Theresa Nova D.

Villaester BSED English September 25, 2019

Engl 107 Speech and Stage Arts
Reflection Essay on IPAG’s Tales from Mindanao

On September 16, 2019, I was privileged enough to witness the Integrated

Performing Arts Guild, or IPAG in their performance of the Tales from Mindanao, held at
the MSU-IIT Gymnasium. We were lucky because the tickets were sold to us for only
100.00; they gave us a 50.00 discount. We were tasked to write a reflection essay of not
just about the performance, per se, but also, we have to take note of the theater
structure of MSU-IIT, as well as the stage directions and the playbill.
The play was all about Mindanao and its people, narrated in dance movements
with the rhythm and melody of music. It was directed by the leading Philippine theatre
director and playwright, Steven Patrick C. Fernandez. It was not my first time to watch
IPAG perform, but it was my first time to watch their performance of Tales from
Mindanao. What I saw was very entertaining and educational as well. There was never
a boring moment the entire play because the performers really connected to the
audience. They were really professionals.
The play started with the preliminaries, singing of the national anthem, and then
the company call or the Prologue of the play. IPAG performed six stories from Mindanao
namely: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water; The Legend of Maria Cristina Falls – a dance
narrative which showed a Sultan or a Rajah’s lustful intention towards a certain woman.
It was followed by the Pangalay, wherein the movements of the dancers captured the
qualities of the sea. Next was the Pigagawan, wherein the women dancers outsmarted
each other for the attention of a man. The fifth performance was the Unguyyan, a tale of
a popular Filipino Folklore about a wise monkey that outsmarted all monkeys. The last
but not the least performance was the Kalilang, which showed how M’ranaos celebrate
their Kanduri or thanksgiving. During the whole performance, the dancers showed their
professionalism, always giving their best in every scene, as well as the instrumentalists.
I did not see any sign of errors at all the entire presentation.
 So much for the performance, I have observed for the theatre structure of MSU-
IIT that theirs was a Thrust Stage structure. They did not have or put on a grand drape,
but they sure have some of the other components like the teaser, tormentor, cyclorama,
battens, and backstage, but their sound and lighting systems were located right behind
the audience in the ground, in front of the stage. It was difficult to take a picture of the
performers and the stage because taking pictures might distract the performers, so it
was not allowed.
Nevertheless, we still
managed to take 2-3
stolen photos of the
performance, with our
cell phone camera’s
flash turned off.