Bamboo and wood

Since music was the inspiration of the Casa San Miguel in Zambales, it is to be expected that the place has a concert hall, no matter how small, no matter how simple. White cloth stretched between two bamboo poles allows video screenings in the Ramon Corpus Hall. The hall is named after Alfonso Bolipata's maternal grandfather, who was also a violinist. Ramon Corpus was one of the first Filipino musicians to study abroad, completing a solo violin course at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston in 1919, and one of the pioneer musicians of the Manila Symphony Orchestra.

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My prayers for all those who were killed and hurt during the Boston Marathon explosions, their families and friends, and the many men and women who have given their help.

Monsters in the forest

Entablado, one of Ateneo de Manila University's student theater groups, is ending its season with a musical titled "Labaw Donggon: Ang Banog ng Sanlibutan," which is based on one part of a 28,000-verse epic poem from the island of Panay called "Hinilawod." The epic tells of the adventures of a goddess who chose a mortal to be her husband, and the adventures of their three sons, the eldest of whom is Labaw Donggon. Entablado chose to stage the play outdoors, selecting an area of the campus with a bamboo grove, which they integrated into the set. It was a great idea, and made Labaw Donggon's adventures feel more real.

My little camera couldn't handle the movement in the low light, so if you want to see photos of the equally fantastic costumes, visit this album in Entablado's Labaw Donggon page in Facebook.

A journey to enlightenment

Enduring many hardships, the birds flew over a wide desert and seven valleys looking for the Simourgh, the King of the birds. After the last valley, they reached the dwelling place of the Simourgh, where they were given entry by the chamberlain. They discover that there was no one there.
But after holding the staff that the Simourgh's chamberlain handed over to them, the birds realize the truth: that they are the Simourgh and that the Simourgh is them.
"The King of the Birds" is the last production of Tanghalang Ateneo for this academic year, and is based on a 12th century poem by Farid ud-Din Attar. I loved the costumes and the production, and though I believe that there is much wisdom in Sufism, I also think that the attempt to distill and articulate all of that wisdom in a few words results in some of the silliest phrases I've ever heard.

A storm of sorrows

PETA Theater's recent production of Shakespeare's "Haring Lear" (see yesterday's post) had certain elements of Japanese kabuki theater, with its all-male cast and bizarre make-up. It was also innovative in its approach to the storm scene in King Lear. Instead of constructing an expensive shower and wind system, production designer Gino Gonzales laid bare the props to the audience, with a large, industrial fan in the middle of the stage and two stagehands carrying shower heads on long poles following Lear around the stage. After being taken aback for a few seconds (and one could hear the murmurs throughout the theater), one just accepts them and becomes riveted by actor Teroy Guzman's powerful performance.


At a certain point in the scene, Lear's two greedy and scheming daughters, whose ungratefulness have led him to this sorry state in the first place, take over from the stage hands and continue the deluge that they have caused. Actors Nor Domingo and Gary Lim play the parts such that Goneril and Regan are seemingly taking evil and perverse pleasure on the sorrows that they are raining down on their father.

Thorns and brambles in the kingdom

The set and costumes of PETA Theater's recent production of Shakespeare's "Haring Lear" was designed by Gino Gonzales, whose mentor was National Artist for Theater Design Salvador "Badong" Bernal, who passed away late last year. A true disciple of Badong, one of Gino's principles when designing for local theater is to use indigenous, inexpensive and easily-available materials; otherwise, theater in the country would languish, becoming prohibitively expensive. Like Badong, this self-imposed limitation unleashes Gino's creativity, and his simple yet powerful set is as sad, dark and nightmarish as the tale's betrayals and insanities.

Beyond cultures

Tanghalang Ateneo, one of the student theater groups of the Ateneo de Manila University, is currently staging Japanese playwright Suzue Toshiro's "Fireflies," using an English translation by David Goodman. It is directed by Filipinos Ricky Abad, a sociologist and theater artist, and BJ Crisostomo, who is also a playwright.


From the directors' notes:
"To Suzue Toshiro, the image of fireflies becomes a metaphor of the relationships among three interconnected couples who struggle to share intimate feelings with a special someone but are unable to do so completely."

Dave Fabros as Hayakawa and Laura Cabochan as Tomoyo

"A moment of mutual affection may surface one moment, but this spark, like the glow of fireflies, quickly disappears."

Laura Cabochan as Tomoyo and Nicolo Magno as Nakagawa

"Life moves on, the pursuit for intimacy continues but the outcome remains the same: it's one random 'firefly moment' after another, never a sustained bond."

Ella Palileo as Megumi and Mirick Paala as Murai

"Is this twinkle, or series of blinks, all one can expect from intimate relationships? Or shall one dream big and go for love's eternal flame?"

Set design by Ohm David and lights design by Jonjon Villareal

A Filipino interpretation of a Japanese play translated into English. I wish I could ask you all to watch it.

The best medicine

PETA Theater's "Care Divas" ran from February to March of this year, but it proved to be so popular, it extended to April and is being performed again this June and July. It is a musical comedy about five transvestite Filipino overseas workers in Israel at the time of the Intifada (not specified, but I assume it was the second). During the day, they are caregivers for elderly Jews, but at night, they metamorphose into fully made-up, high-heeled drag queen club singers. The themes that the play explores include migration, homelessness, relationships, alienation and identity—in the most melodramatic, outrageous, hilarious, loud and bittersweet manner. Just the way most Filipinos like their storytelling.


This was the scene at the theater lobby after the play. It was the first time I saw theater actors here mobbed like they were rock stars!

Wheel of life

The colorful, playful, paper cut-out style artwork in the second floor lobby of the Philippine Educational Theater Association's PETA-PHINMA Theater provides a whimsical contrast to the equally colorful but much more serious mural on its ground floor.

A play within a play

The last play that we watched in 2010 was a musical called Dragon Tales, the first production of Asia on Stage, which was set up in 2009 to develop and stage Asian productions for Asia. Dragon Tales is based on a story and characters by the company's chair, Hong Kong Chinese Michael Chow, with music and lyrics by Filipino director, actor, writer and composer Vincent A. de Jesus, and directed by Singaporean Jeremiah Choy, here receiving a bouquet from the cast. I laud the mission of Asia on Stage and hope that it will be able to harness the talents of more Asian artists for other collaborative productions.

A modern folk tale

I am loving the theater group Entablado's musicals of seeming children's stories. Last year, it was Rene O. Villanueva's "Ang Unang Baboy sa Langit" (The First Pig in Heaven) with its environmental message; this year, it is Christine Bellen's "Si Pilandok at ang Bayan ng Bulawan" (Pilandok and the Country of Bulawan), a folkloric retelling of the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution. Bulawan is a country named after its sun whose population is divided into two factions that can't get along with each other. The corrupt leader and his evil henchmen steal the Bulawan so they can start selling its light and heat to the people and make lots of money.




Pilandok is the resident trickster with a good heart who decides to steal it back. He asks help from the nation's five gods (Faith, Strength, Wealth, Beauty and Wisdom) but their very natures work against them in their rescue efforts. So Pilandok tries it on his own but he is caught, and it is only when the two factions decide to work together—with their gods—that they manage to rescue both Pilandok and the Bulawan.




I'm sorry that I don't have a picture of Pilandok but his character was moving around so much I couldn't get a clear shot. We watched the play at the Rizal Mini Theater of the Ateneo de Manila University but it is also going to be shown at the Meralco Theater on September 11. More information about it on Oliver Oliveros' blog.

Half and half

The performance of Wadaiko Yamato that we watched last Saturday (see Tuesday's post) was held in the Sky Dome of SM City North EDSA mall. Half of the dome looks like it is swathed in nylon fabric and the other half stuffed with carpeting. I'm sure it has something to do with acoustics.

Live!

Friday, March 26, was the awarding of the 2009 Gawad Buhay!, the Philstage Awards for the Performing Arts, at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. This is only the second year of the award, which recognizes and pays tribute to Filipino artists in theater—plays, musicals and dance. Depending on how it's accented, the word buhay can mean life, live or alive; in this case, the name of the award refers to the fact that the award is for live performances.




The awarding was broken up into several sets, with various groups performing excerpts from their 2009 season. The most electrifying performance for me was that of Ballet Philippines. Candice Adea, who won a Gawad Buhay! for Best Female Lead Performance in Dance, and Angel Gabriel danced an excerpt from Evacuation, choreographed by Bam Damian. (Please pardon the noise and fuzziness of this photo; the conditions were almost too much for my little camera and I was forced to maximize the ISO.)




To showcase the works of Filipino visual artists, and also as an added incentive for theater groups to strive to garner awards every year, the trophies of Gawad Buhay! will always be different. The 2009 trophy is created by Don Salubayba from Davao City. It portrays a dancing bulul, the rice god of the Northern Philippines' indigenous peoples. The three faces of the figure represent music, dance and theater.




A notable difference between this year's awarding ceremony and last year's is the number of artists who attended. Last year, it was easy to organize the small group onto the stage for their photo. This year…




Chaotic is a mild word to describe what happened during the photo opportunity, but I love it. Half a dozen performing arts groups on one stage, happy faces showing pride in their awards, and a gaggle of friends, relatives and colleagues trying to get photos. As a scriptwriter friend told my husband after the ceremony, the artists now own the awards. And that can only bode well for Gawad Buhay!, Philstage and Philippine performing arts.

For those interested, Gibbs Cadiz posted the complete list of 2009 Gawad Buhay! winners in his blog.

Story time!

The Filipino sarsuwela is a dramatic form that is rooted in the 19th century Spanish sainete, a comic skit with music, and zarzuela, a play that alternates song and dance with dramatic prose. Its typical theme is romantic love and "Walang Sugat" (no wound or not wounded), the play that I mentioned last month, features the problematic love between Julia (Laura Cabochan) and Tenyong (Arman Ferrer), who have been friends since childhood.



The sarsuwela typically incorporates commentary on the social, political and economic issues current at the time of its writing or performance. When Tenyong's father is arrested by the Spanish army as a rebel and dies in jail after being tortured at the order of the friars, Tenyong decides to join the revolutionary army to avenge his death.



Julia's widowed mother does not approve of her daughter's relationship with Tenyong. She has higher hopes for Julia, wanting her to marry Miguel, a rich but stupid nephew of the parish priest. While Tenyong is away, the mother pressures Julia to accept Miguel's proposal of marriage.



The sarsuwela usually features more than one pair of lovers. The secondary pair is typically the earthier and more comic relationship, compared to the main couple's loftier and purer love. In "Walang Sugat," the lusty and comic foil is provided by Lucas (AJ Constantino), Tenyong's manservant, and Monica (Delphine Buencamino), Julia's maid.



Miguel's father (Mike Coroza), is a widower, and one scene shows him courting Julia's widowed mother (Sonia Roco), trying to convince her that they can still experience love and companionship in their old age.



When Julia receives a letter from Tenyong's general that her lover has died fighting, she finally says yes to marrying Miguel. On the day of the wedding, a heavily bandaged Tenyong is wheeled in on a cart. He is pronounced by a medic to be on the brink of death and the parish priest is called to hear his last confession. Tenyong announces his dying wish: to be married to Julia before he dies. Thinking that Julia will be widowed immediately and that her marriage to Miguel will still push through, Julia's mother and Miguel's father agree.



I think you can guess what happens after the wedding ceremony: Tenyong jumps up from the cart, walang sugat! And during the final dance, the director Ricky Abad makes one grand gesture that would not have been out of place during a performance more than one hundred years ago: the church's facade opens up into a sunburst containing the words of the Malolos Constitution, which established the First Philippine Republic.



The wonderfully quirky, cartoon-y set, which emphasizes the lighthearted and comic aspect of the sarsuwela rather than its political and social commentary, was designed by Philippine National Artist for Theater Design Salvador Bernal, faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University's Fine Arts Program.

Unbelievable

Would you believe hundreds of 16 to 18 year old first year college students orderly and patiently lined up to watch a ballet? By the time Ballet Manila's performance started in the Aliw Theater, there were about a thousand of them. And even more astounding, they actually enjoyed it! Tomorrow, I'll show you why.

A god's plaything

If Jupiter (Zeus) decides to take the form of your husband, will you be able to tell the difference? Alcmene didn't when Jupiter appeared to her as her husband, the Theban general Amphitryon, in Heinrich von Kleist's 1807 play. Mostly a comedy but one which raises metaphysical questions, "Amphitryon" was translated into Tagalog by Jerry Respeto and it was performed by the University of the Philippines' resident student theater group Dulaang U.P. last September as their third play of the season.

Keeping things cool

The Humanities cultural gala Magis was staged at the Henry Lee Irwin Theater in the Ateneo de Manila University. Named after the American Jesuit priest from Connecticut who first came to Manila in 1921, the theater sits 1,100 people. I wandered behind it during the intermission and saw the compressors of the airconditioning system that keeps the place cool. There were four of these huge structures and the noise they created was tremendous.

Find more Odd Shots—or post your own—at Katney's Kaboodle.

Funky floor

The Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theather is the home of Dulaang U.P., the student theater group of the University of the Philippines – Diliman. Guerrero (January 1917- May 1995) was a Filipino playwright, director and teacher and was declared posthumously as a National Artist for Theater in 1997. The theater is located on the second floor of Palma Hall and surrounded by classrooms. I couldn't find information about Palma Hall but I think it is one of the campus' oldest buildings, and the Diliman campus was established in 1949. The tiles of the second floor lobby look like they are still the original.

Of talented youth and a flustered photoblogger

Manila's performing arts season has started! And the first play that I watched was Repertory Philippines' production of The Fantasticks, the world's longest-running musical. Repertory Philippines, or Rep as it is more popularly known here, is one of the most prolific professional theater companies in Manila. It first opened its doors to the public in 1967 and has brought in many international plays and musicals that most Filipinos wouldn't have had a chance to watch if it weren't for them. Meet PJ Valerio and Julia Abueva, who play the lovers in the musical. PJ is 19 and Julia is all of 13 years old! Even at their tender young age, both are already stage veterans.



This photo actually has a story behind it and it's longer than my commentary above so I hope you'll indulge me. Repertory Philippines, like other professional performing arts groups, does not allow photos inside the theater unless they give permission. So during the intermission, I approached a lady at the front of house and asked if I could take a photo for the blog at the end of the play. She said that the actors will be at the lobby after the play, but I wanted a photo while they were still on the stage and said so. She said that she would talk to the stage manager and would look for me inside the theater. By the end of the play, I still didn't have any word, so I behaved and kept my camera in my bag even during the curtain call, which was when I was thinking of taking the photo. Imagine my surprise when she approached me then and asked me to come close to the stage because the cast would come out again after the curtain call so I could take a photo. Eek! So I did and the cast did come out again and I wanted to die of embarrassment the entire time! Especially when other people in the audience started taking out their own cameras and going up to the actors asking to pose with them and all. What's even worse, I was so totally flabbergasted, I was shaking and my photos didn't turn out well. Too blurry to be usable, and overexposed too because all the stage lights were on and I wasn't able to adjust the settings for hurrying to get it over with. Sigh. I really want to thank Rep for all the bother and to apologize for not being able to post a photo of the entire cast after all that fuss. I think there are two lessons to be learned from this experience. One is for Rep: I hope they continue having the meet-and-greet on stage rather than in the lobby. It was nice seeing fans and friends mingling with the actors on stage. The corridors going out from the theater are so narrow it can take forever to go out and most of the audience miss the actors outside. And one is for myself: Next time I ask permission to take photos from any theater group, I have to specifically say that I just want to take them during the curtain call.

Garden gate and topiary

From director Ricardo G. Abad's notes on Tanghalang Ateneo's staging of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, translated into Tagalog by Jose F. Lacaba:

Aristophanes staged Lysistrata at a time when Athens, his beloved city state, had just lost a major battle against Sparta and was slated to suffer more routs catastrophic enough to end the golden age of Ancient Greece. That Aristophanes would write a comedy about a horrific war, and a sex comedy at that, testifies to the playwright's irreverent spirit and his powers to think out of the box.… So angry must Aristophanes have been that he took what at that time was an absurd idea, housewives as change agents, and gave these women the task of making men end the war.

This is the set that Gino G. Gonzales designed for the play. I know that it's a cheeky way to commemorate International Women's Day—and a unique entry for Scenic Sunday too—but I think Aristophanes would have approved.

Urban or rural, natural or man-made, take a sightseeing tour of our world's diverse scenery!

Alive and well

February 18, 2009 marks a very important event in the history of Philippine performing arts. On that day, the winners of the first Philstage Awards for the Performing Arts were announced. Named Gawad Buhay! (awkward, literal translation: Alive! Award), it is the first award which is strictly for the ephemeral performing arts. For now, only theater—plays and musicals—and ballet are included, and Philstage itself has less than a dozen member companies. But hopefully, more groups will join and experts in the other performing arts can be found willing to serve as jurors so that Philstage's Gawad Buhay! can truly fulfill its objective: "to further professionalize the performing arts industry in the Philippines by engaging our audiences—critics, artists and the viewing public—in a creative dialogue." I am honored to have been there that night, and happier still that I was able to take a photo of the winners (even though they were posing for the official photographer and not me).


For those who want to know who the awardees are, read my husband Exie's article,"The start of something big." He writes an occasional column for The Philippine Star, one of the top three national newspapers in the Philippines, and that article appeared in its February 23 edition. And so did my photos. Ain't it cool? :)