Theatre for peace and unity

Is it possible among enemies to unite through theatre arts?

In the comedia that is the education campaign period, this question needs an honest answer. Outside the country we might find the affirmative response.

"Theatre reaches the hidden depths of the human soul and unlocks the hidden treasures that lie deep within the human spirit. This has strengthened my already unshakable faith in the power of the theatre, as an instrument of unification through which man can spread love and peace."

These are the words of His Highness, Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates, Ruler of Sharjah.

He added that Theatre power allows new channels of dialogue to open up between different races, different ethnicities, different colors and different creeds. "This has personally taught me to accept others as they are, instilled in me the belief that in goodness humanity can stand united and in evil humanity can only be divided."

Such inspiring words come from Dr. Al Qasimi’s International Message for the observance of the World Theatre Day, today, March 27. He will read the original Arabic version in the ongoing World Theatre Week observance. The center of the celebration is at the Paris headquarters of the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — International Theatre Institute, where ITI officials, Ministers of Culture and 20 Arab artists have joined the Sheikh, coordinated by Fuad El Shatti, who was in the Philippines.

I believe it is high time to be engaged in theatre arts, whether as part of the audience or the creative team on stage.

The Asia Pacific Bureau of the UNESCO-ITI chair arranged for translations into three Asian languages. There’s the Filipino translation by noted poet-scientist, Professor Tomas Ongoco. There are also the Chinese and Vietnamese translations by Gusi Peace Price awardee Supreme Master Ching Hai, a member of the International Advisory Board for the Peace Center of Culture in the Philippines at Fort Santiago’s Theater in the Ruins which is being conducted by the ITI Earthsavers Dreams Academy in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Anti-Poverty Commission, DepEd and NCCA. The arts module will be integrated into the ladderized curriculum of TESDA and CHED.

The prestigious event is one of the major activities that is being attended by Presidential Assistant on Culture and concurrent executive director of the National Commission for Culture and Arts, Cecile Guidote Alvarez, who also serves as president of the ITI-Philippines Center.

Cecile happens to be the first Filipina to be elected in the UNESCO-based Executive Board of the International Theatre Institute. Looking back, she was also the youngest Filipina to be given the Ramon Magsaysay Award for public service through the arts, specifically for founding PETA about 40 years ago and launching a Third World Festival and Conference in 1971.

The indefatigable "miracle worker", as how TV personality Boy Abunda described her in an interview for Private Conversations on ANC, was also invited by the UNESCO Bureau of Public Information (BPI), to be part of the panel in the hour-long meeting of the UNESCO Secretariat members and member-States delegations from 180 countries called "60 minutes to Convince" focusing on Theatre and Develpment.

Jennifer Walpole, ITI Secretary General, emphasized that this year’s focus of the World Theatre Day — "Theatre and Development" — is a follow-up to the very stimulating and successful 31st UNESCO ITI Congress and Theatre Olympics of the Nations with the theme From Ancestral Roots to New Routes of Artistic Expressions: Mobilizing Cultural Diversity to Achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals" held in the historic Manila Hotel in May 2006. Walpole was in Manila when our government hosted the said event through an Administrative Order of President Macapagal-Arroyo.

On a global stage at UNESCO, Cecile elucidates on how theatre has transformed the lives of young marginalized and handicapped youth in the Philippines modeling the EarthSavers DREAMS Ensemble’s cultural care-giving methodology.

This is part of Cecile’s message: "Not by force but by art, we are determined to inspire the collective will to win the war against poverty and pollution, crime and corruption, drugs and disunity, intolerance and injustice, tyranny and terrorism, to help bring hope and build one peaceful world."

In 2003, in the presence of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura awarded the EarthSavers DREAMS Ensemble as UNESCO Artists for Peace in recognition of the tireless work to uphold the ideals, values and goals that UNESCO stands for through artistic talents and vibrant performances which touch the hearts of audiences all over the world.

The Observance of World Theatre Day was created in 1961 by the ITI and celebrated annually on the 27th of March by ITI Centers and the international theatre community. One of the most important events is the circulation and reading of the International Message through which at the invitation of ITI, a figure of world stature share his or her reflections on the theme of Theatre and Culture of Peace.

Among the prominent theatre personalities who have shared their messages are Peter Brook (1909 and 1900), Ellen Stewart (1975), who was recently in Manila for the Arts Month and guest at the Malacañang flag ceremony, former UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor (1991), former Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel (1994) and many more.