12-Kevin Matthew P.

Castillo
12-SVF

Philippine Theater

Portfolio

I. An Overview: The Luzon Theater Network

Luzon is the biggest Philippine island and is home to six (6) of the eight (8) major Filipino
ethnolinguistic groups and hundreds of local dialects. Within the island, one can notice the
strikingly distinct and rich cultural diversity among its populations.

The Luzon Theater Network is the fruit of almost a decade-long effort of linkage-building among
theater organizations in Luzon. And while its counterpart in the Visayas and Mindanao have had
regionwide network activities and programs in the 80’s and the early 90’s, the Luzon Theater
Network had its first regional activity only in 1995-The First Lusong ’95 Theater Festival. The
event saw different regional theater groups, such asDap-ayan ti Kultura iti Kordilyera from the
Cordillera region, Teatro Amamugis from Central Luzon, The Barasoain Kalinangan
Foundationfrom Malolos, Bulacan, ARTIST-Korido, from Southern Tagalog andKaboronyogan
Bicol Cultural Alliance and CBTG from the Bicol region, converging in an enormous showcase
of the full splendor of Luzon theater.

With some bitter medicine and voluminous golden lessons earned from Lusong ’95, theater
organizations saw the need to develop local aesthetics as the basis for theatre work in the sub-
regions. Thus, the succeeding years engendered productions and other projects in the major
ethnolinguistic groups, such as ARTIST, Inc’s Sanaysining Summer Arts School, which is not
only a regular venue for Luzon theater workers to document their experiences in cultural work,
but also a process that provided continuity to other network activities, exchange performances
cum workshops and local productions and festivals.

Continuous linkage-building gave birth to widening the network’s scope as new tie-ups were
established with more theater groups inevitably leading the way for the Lusong’98 2nd Luzon
Theater Festival. If the First Luzon Theater Festival was the “getting-to-know” level, Lusong ’98
would be aptly dubbed as the “getting-to-understand” phase, which provided the network an
opportunity to take a closer look at how cultural work in the region is being undertaken given the
diverse realities in their respectivie locales.

II. “Los Veteranos”

The Luzon Theater Network has been working with various theater groups these previous years.
The following is an overview of organizations with a long history of linkage with the network.

The Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation (BKFI) was founded in 1978 by a handful of young
students and professional theater artists. In 1988, the group was transformed into a foundation,
 establishing its own theater school through its laboratory workshops under the tutelage of TV,
movie and stage actor Joonee Gamboa. In the same year, BKFI was recognized by the Bulacan
Provincial Government and was given the responsibility of the administration of the Nicanor
Abelardo Auditorium situated at the provincial capitol compound.

BKFI’s major works include Tatlong Maria (entry to 1992 Unang Tagpo National Theater
Festival), Ano’ng Araw Ngayon? and M.H. del Pilar: Pasyong Dapat Ipagalabamong others. The
group mounts original Tagalog and adaptation plays using various theatrical forms while
utilizing simple and affordable production materials. BKFI’s programs include lab workshops, a
national productions tour, which will go on until November of 1999, documentation of Bulacan
culturethat includes lecture series and actual demonstration. The group is also active in the
Linggo ng Bulacan preparations, which takes place every September. This year, BKFI mounts
the play Ang Awit ni Francis B. as its contribution to the annual celebration.

The Community Based Theater Group-Bukawel Performing Arts (CBTG) started in 1985 as a
church-based diocesan program with an initial core-group membership of 25 from all the sixteen
(16) municipalities of the province representing multi-sectoral groups. Its objective was to train
and develop local talents for stage production. The main thrust was alternative education towards
social tranformation.

In 1994, the Bukawel Performing Arts was conceived to address a major problem, which was the
unavailability of performers during emergency performances. Due to the huge size of the
province, organizing a group in nearby areas for easier contact seem to be the most feasible
solution. (Bukawel is a kind of shell abundant in the area. In the program, Bukawel is the
acronym for Bukas at Wastong Edukasyon sa Larangan ng Sining-Open and Truthful Education
thru the Arts).

CBTG’s major works include Pasyon ng Bayang Pilipino, Court of the Last Resort, Ang Lupa ay
Atin and Juan Adre among others. Theater productions are based on the group’s aim to depict the
different realities and conditions of the people and thus, equipping the communities to better
understand issues and their conditions so they could actively participate in the struggle for social
transformation. The group has already lined-up a Luzon tour of their production Si Bulusan Nan
Si Agingay, a CBTG Theater Festival, a regular theater season, workshops/seminars and a
continued alliance and network-building as part of their work program until the end of the year
2000.

The Arts Research and Training Institute in Southern Tagalog, Inc. (ARTIST, Inc) is a Los
Baños-based non-government organization founded in April 1987 to address the various needs of
different sector and community-based cultural groups in the Southern Tagalog region through
arts education and training, research and production works showcasing regional forms and
themes. ARTIST, Inc. currently has five performing arts ensemble, which showcase the
organization’s research and works: Korido Theater Ensemble, Kalantog for music, Higantes for
visual arts, Munting ARTIST, which is composed of children, and the Teen ARTIST, which
comprises high school students.
 ARTIST has mounted numerous theater productions including May Dalaw (entry to 1998
International Theater Festival in the Philippines), Juego de Prenda, Suntok sa Buwan, Sa Liyab
ng Libong Sulo (entry to 1996 Ikalawang Tagpo National Theater Festival) and Dasalan at
Toksohan under its PARAGOS Mobile Performance Season. Known for using the audience
participation format in its performances, ARTIST transforms unconventional venues into more
flexible theater structures wherein the audience could be part of the performance in an attempt to
break the wall that separates audience from the performers. Because of this, the theater
productions of ARTIST have been and are being performed in various communities in the
region.

This Los Baños-based organization has been regularly holding its SANAYSINING Summer Arts
School, Lakbaysining Mobile Arts Training, Faculty and Instruction Development Program
(FIDP) and a host of other training courses in and around Luzon. In the past two years, ARTIST,
Inc. has also been playin an active part in drafting and developing the theater
curriculum/program of the Philippine National High School for the Arts located in Mt. Makiling.
ARTIST, Inc. is currently acting as program/project secretariat for the Luzon Theater Network,
Laguna/PASILAG Network and the Los Baños Makiling Network.

OBON DI MALAYAD, Inc. (ODM) was informally organized in 1978 at Lubon, Tadian, Mt.
Province with the name Lubon Bagnas Cultural Troupe. This Igorot group of performing artists
aims to help preserve and develop the aesthetic heritage of the Cordillera people through theater
productions based on the oral literature, chants, verses, music and dances of the people. It has
been continuously mounting plays based on the them of past and present conditions of the
indigenous people with the hope of contributing to the improvement of our present life.

ODM has an active link-up with organizations such as the NCCA, Luzon Theater Network and
ARTIST, Inc. The group was also one of the participants in the Lusong ’99 Luzon Theater
Festival and Conference held in Los Baños with the production entitled Boka Id Kayos as their
entry.

III. New Blood

Teatro Sandaang Pulo (TSP) was formed on April 29, 1997 and was formally founded on
December 12, 1997 in Alaminos, Pangasinan. This school-based theater group received training
grants from ARTIST, Inc. with the help of Cong. Hernani Braganza.

The knowledge gained from attending ARTIST’s Sanaysining ’97 equipped them with renewed
vigor and the necessary skills in strengthening the group and since then, had been regularly
holding its meeting, trainings and recruitment of new members as well as performing in and
around Pangasinan. TSP has mounted several major productions such as Sigaw ng Bayan and
Bayan ko.

Tanghalang Gattayaw is a youth theater group based in the Bukal National High School in Liliw,
Laguna. The group adopted the name Gattayaw, the name of the town’s founding father. It was
conveived on July 1991 with the goal of resurrecting the Liliw culture as well as educating the
youth on various issues in our society.
 Gattayaw’s major works include Pustiso sa Baso, Pitong Taon, Baliw and White Lady? White
Lady!. The group has participated in the Pista ng Dulaang Laguna 1992, 1993 and 1998. This
group specializes in youth-oriented plays and can easily mount a play in just one day due to its
members’ capability of quickly memorizing the lines. They are also active in other cultural
events in Liliw and has been giving workshops for the out-of-school youth in their locale.

Tanghal Sining is a relatively new theater group based in the Los Baños National High School.
Composed of students from the First up to the Fourth year level, the group is currently
undergoing continous training and has started its recruitment for additional members. Tanghal
Sining considers Alamat ni Maryang Makiling, an entry to the Lusong ’98 Luzon Theater
Festival and Conference, as one of their major works.

IV. Events for 1999 – 2000

While the Luzon Theater Network does not actively involve, at the moment, all theater groups in
the region, it is currently working with a handful of groups who endear themselves with the task
of promoting theater work that forms strong ties with their respective communities. Partnerships
undertaken in the previous years proved that resource-sharing among network members could
yield strategies for sustainability. Courses of actions based on what each group needs, what each
group can offer and what the network can do as a whole towards promoting a sustainable theater
work in the region came up during the Lusong ’98 Theater Festival and Conference discussions.
These are:

The First Luzon Theater Research Workshop and Conference

Publication of Lusong Update
SANAYSINING Summer Arts School Program
Pedagogical Research on the content and method of basic theater courses in three key areas of
Luzon namely Cordillera, Bicol and Laguna.
Exchange performances cum workshops
Lusong 2000: The Third Luzon Theater Festival and Conference.
The Luzon Theater Network believes in the importance of a unified cultural work in order to
achieve a true Luzon theater identity which serves the people in the communities. It is with this
belief that the Luzon Theater Network intensifies its efforts in widening its scope, consolidating
its members and strengthening its bonds with the communities that theater artists serv

The Evolution of Philippine Theater

 The Philippine theatre industry is growing steadily as more performing arts fans emerge thanks
to the increased media and digital exposure it’s getting. Theatre productions are now more
available and accessible to Filipinos who want to experience contemporary theatre.

But, the performances we see today are mere products of the cultures that have influenced the
country through the years. Let’s take a look at how the history of Philippine theatre has evolved.

Pre-colonial Time

During the pre-historic times, theater in the Philippines was in the form of indigenous rituals,
verbal jousts or games, or songs and dances to praise gods. According to early chronicles, pre-
historic dramas consisted of three elements – myth, mimesis, and spectacle.

These mimetic performances mostly dramatized primitive rituals and epic poetry about deities
and mythical legends, where the spirit of the deities would seemingly possess a catalonan (priest)
or babaylan (priestess).

During this entranced state, the priest or priestess would consume the sacrificial offering, which
could be in the form of a pig, chicken, rice, wine, or nuts.
"…seemed to shoot flames from her eyes; her hair stood on end, a fearful sight to those
beholding, and she uttered words of arrogance and superiority." – Juan de Plasencia, 1590

Spanish Regime

When the Spaniards reached our shores, they used dramas such as zarzuelas as a pedagogical
tool to influence the pagan tribes and teach them about Christianity and religion.

Another important form of theater popularized during the Spanish colonization is the comedia,
also known as moro-moro, linambay, or arakyo. It’s a play in verse that portrays the lives, loves,
and wars of moors and Christians.

Moro-Moro is a secular comedy that dramatizes the war between Christians and Muslims
through the forbidden love between the prince and the princess. The comedy is resolved with the
non-Christian being converted to Christianity, or through his or her death, immediately followed
by his or her resurrection.

Comedias were normally performed in the pueblos or village centers to attract more people to the
foundation of its regime. The comedia can last anywhere from 3 to 15 hours through a series of
performances. The first Filipino comedia was performed in Latin and Spanish by Fr. Vicente
Puche in Cebu in 1598.

On the other hand, a zarzuela is a form of musical theater that combines spoken word and song
that celebrates various Catholic liturgical feasts. Jugar Con Fuego by Francisco Asenjo Barbieri
was the first zarzuela introduced in the country in late 1878 or early 1879.

By August 17, 1893, Teatro Zorilla, the home of zarzuela, was inaugurated.
Throughout the 333 years of the Spanish regime, the Philippines was widely influenced by their
culture, tradition, and religion. Today, zarzuelas and comedias are still being performed, albeit
with other cultural influences and contemporary touches.

American Colonization

When American colonial rule was established, the United States introduced the American way of
life through education, media, and language. Their influence on Philippine theatre is most
apparent through the bodabil (vaudeville) and the plays and dramas staged or translated into
English.

In 1898, the first bodabil was produced by the Manila Dramatic Guild for the sole purpose of
entertaining American soldiers and other Americans residing in Manila. It was also the first
theatrical performance since the revolution.

The bodabil is not a straight-up play. The theatrical performance is, in fact, a mix of songs,
dances, comedy skits, and even magical performances. Local audiences bought-in and
productions soon found themselves becoming entertainment spectacles that can be transported
from one town to the next. Not long after, the bodabil was interjected into comedias and
zarzuelas, as intermission numbers known as jamborees.

In the 1930s, the country was introduced to Broadway theatre or stage plays through the
westernized education that was provided in most private schools for privileged children.
Shakespearean tragedies and comedies, as well as western classics, were performed in the
original English or English adaptation.

The Japanese Occupation

By the 1940s, when the Japanese took over the Philippines from the Americans, movie actors
and actresses could no longer appear in films, as the Japanese confiscated all film equipment.
However, the comedia, zarzuela, and bodabil remained in the country as forms of entertainment
and expression.

Eventually, the bodabil evolved to become stage shows or variety shows with a short melodrama
at the end to accommodate the actors and actresses who moved their craft to bodabil and theatre.
Venues such as the Manila Grand Opera House and the Savoy Theatre became homes of bodabil.

After the war, movies returned to popularity, and the bodabil era slowly lost its luster. Stage
shows became small, cheap performances held in open-air stages in the provinces. Sadly, the
bodabil deteriorated decades later to become burlesque and strip shows held in cheap theatres
around American military bases.

Philippine Theatre as We Know It Today

After the Japanese occupation, the Philippine theatre has evolved to become an amalgamation of
the various influences such that of the zarzuela, comedia, bodabil, and western classics. Theatre
 was largely performed in English during the time, as it became a large part of classroom
education. Meanwhile, zarzuelas such as “Ang Kiri,” “Dalagang Bukid,” and “Paglipis ng
Dilim” became well-known beyond their regions.

By the 1950s, theatre had moved out of classrooms and the concept of paying for a ticket to see a
theatrical performance emerged. This “legitimate” theatre was held in closed theaters – these
became events in themselves, not just mere parts of a celebration or religious ritual.

During this time, playwrights such as Severino Montano, Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero, and Alberto S.
Florentino honed their crafts and contributed to the development of performing arts in the
Philippines.

Through the years, Philippine theatre groups have staged numerous plays in both English and
Filipino, be it written by a Western or local playwright. Spanish culture and traditions largely
influence performing arts in the Philippines, but the contemporary style is borrowed from the
Americans. Classic shows such as The Westside Story and Sound of Music made waves in recent
years when it took the local stage. This year, The Theatre at Solaire presents The Lion King, an
internationally renown production set to wow Philippine audiences.
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers, typically actors or
actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a
specific place, often a stage

The Basic Elements of Theatre

Script/Text, Scenario, Plan:

This is the starting point of the theatrical performance. The element most often considered as the
domain of the playwright in theatre. The playwright’s script is the text by which theatre is
created. It can be simplistic, as in the 16th century, with the scenarios used by the acting troupes
of the Commedia dell’ arte, or it can be elaborate, such as the works of William Shakespeare.
The script, scenario, or plan is what the director uses as a blue print to build a production from.
The Process:
This is the coordination of the creative efforts usually headed up in theatre by the director. It is
the pure process by which the playwright’s work is brought to realization by the director, actors,
designers, technicians, dancers, musicians, and any other collaborators that come together on the
script, scenario, or plan. This is the works in progress stage.

The Product:
This is the end result of the process of work involved. The final product that results from all of
the labors coming together to complete the finished work of script, scenario, and plan, in union
with all of the collaborators in the process to create the final product. This is what the audience
will witness as they sit in the theatre and view the work.

The Audience:
Theatre requires an audience. For all of the arts public is essential. The physical presence of an
audience can change a performance, inspire actors, and create expectations. Theatre is a living
breathing art form. The presence of live actors on the stage in front of live audiences sets it apart
from modern day films and television.

The History of Philippine Theater

Philippine theater began just like any other genre of literature with precolonial indigenous drama.
These constitute rituals, verbal jousts or games, and sngs and dances praising their respective
gods. Eventually, when the Spaniards came, these indigenous dramas were discarded and were
changed into mainly categories:
1. The Comedy or Komedya
2. The Zarzuela or Sarsuela
These were dramas that were used to capture the imaginations and hearts of the Filipinos, whom
the Spaniards have just colonized. Aside from providing entertainment to the people from the
pueblos
These also serve as teaching tools for the religion that they brought with them, which is
Chrisianity
BASIC THEATRE STAGES
1. Arena Circle
A form of theatrical presentation in which, the audience is seated in a circle around
the stage or on at least three of its sides.

2. Proscenium
In theatre, the frame or arch separating the stage from the auditorium, through
which the action of a play is viewed. In the ancient Greek theatre, the proscenium (Greek:
proskēnion) originally referred to a row of colonnades, supporting a raised acting
platform (logeion), and afterward to the entire acting area. A proscenium in the modern
sense was first installed in a permanent theatre in 1618–19 at the Farnese Theatre built in
Parma, Italy. It had been introduced as a temporary structure at the Italian court about 50
years earlier. Although this arch did contain a stage curtain, its main purpose was to
provide atmosphere and a sense of spectacle, and scene changes were still carried out in
view of the audience. It was not until the 18th century that the stage curtain was
commonly used as a means of hiding scene changes.

3. Created and Found

A stage can also be improvised where ever a suitable space can be found.
Examples include staging a performance in a nontraditional space such as basement of a
building, a side of a hill or, in the case of a busking troupe, the street. In a similar manner
a makeshift stage can be created by modifying an environment.
 4. Thrust
A thrust stage is a performance space in which the stage breaks through and
extends well past the proscenium arch. It reaches out into the auditorium, so that it
is surrounded on three sides by the audience.

Source:http://theatreprojects.com/files/pdf/Resources_IdeasInfo_typesandformsoftheatre.pdf

Before the stage plays began though, there were also predramatic forms present in Philippine
theater before. There were loas, declamations and orations that usually involved only one person
and were not as dramatical as stage play.

Realism- Authenticity Sometimes called naturalism, in expressions of the human experience is

commonly the endeavor to speak to topic honestly, without phony and staying away from
creative traditions, or impossible, intriguing, and heavenly components.

Social Realism-Term utilized for work delivered by painters, printmakers, picture takers,
scholars and movie producers that expects to attract consideration regarding the genuine socio-
political states of the regular workers as intends to evaluate of the power structures behind these
conditions.
 Brechtian Style-"Brechtian" is a term normal among theater professionals and has turned out to
be synonymous with generation decisions that distance the gathering of people and remind
observers that they are watching theater, not reality.

Music-Art type of articulation, it ought to bring the internal side of a craftsman to the surface and
give the world an understanding of his vision, it is a type of correspondence.

Narrative Term related with the specialists who archived the unforgiving substances of British
life amid the Depression during the 1930s.
The dialect is the essential key to any culture. The Philippines tally more than 90 unmistakable
dialects! Still bunches of stories and legends are transmitted from grandparents to amazing
youngsters in valuable minutes. Now and again, somebody thinks of them down. However,
frequently they vanish with the family's memory.

Loads of nonnatives are upbeat that the Filipinos write in roman characters. This reality is the
aftereffect of the Spanish colonialization. Before the Spaniards attacked the Philippines,
individuals had their very own composition. Peruse likewise "Writing". A fascinating certainty is
the utilization of the antiquated "Baybayin" composing as a security stamp on the new
Philippines banknotes. In the lower right corner, simply over the estimation of the note, you
locate some odd signs. When you hold the banknote against the light, the signs are finished by
the rear reciprocals and demonstrate the word Filipino written in Philippine antiquated
"Baybayin" letters in order.

Music in the good country and marsh villages where indigenous culture keeps on flourishing has
solid Asian components. Spanish and American impacts are exceptionally obvious in the music
of the urban regions.

As changed are the general population of the Philippines, so too are the moves. There are
numerous moves performed in the Philippine Islands, for example, the well known "Tinikling",
to the exoticized "Pangalay", to the ability based elucidation of the "Banga" and Spanish-tinged
"Jota". Moves are performed whenever and anyplace. This begins toward the beginning of the
day in schools, where move is an incorporated piece of instruction. It endures till late in the night
particularly when there is a holiday.

As a feature of the Philippine convention, numerous celebrations and events are praised in the
nation where theater expressions are being used. For example, amid Holy Week, "Cenaculo"
happens as a dramatic execution that re-institutes the energy of Christ. Another is the Moro-
Moro which communicates the contention among Christians and Muslims in the nation.

In different towns, a well known performance center frame called carillo, which is typically a
dramatization play, is appeared after the reap season. "Zarzuela" is another popular theater
execution, a neighborhood form of Spanish operetta. In numerous different places or events,
assortment of customary plays that express the Filipino love for expressions are appeared up
right up 'til today.
Early cut human doll is known from the cordilleras. Still today, the bulols, or "Ifugao rice Gods,"
are kept in the house or storage facility, and are generally made in sets. They are cut of narra
wood, which speaks to riches, bliss, and prosperity. Each progression in their generation requires
a function, from tree determination to landing in the proprietor's home. A blessed bulol has been
washed in pig's blood, had fantasies recounted to it, and got contributions of wine, custom boxes,
and rice cakes.

National Artists for Theatre

Larry Alcala

Ryan Cayabyab

Kidlat Tahimik