Playing for keeps | mb.com.

ph | Philippine News 20/03/2016, 10:37 AM

Sunday, March 20, 2016

Search in site...

HOME NEWS BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE TECHNEWS OTHERS SUBSCRIPTIONS BOOKING

City Hostel - Central Station Viking

Rated Hostels & No Booking Fees! Book your visit to
from $28.29
Hostelworld
Stockholm now! History
Excursio
Home » Others » Panorama » Playing for keeps
to Arkils
Playing for keeps Related Posts:

Fatigue takes toll on Fajardo

Often unsupported, sometimes misunderstood, contemporary Philippine
theater fights to remain relevant, authentic, and meaningful
Djokovic too classy for
Nadal

March 18, 2016 Stockholm Tr

‘Larong Pinoy’
Planning
Viator
Girl killed not by stray
bullet

Sharapova says she’s ready

to go

Repertory Philippines’ local adaptation of The Game’s A Foot by Ken Ludwig

Every time I am asked “What is the state of our theater today?” or “What is contemporary
Philippine theater, particularly in Manila?” I find myself conflicted. How, realistically, should
one go about answering these questions? Is it a matter of cultural identity? Is it answerable by
pointing out a particular theater form, similar to the bunraku (traditional Japanese puppet
theater) of Osaka, wayang kulit (shadow puppets) in Java, or kathakali (Indian dance drama) in
Kerala? Are there markers that make theater peculiarly Filipino? A more pressing issue here is
the referencing of “Manila Theater” as a singular entity, is it one?

One way of answering these questions is by listing the current theatrical activities happening in
the country. In Manila, there are a number of commercial, professional, and semi-professional
theater companies. If we survey their most current productions, there are notable genres. The
musical is one genre that these companies are currently staging.

Most of the musicals staged in Manila are imported from Broadway or the West End. Claude
Michel Schönberg-Alain Boudbil’s megamusical Les Misérables is currently onstage at the
Theater at Solaire with Rachel Anne Go performing the role of Fantine. The Tony Award-
winning musical The Bridges of Madison County was staged by Atlantis Productions in
November 2015 under Bobby Garcia’s direction. Local artists in Manila are also staging original
musicals such as Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (PETA) staging of The Care Divas
in 2010 (with restaging in 2011 and 2012) and Stages Production Specialist’s musical
extravaganza Chuva Choo Choo: The Mr. Kupido Musicale based on the songs of Vehnee Saturno

http://www.mb.com.ph/playing-for-keeps-2/ Page 1 of 6
Playing for keeps | mb.com.ph | Philippine News 20/03/2016, 10:37 AM

in 2015. Other current musical performances staged in Manila are adaptations of other cultural
texts (both foreign and local) such as Cris Martinez’s adaptation of Carlo Vergara’s graphic novel
Kung Papaano Ako Naging Lady staged at the PETA Theater in Quezon City by the newly formed
Dalanghita Productions in 2015.

Straight plays are also some of the favorite genres staged in the city. There are those written by
foreign dramatists (especially American and English playwrights) like the plays produced by
Repertory Philippines (Rep), Red Turnip Theater, and the university-based and semi-
professional theater company Dulaang UP, and those written by local playwrights such as the
many plays in Tanghalang Pilipino’s regular theater season. There are also a number of stage
adaptations of Western classics and other literary materials from local and foreign sources such
as Tisoy Brown: Hari ng Wala, Rody Vera’s adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt for Dulaang
UP under José Estrella’s direction.

Wombats City London - The

London - The
Hostel Walrus Bar
Station Hotel
London and Hostel

46 $ 28 $
Book now Book now Book now

Wombats City London -

London -
Dulaang UP’s Tisoy Brown: Hari ng Wala under José Estrella’s direction Hostel Gallery Hyde
SoHostel
London Park

Children’s theater productions are also staple in the seasons of local theater companies. Rep and 46 $ 109 $ 32 $
PETA include at least one children’s play in their respective seasons. This year, Rep is staging Book now Book now Book now
Hansel and Gretel as part of its children’s theater program.

Given all these current theatrical activities in the metro alone, a simple and basic word that may
sum up the current state of Manila’s theatrical scene is diverse. But despite diversity, there is a
kind of limitation on what counts as contemporary Manila theater. The theater scene in Manila
is undoubtedly interesting since several theatrical activities are happening. But it is composed of
distinguishable patterns or trends, which indicate that these productions are indebted to certain
Western dramatic traditions.

In particular, the pattern is a construction of a linear-dramatic narrative where the theater wants
to tell a story or wants to construct a fictive cosmos and let all the stage represent an alternative
world intended for the imagination of the spectator. This in scholarship is known to be the
theater of drama or the dramatic tradition of doing theater. Generally, the Manila scene is
“derivative” of certain trends found in modern Western culture. Because of this, there are
aspects of contemporary Manila theater that provide reasons for circumspection, especially since
this notion of “derivative” brings forth issues of inauthenticity and cheap imitation.

Entanglement

Considering these issues of imitation and this commentary on inauthenticity, I felt at first that
our theater had little to contribute to knowledge of theater internationally. But looking closely at
these issues, I realize that our scene is more complex. Some social commentators remarked that
the performing Filipinos, for instance, are master imitators. At the same time, these
commentators assert that the imitation is almost the same as that which is imitated (or almost a
perfect replica). With this, the process is not just a simple imitation but also a complicated
strategy of aesthetics and poetics.

I believe one should think of Philippine contemporary theater as entangled. Besides,

entanglement is looming in the nation’s socio-historical and socio-cultural dispositions. At the
same time, entanglement is also found in its geographical surroundings.

Simply put, many theater artists in the metro are putting different elements together in their
theater works, mixing and matching performance genres ranging from Western (colonial)
influences to archipelagic encounters (or the traditional performance genres from other

http://www.mb.com.ph/playing-for-keeps-2/ Page 2 of 6
Playing for keeps | mb.com.ph | Philippine News 20/03/2016, 10:37 AM

regions).

A good example is Dulaang UP’s Rizal X staged at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater in 2011 for
the sesquicentennial celebrations of Jose Rizal. This performance is an entanglement of
performance genres and other art forms based on what the production’s director Dexter Santos
described as “fragments.” Another example is the 2013 staging of José Estrella’s Adarna where
the narrative of this corrido, adapted by Vlad Gonzales, combined puppetry, singing, and
dancing.

This is not to say, however, that local artists are intentionally captivated by the poetics and
aesthetics of mixing and matching as part of their creative strategies in creating theater. Looking
at the works of many local artists, there seems to be a degree of comfort with entanglement, even
if they do not intentionally recognize it as part of their artistic endeavors. Nonetheless, the
complexity of entanglement possesses a danger of being entrapped in a muddled situation, often
producing a sense of disorder, even chaos. Which is why the idea of entanglement often carries a
negative connotation.

As a possible key concept toward the identification of the state of contemporary Philippine
theater, entanglement has its own limitations, especially since many artists unintentionally
overuse it (i.e., pastiche, fragments). There is a tendency for theater works to unintentionally
sensationalize their chosen subjects.

Many contemporary works in the Philippines are realistic in approach, social dramas touching
social issues. In the book Palabas, Doreen Fernandez has provided an overview of what she
considers the state of Philippine theater today. She notes that it is Philippine life that fires our
playwrights. She is convinced that local theater artists do not need to hear of the latest trends in
writing techniques or directing techniques in order to want to write and stage a play in like
manner. What’s important for theater artists in the country is to thematically write anything that
represents social Filipino reality.

Fernandez is reinforcing the fact that dramatic tradition dominates the theater scene in the
metropolis or anywhere else in the country. Following this line of inquiry, the primary
conditions in doing theater are coherent narrative and representations of social life. Fernandez
also adds that in the thematic concern of Filipino playwrights and players (directors and actors),
the vitality of theater is in its urgency. By urgency, Fernandez means the representation of social
concerns of the time that therefore provides a commentary on the current state of things. On a
more discursive reading of such plays, these productions may sometimes easily be identified
with television shows because they present topical issues (such as migrant workers, poverty,
homosexuality, the disintegrating family, to name a few) and such issues are somehow
editorialized.

Because of this, many artists engage in dramaturgy or the study of dramatic composition in
order to look for problems imbedded in the performance, especially since local plays seek to
perform a coherent narrative and representations of local social life. Dramaturgy is an emerging
creative field in Philippine theater. Often, Filipino theater artists associate dramaturgy with
academic research. This is why dramaturgs are popularly thought of as researchers who
introduce the play through program notes called dramaturgical notes. While this is one of the
many responsibilities of the dramaturg, his role is more than academic. He is also a creative
leader, responsible for several artistic decisions that a director might consider for the betterment
of a play. In the words of performing arts curator Gideon Lester, the primary task of a dramaturg
is to make theater better.

Dramaturg

Theater in the Philippines is often conceived to be a theater of the director. Most of the time, we
acknowledge the director as an important figure in threading the different elements of a play. In
this final section of the essay, I introduce the dramaturg whose role in theater is to help the
director in threading different elements of the performance in the creation of a harmonious if
not a unified whole.

Dramaturgs are theater people who tirelessly contribute to the historical accuracy of plays,
provide a contextual understanding, help the director in search for transitory devises for scene
changes, develop audience relations, and provide staging techniques for experimental works.
Some theater companies in Manila have already started practicing dramaturgy as they develop
new plays. Sipat Lawin Ensemble and Kolab Company are two of the rising contemporary
theater collectives in the city whose works are initiated by a collective dramaturgy by its
members. As an academic institution, Dulaang UP has always included the dramaturg as an
important member of the artistic team. Tanghalang Pilipino also frequently hires a dramaturg in
staging original works and adaptation of classics. Dramaturgs Giselle Garcia (Macho Dancer: a
Musical, Der Kauffman, Juego de Peligro), Bryan Viray (Umaaraw Umuulan, Adarna, Tisoy
Brown: Hari ng Wala), Vanessa Banta (Adarna, Umaaraw Umuulan), Jem Javier (Arkipelago,
Tisoy Brown: Hari ng Wala), Katherine Sabate (Orosman at Zafira, Arturo Ui), Kristina Stuart
Santiago (Kleptomaniac), and Erika Estacio (Teatro Porvenir, Mga Buhay na Apoy) are just few

http://www.mb.com.ph/playing-for-keeps-2/ Page 3 of 6
Playing for keeps | mb.com.ph | Philippine News 20/03/2016, 10:37 AM

individuals I give my full applause for providing the necessary theoretical life of plays.

Rachelle Ann Go as Fantine in Les Misérable on the West End stage

Dramaturgy denotes a comprehensive theory of playmaking. As a creative aspect of the theater,

it is a reference to a process of arranging various dramatic actions in a meaningful and
comprehensive order. For a long time, dramaturgy and playwriting are linked as one and the
same. In the Greek period, dramaturgy is also used to refer to a dramatist. Today, the difference
is in the dictum that writer, dramaturg, and theater scholar Magda Romanska pronounces in her
introduction to the Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy announcing that everyone can be a
playwright (or at least, everyone can write a play), but not everyone can be a dramaturg—that is,
not everyone will actually know how to fix it. The dramaturg is a distant eye to a play being
staged. As a distant eye, he or she possesses analytical skills of discerning and deconstructing all
elements of dramatic and theatrical structure.

The dramaturg is the resident expert on the physical, social, political, and economic milieus in
which the action takes place, the psychological underpinnings of the characters, the various
metaphorical expressions in the play of thematic concerns; as well as on the technical
consideration of the play as a piece of writing: structure, rhythm, flow, even individual word
choices. The dramaturg may make files of materials about a play’s history or social context,
prepare program notes, lead post-production discussions, or write study guides for schools and
groups. These actions can assist a director in integrating textual and acting criticism,
performance theory, and historical research into a production before it opens. A dramaturg’s
responsibilities include but are not limited to researching, studying, summarizing, focusing,
articulating, writing, communicating, questioning, guarding, and/or protecting the play in
production.

In conclusion, the everyday life of the Filipino people, especially the Manileños may be
characterized by a seemingly chaotic entanglement: the traffic jam, flood due to heavy rains,
social disparity, noise in public spaces, population density, crimes, political and religious wars,
to name a few. With this, it may be concluded that the Philippines is a highly unstable and
unsafe place to live. Here is a picture of imperfection. But amid the chaos, there are structures
that hold together these disparate elements. The international media says that it is the resilience
of the Filipino people that keeps everyday life going. Nonetheless, to accept that it is in the
nature of the Filipinos to be resilient is concluding that the

Filipino psyche is fatalistic: instead of solving their problems, they simply accept that these
problems, too, shall pass. In my view, these structures amid chaos are significant in a more
nuanced discussion of entanglement. These may also render a discussion of the practicality of
entanglement in doing theater. Perhaps, we can start to think of this paradox of robustness in
chaos as a starting point for the understanding of the state of contemporary theater in Manila
and, to some extent, the entire archipelago. In my view, this will enable us to look at
entanglements that are even more complex than those characterized by juxtaposition,
combination, ensnaring, or muddling. In practical terms, this direction may provide a reflection
on how entanglement makes sense for local artists, especially since chaos is seemingly the
context of the world they live in.

Sir Anril P. Tiatco studied dramaturgy in cosmopolitan cultures at the University of Manchester.
He has a PhD in Theatre Studies from the National University of Singapore. He is the author of
Entablado: Theaters and Performances in the Philippines (UP Press, 2015) and Performing
Catholicism: Faith and Theater in a Philippine Province (UP Press, 2016). An associate professor
of Theater Arts at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Tiatco is currently also the director
of UP Diliman Information Office and the officer-in-charge of UP Diliman Office for Initiatives
in Culture and the Arts.

http://www.mb.com.ph/playing-for-keeps-2/ Page 4 of 6
Playing for keeps | mb.com.ph | Philippine News 20/03/2016, 10:37 AM

(By Sir Anril Pineda Tiatco)

From Around the Web

See the Best Luxury Real 10 ways to play Sparta, the See Mansion Global's 2015
Estate in the World strategy game phenomenon Listing of the Year
[Photos] of 2015 Mansion Global by Dow Jones
Mansion Global by Dow Jones Sparta

5 Best Free Team 13 best free project How he learned 9 languages

Management Tools management software fluently
Webiot programs 2016 Babbel
Techworld
Recommended by

Sponsored

ANSWERS

11 Extremely Important Facts About Farting

Flatulence is a part of nature. However natural this behavior is, there
are still some important facts you should know about farting.

Learn More

0 Comments Manila Bulletin !

1 Login

♥ Recommend ⤤ Share Sort by Best

Start the discussion…

Be the first to comment.

✉ Subscribe d Add Disqus to your site Add Disqus Add % Privacy

Manila Bulletin News !

http://www.mb.com.ph/playing-for-keeps-2/ Page 5 of 6
Playing for keeps | mb.com.ph | Philippine News 20/03/2016, 10:37 AM

Me when I make an instagram

https://t.co/WPvtmdKFHm

Cypher | мσтιση ∂єѕιgη

Crowdynews

HOME NEWS BUSINESS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE TECH OTHERS ABOUT MB CONTACT MB SUBSCRIBE ADVERTISE PRIVACY POLICY RSS

Copyright © 2016 mb.com.ph | Philippine News. All rights reserved

↑ Top

http://www.mb.com.ph/playing-for-keeps-2/ Page 6 of 6