THEATRE PERFORMANCE ART

THE TWO TYPES OF THEATER PRODUCTION THE FOUR BASIC THEATER STAGES
Performance Art Proscenium Stage – the action takes place behind the
• It is an art form that combines visual art with dramatic proscenium opening or frame of the stage, the seats in the
performance. auditorium face the stage like the seats in a movie theater
• The purpose of the act is not to entertain but to facing the screen.
convey a message in a dramatic sense.
• It is not the same as a theatrical play in the sense that
it does not depict a set of fictitious character following
a script.
Sam Penaso
 He is a contemporary artist and he performed
contemporary painting on stage at Manila Doctors
Hospital on March 28, 2015 in celebration of Earth
Hour.
Nicolas Aca
 He stages a performance art on the street to dedicate
the second anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda.
 He led a dozen of volunteer students from Capitol
University Dance Troupe and Cagayan de Oro Arts Arena or Circle Stage – the stage may either be raised a few
Guild and walked mud-soaked. feet above the floor with seats rising from the floor level or it
may be on the floor with seats raised on levels around it.
Theater Art
• It 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.
Ang Huling El Bimbo
• Ang Huling El Bimbo is a story of friendship told
through the songs of the most iconic Pinoy rock band
from the 90’s. It is an original story that should
resonate with people who understand how the
powerful bond between friends shapes our lives. It will
also be a nostalgic journey, driven by songs that have
become part of the collective Pinoy psyche.
• Produced by Resorts World Manila and Full House Thrust Stage – it is with three quarter-seating arranged in a
Theater Company, Ang Huling El Bimbo is written by semicircle that encloses the stage protruding the center.
Dingdong Novenario, and directed and
choreographed by Dexter Santos.

THE ELEMENTS OF DRAMATIC THEATRICAL ART

• PLOT – the arrangement of events which has
beginnings, middle, and end.
• CHARACTER – the principal material of the
performance, the central focus of the plot.
• THOUGHT – the main idea or concept that the
characters dramatize.
• LANGUAGE or DICTION – the expression of
meaning through the use of words.
• SONG or MUSIC – the speaking, dancing, and
singing part in the performance, which includes sound Created or Found Stage – stage space can be any kind of
of actors’ voices, incidental songs, and background structure that maintains its original architectural elements
music, and instrumental accompaniment. intact. It can be improvised where ever a suitable space can be
• SPECTACLE – pertains to the visual elements of found.
production that include characters’ movement and
spatial relations, lightning, settings, costumes, and
props.
• DIRECTOR – puts together a variety of elements so
that the audience can sit and view a coherent theater
performance.
• PLAYWRIGHT – writes the story in a dramatic format.
• THEATER SPACE – usually set on stage, which has
four basic types.
STYLES THAT DOMINATE IN THE PHILIPPINE THEATER
REALISM
Realism in the contemporary modern theater follows two
tendencies: the psychological realism, which focuses on the
problems of individuals; and the social realism, which situates
and roots individual problems within the larger framework of a
class society.
PSYCHOLOGICAL REALISM
Outstanding psychological studies of character can be found in
some English plays, such as:
 Wilfredo Maria Guerrero’s Three Rats (1948), which
is about the affair between a woman and her
husband’s best friend.
 Nick Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino
(1955), depicts the tragedy of two unmarried sisters in
the Spanish City of Intramuros, who are slowly being
devoured by the new, growing commercialism and
pragmatism under America, but who stubbornly cling
to the world of hispanized culture.
 Orlando Nadres’ Paraisong Parisukat (A square
Piece of Paradise, 1974), shows how a young girl
decides to sacrifice love and idealism to the banality
of a stockroom assistant’s life.
 Bienvenido Noriega Jr.’s Bayan-bayan (Little
Country, 1975), exposes the personal dreams and
heartaches of Filipino expatriates in Switzerland.
 Rene O. Villanueva’s Hiblang Abo (Strands of Gray,
1980), portrays four tragic characters in a home for
the aged.
 Isagani R. Cruz’s Kuwadro (Portrait, 1980), is about
an aging sarswela star who pathetically “relives” the
glory days of the sarswela.
 Tony Perez’s Biyaheng Timog (Trip to South, 1984),
shows how an autocratic patriarch meddles in and
destroys the lives of his children and how after his
death, his children finally become whole as persons.
 Elsa Martinez-Coscolluella’s In My Father’s House
(1987), depicts the slow destruction of an Ilonggo
family and the personal disintegration of its members
during the Japanese Occupation of Negros Island in
the 1940’s
SOCIAL REALISM
It was a reaction to the socio-economic-political issues that
confronted the Filipinos. These are the playwrights and their
theater shows that embodied the ideologies of social realism.
 Alberto Florentino’s The World is an Apple (1954),
shows how a poor man steals to buy medicine for his
child.
 Reuel Molina Aguila’s In Dis Korner (In This Corner,
1978), tells of a boxer who sacrifices his personal and
family interests in order to buck the system of “fixing”
which exploits boxers like him.
 Paul Dumol’s historical play, Francisco Maniago
(1987), presents the painful realization of Francisco
Maniago that absolute and unquestioning fidelity to
the King of Spain is possible only with his betrayal of
his own community, family, and self.
 Chris Millado’s Buwan at Baril sa Eb Major (Moon
and Gun in Eb Major, 1985), shows in dialogue the
politization of two brothers (a farmer and worker), a
socialite, a priest and a tribal woman, a student
activist, and a teacher.
COMBINATION OF REALISTIC AND NON-REALISTIC
STYLE
 Marlou Jacob’s Juan Tamban (1978), focuses on an
upper middle-class social worker, who gets politicized
while studying her thesis subject, the street urchin
Juan Tamban, who eats roaches and lizards. In this
play, the playwright uses a chorus as narrator and
commentator to tie together a series of highly realistic
and moving episodes.
 Tony Perez’s Sa North Diversion Road (On North
Diversion Road, 1988), has two actors acting out the
roles of different married couples and their various
reactions to the problem of marital infidelity.
 Anton Juan Jr.’s Death in the Form of a Rose(1992),
intersperses realistic scenes with passages using
masks and symbols, in order to dramatized the
“execution” of Pablo Psolini in the hands of the
“establishment.”
 Floy Quinto’s Fili (1991), “deconstructs” Rizal’s
novel, El Filibusterismo, and creates a fictitious friend
of Rizal whose frivolity becomes parallel to the apathy
of the Fili’s protagoginst, Simon.
 Rodulfo Galenzoga’s Maranatha, which uses an old
Lanao tale about a big, black, predatory bird, to
expose corruption of politicians and the growing
militarization in Mindanao.
THE BRECHTIAN STYLE
 Paul Dumol’s Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio (The
Trial of Old Serapio,1968). In the play, Serapios’s
eyes are gauged out – a punishment considered
“humane” because it will make him a “better” beggar.
 Al Santo’s Ang Sistema ni Propesor Tuko
(Professor’s Gecko’s Way, 1980), which pokes fun at
the authoritarian rule of a fascistic professor to
comment on Philippine society under the Marcos
regime.
 Rolando Tinio’s May Katwiran ang Katwiran (Reason
has its Reason, 1972), which shows how a landlord
manipulates a peasant’s simple mind to accept the
landlord’s “superiority.”
MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
 Fe Remotigue and Don Pausara’s Sinalimba, uses
Bagobo musical materials and instruments for
contemporary artistic expression.
 Denisa Reyes’ Diablos, using a Bagobo about the
evil bird Minokawa.
 Al Santos and Joey Ayala’s Nukleyar (1983), strings
together songs, dances, and slides that explain
nuclear reactions, exposes horrors unleashed by the
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and finally
attacks the establishment of nuclear plants in the
Philippines.
 Dong de los Reyes’ Bien Aligtad, describes the
“necessary” evolution of a simple slum dweller into a
notorious criminal because of police corruption and
military violence.
 Gines Tan’s Magsimula Ka, which focuses on the
decisions made by individual young graduates to be
 themselves by pursuing careers of their choice above
their parents’ objections.
SHORT PLAYS
 Jose F. Lacaba’s Ang Mga Kagilagilalas na
Pakikipagsapalaran ni Juan de la Cruz (The Fantastic
Adventures of Juan de la Cruz, 1976). It tackles the
everyday life of an ordinary Filipino with no real rights.
 Richie Valencia’s Iskolar ng Bayan (Scholar of the
People, 1976) portrays University of the Philippine’
student-life, which was used for symposia or rallies,
given their portability and inexpensive requirements.
FAMOUS THEATER ARTS IN THE DIF F ERENT R EGIONS
OF THE PHILIPPINES
NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION
 Shakespeare’s King Lear by Felix “Nonon” Padilla
 Battalia Royale by Dulaang Sipat Lawin of the
Philippines High School for the Arts (PHSA)
CORDILLERA AUTONOMOUS REGION
 Walang Sugat, Eleksiyon, Fever, Tagpi-tagping Tagpo,
Kabsat, Pagnilaynilay, Florante at Laura, Baka Sakali,
Zwardeenah, Ang kagila-gilalas na Bahay ni Lam-ang,
Rossum Universal Robots, Ang kalungkutan ng mga
Reyna, Ang Hiwaga ng Ibong Adarna by Tanghang
SLU Saint Louis University.
 Tonyo/Pepe, Mga Ina ng Bayan, Manifest Destiny,
Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio, Ang Kafagwaysa Saliw
ng mga Gangsa by Karlo Marko Altomonte
REGION 1 (ILOCOS REGION)
 The Pretenders, Tree and Mass by F. Sionil Jose
REGION 6 (WESTERN VISAYAS)
 Sugidanon Sang Walo ka Giti directed by Kharlle
Joehn Houtea, written by John Clark Hortillosa,
performed by the UI-PEM Busilak
Region 7 (Central Visayas)
 Of Butterflies and Dasies written and directed by
Daisy Baad
REGION 9 (ZAMBOANGA PENINSULA)
 Karaoke Dreams by Vince de Jesus of the PETA
REGION 10 (NORTHERN MINDANAO)
 Isa Pang Kawing by the Savier Stage
REGION 11 (DAVAO)
 Kaliwat Theatre Collective of Arakan
REGION 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN)
Apat sa Taglamig Stage Play Production performed:
 Asawa by Rene Villanueva
 17 Days Summer by Jim Roborars
REGION 13 (CARAGA)
 The Balangay Festival 2014 , a month long
celebration, motivates theater performances on the
floats participating in the Balangay Theater Float
Parade.
AUTONOMOUS REGION FOR MUSLIM MINDANAO (ARMM)
 Pagbabalik: Tracing the Path Home by Kinding
Sindaw

REGION 3 (CENTRAL LUZON)

 Kakarong Show by The Barasoain Kalingan
Foundation, Inc.

REGION 4A (CALABARZON)
 Segunda sa Bisperas ng Kalayaan, Mutya ng Lipa
Trilogy, Ang Luha ni Kumintang by Lipa Actors
Company

REGION 5 (BICOL)