World Theatre Week 2003

In 1961, the International Theatre Institute established World Theatre Day. Since then, the day set apart for a global tribute to the theatre has been observed every March 27. Today is the 32nd anniversary of that celebration. Fittingly, this year’s celebration is a call for peace. Here is the message from Paris:

"The International Theatre Institute (ITI), an international organization of professionals of theatre life under the umbrella of UNESCO calls upon governments to solve political problems by political means and to refrain from using violence and waging war. Our appeal is based on the principles of ITI statutes of 1948, which encourage exchange and cooperation between theatre artists all over the world to promote mutual understanding and peaceful existence."

We are also glad that during the Oscar awards, which was held only a few days ago, the winners used the occasion to express their desire for peace in Iraq.

The above examples clearly show why the theatre and the movies, which is an extension of the theatre, are relevant to our times. Both are undying institutions because both can deal with contemporary themes. The earliest theatres celebrated the gods, now it always deals with the destiny of man.

An important feature of every World Theatre Day celebration is the international message given annually by a theatre figure of international stature. This year that message is from the German storyteller, playwright and film producer, Tankred Dorst. His message is an answer to the question: Is the theatre still relevant in our times? When he says our times, he cites the fact that today we have human beings that can be cloned and genetically manipulated according to whim and plan. Such beings, he says, will have no need for the theatre as we understand it. But the very fact that today there are such beings is in itself a good subject for a drama presentation. For the theatre always depicts what we are, what we are not, what we have become and most important of all, what we should be. The theatre is one of man’s most lasting inventions.

Our earliest exposure to the so-called legitimate theatre was as a grade school student at the Ateneo de Manila. The leading theatrical figure in school then was Lamberto V. Avellana, who became the first to be conferred the National Artist in Film and Theatre on March 27, 1976. The Ateneo was an all-boys school and actors had to play female roles. Avellana starred as St. Joan of Arc. Avellana was nine years my senior, but in the sixties, we jointly produced two Spanish documentary movies, El Legado and La Campano de Baler. El Legado won the Conde de Foxa award in Bilbao, Spain in 1960; La Campano de Baler received the same award in 1961 "for the best film exaltation of Spanish valor" and inspired the full-length Spanish movie entitled Los Ultimos en Filipinas. Films are extensions of the legitimate theatre.

In line with the UNESCO International Theatre Institute’s call for peace as part of World Theatre Day celebration, last Sunday, Department of Tourism Secretary Dick Gordon and the Ramon Magsaysay awardees represented by Chief Justice Hilario Davide planted a peace pole in Intramuros.

We would like to conclude by quoting what Ludwig Lewisohn said about theatre. "In all ages the drama . . . through its portrayal of the acting and suffering spirit of man, has been more closely allied than any other art to his deeper thoughts concerning his nature and destiny."