Rep’s acting workshops and productions. It ultimately reached Kevin Tan, the vice chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Megaworld Corp.’s parent company, Alliance Global Group, Inc. (AGI).

AGI, whose Newport World Resorts property houses the Newport Performing Arts Theater, turned out to be making grand plans of expanding its reach and mark in the industry. It then offered Rep a home by reconfiguring the cinemas at its Eastwood City Walk mall and constructing a theater specifically for Rep. Thus, the birth of Eastwood Theater, which was formally launched Oct. 5 to coincide with the opening of Rep’s third production in its ongoing season, “Jepoy and the Magic Circle.”