Creative industry vanguard and The Sandbox Collective’s Managing Artistic Director Toff De Venecia recently announced his temporary hiatus from the company to pursue postgraduate studies abroad. The Aliw Award-winning and Gawad Buhay-nominated theater director appointed Sandbox's current Marketing and PR Director Sab Jose as their new Artistic Director.
De Venecia co-founded The Sandbox Collective with Anna Santamaria just over 11 years ago, with the goal of mounting new, groundbreaking and cutting-edge theatrical work. Wearing his director's hat, he has helmed , Dani Girl, The Boy In The Bathroom, Little Shop Of Horrors, and most recently, Next To Normal, among others, for the the company.
Side Show, which runs through July and August 2025, is his directorial swan song, at least for now. “To be able to bookend this chapter of my life, with Little Shop last year and now this, is the stuff of dreams. I couldn’t be more grateful," he shares. "But yes, this is also farewell. After this production, I’ll be pursuing higher learning abroad to learn more about innovation, public policy and public value and hopefully apply what I learn there back at home when I return.”
He is also the outgoing Vice President of PHILSTAGE, the proud alliance of Manila-based professional companies in the theatrical arts.
Beyond the stage, De Venecia has been a cultural advocate and public servant, Toff spearheaded many initiatives in his home province of Pangasinan such as the Anakbanwa Arts Residency Program, the Galila Arts Festival, Placemaking Dagupan, and the soon-to-rise Victorio Edades and Salvador Bernal Cultural Center in honor of the two Dagupeño National Artists. He also orchestrated various national initiatives such as the Philippine Creative Tourism Summit, the upcoming Creative Tourism Conference, and the Congressional CREATE Awards. Among his Toff’s landmark national policies include the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, The Eddie Garcia Movie Workers Welfare Welfare Act. He also co-founded the Philippine Creative Cities Network to help empower local authorities towards creative governance.
Sab Jose is an award-winning actress and entrepreneur, who holds a Master of Arts degree in Musical Theatre from the Guildford School of Acting in the U.K. A communications graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, she also pursued her postgraduate studies in Marketing at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business. She served as The Sandbox Collective’s Marketing & PR Director for over a decade. Off stage, Jose is a certified memorial celebrant with a passion for grief education and bereavement care, serving as grief consultant for their recent staging of Next to Normal.
With a career in professional theater spanning 15 years, Sab is a Gawad Buhay nominee and an Aliw Award winner (Best Lead Actress in a Play) for her performance in the two-header play Lungs. She also essayed roles in various local productions such as Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!, Shrek, Grease, Peter Pan, RENT, and The Wedding Singer. She also directed Shared Spaces for Ateneo Blue Repertory and was the program director for Stage Camp at Rockwell. Sab also served as assistant director and acting coach for 9Works Theatrical’s American Idiot, The Sandbox Collective’s Dani Girl, and the hit original plays No Filter and No Filter 2.0. Jose was the managing editor for the published format of No Filter by Summit Books.
As she steps into this new role, Jose is honored and thrilled to continue The Sandbox Collective’s growth and trajectory. Jose states, “The Sandbox Collective has grown tremendously under Toff’s visionary leadership and I am inspired to take on this new role and challenge.” She shared that a new season is in the works, and will be announced soon. “In recent years, Sandbox has found a voice in advocacy theater and arts education. That’s something I’m hoping to continue. I would also love to put my Masters Degree to good use, echo what I’ve learned, and contribute to the growing theater industry. I’m excited to offer a playground where we can cultivate new work and talent,” Jose adds.
For now, both De Venecia are gearing up for the opening of Side Show: The Musical, which opens on July 26, 2025 and will run until August 17, 2025 at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Black Box Theater, Circuit Makati. Tickets are available at ticket2me.net/sandboxsideshow.