Philippine Theater as Cultural Heritage

Lesson 1: Context and Forms of Philippine Theater

Ritual and Games

INTRODUCTION

Theater could be a department of performing expressions concerned with the introduction of

plays and musicals. Its scope is around the world and its impact is significant. The art of theater is
concerned nearly solely with live execution by actors, in which the activity is accurately arranged to
make a coherent and significant sense of dramatization in a time space gathering of people system.
Theater manifests in shifted substance and shapes as authorized by the socio-political and
topographical milieu through human action. There have been broadly distinctive conclusions as to
what the point of theater ought to be. A few have seen that theater is goal-oriented with a genuine
reason whereas others pushed theater as a medium of conferring amusement and still few see no
reason why theater ought to not be at the same time genuine and engaging individuals. Theater in
common term is comprehensive of all the components that contribute to a performance of
sensational nature. After successfully completing this lesson, the student will; To build intellectual
and aesthetic understanding of the craft and technique of theatre arts, To explore the diversity of
theatre and its intersection with community, culture and society, Identify the varied Philippine
Theatre Arts forms to communicate tales of everyday social and cultural relevance and interest,
Appreciate dramatic works from all parts of the Philippines.

There are numerous translations with respect to the root of theater. Most of the scholars take
offer assistance of anthropological thinks about in envisioning and understanding the state of the
human creatures within the old times. Since times immemorial, when man begun accepting the
presence of incomparable forces past him, it driven to the hone of worshiping or satisfying these
supreme strengths through ceremonies. In spite of the fact that theater as a craftsmanship frame
risen at a comparatively late organize in man’s social evolutions but it is by and large believed to
have its roots in primitive devout ceremonies. There were designs in the behaviour of primitive social
orders that might legitimize as pre-theatrical. The various designs appeared the mental state of the
individuals encountering the unpredictable strange cycles. They embraced customs, which were an
appeal to those they accepted to control the different components for their welfare guidance and
security.

Ceremonies support the otherworldly and social life of the innate Filipinos. Closely adjusted to
nature, accepting within the spirits that keep their environment productive and their selves lively, the
ethnic Filipinos sanction these rites continuously with instrumental music, chanting, and frequently
dancing as “part of communal life cycles, but they too serve as a prevalent medium of dramatic
expression and amusement that reflects the people’s nature, culture and aspirations”.