4th National Theater Festival: Showcase of filipino artistry

MANILA, Philippines - Literally baptized in fire in 1992 – colorful fireworks  celebrating its beginning had gone awry and ignited a blaze on the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ rooftop – the National Theater Festival (NTF) and all three of its past incarnations have been colorful and exhilarating showcases of Filipino artistry.

Now, eight years after the last festival was held, the 4th National Theater Festival  “Ika-Apat na Tagpo, Ang Bagong Yugto: The New Act” slated on Nov. 8-18 at the CCP, promises to be just that and much more.

This year, 16 of the best theater groups in the country offer a vibrant and diverse playbill. Three gems in this year’s NTF are Orosman at Zafira, William and Living La Vida Imelda.

Rap and Shakespeare meet in spectacular fashion in the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) production of William.  The bard’s famous monologues are energetically reincarnated through hiphop, crumping, breakdancing and rap. The result is an award-winning production written by Ron Capinding and directed by Maribel Legarda.

PETA’s William was featured in a BBC video report in September this year that described the play as taking  “a modern twist on Shakespeare, re-working the classics into a modern rap musical. The aim is to help young people understand the playwright. William shows real life problems encountered by real students when it comes to learning Shakespearean masterpieces.”

GMA News’ Katrina Stuart Santiago pondered on the success of William: “The easy answer is that William... works because it is able to deal with the difficulty of William Shakespeare’s plays without sacrificing its integrity in the process. But also it works because it succeeds in taking on the challenge not just of drawing a line that connects a literary text and contemporary life, but more importantly between Shakespearean drama and the lives of Pinoy high school students.”

Carlos Celdran, a political activist and tour guide, has fashioned a performance version of his popular tour Living La Vida Imelda – The Imelda Tour.  In his blog, he invites people to join him for the tour: “It’s a tour all about the Philippines in the 1970s and the tumultuous era of the Cold War, Martial Law, bell-bottom jeans, & Miss Universe. It’s a little bit disco, a little bit New Society, and completely Imeldific. So come take a trippy trip through National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin’s finest buildings as we analyze one of the most controversial periods in Philippine history as seen through the life and ambitions of the lady who defined it for the Philippines, Imelda Romualdez Marcos.”   

Celdran’s Imelda Tour got the attention of the New York Times which called it “a delicious mix of history, gossip and social commentary.”

Dulaang UP’s Orosman at Zafira is the critically-acclaimed contemporary re-imagining of Francisco Balagtas’ classic Orosman at Zafira work, directed and choreographed by Dexter Santos and with original music by Carol Bello. 

The modern-day adaptation garnered nominations for both Best Musical Production and Best Stage Director at the 21st Aliw Awards. It also received acclamation from various renowned critics and artists. Theater writer Gibbs Cadiz called it  “a blazing musical-theater experience, and, not incidentally, a calling card for how disparate elements – Baltazar’s archaic Tagalog text, Bello’s neo-ethnic world music, Santos’ hybrid choreography – could create something uniquely, arrestingly homegrown, as far away from Broadway as could be.”

Orosman at Zafira is about the enmity arising from the thirst for power and the beliefs of three tribes – the Marruecos, Tedenst and Duquela. In the midst of hate and war, love blossoms between two individuals and the play’s women characters, in particular, display their unyielding strength. This production also celebrates Philippine heritage through its ethno-linguistic music and the fusion of modern and cultural movements.

With PETA, Dulaang UP and Carlos Celdran, other artists and participating theater groups in the NTF are: Barasoain Kalinangan Foundation Inc. from the province of Bulacan, Bohol Antequera and Maribojoc Cultural Collectives in cooperation with Teatro Bol-Anon from the province of Bohol, Gantimpala Theater Foundation, Integrated Performing Arts Guild of Mindanano State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, Mindanao State University Kabpapagariya Ensemble from General Santos City, Sipat Lawin Ensemble, Tanghalang Ateneo of Ateneo de Manila University, Tanghalang Pilipino, The Xavier Stage of Cagayan de Oro and Trumpets Inc.

There will also be special performances by Kanlaon Theater Guild of Colegio San Agustin-Bacolod, SPIT (Silly People’s Improv Theater) and ventriloquists Ony Carcamo and Wanlu.

One of the highlights of this festival is the 4th NTF Conference from Nov. 8-10 at the CCP Silangan Hall. Theater scholars, academicians and practitioners will present papers on relevant contemporary issues and concerns related to Philippine theater. This historic gathering will also provide the theater community with opportunities to formulate strategies that can be pursued in order for Philippine theater to create an impact locally and globally and to forge fellowship and build stronger networks. The 4th NTF Conference is being presented with the assistance of the Artists Welfare Project Inc. (AWPI).

Film screenings will showcase plays that were made into films and films that started out as plays. These include National Artist for Film Lino Brocka’s Insiang (written by Mario O’Hara for film and for stage) and Bona (adapted by Layeta Bucoy for stage); National Artist for Film Lamberto Avellana’s Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (a Nick Joaquin play); National Artist for Film Gerry de Leon’s Noli Me Tangere; Dennis Marasigan’s North Diversion Road (a Tony Perez play), Anatomiya ng Korupsyon (a Malou Jacob play) and Joel Lamangan’s ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh (a Chris Martinez / Vincent de Jesus musical theater adaptation of the graphic novel by Carlo Vergara).

The 4th National Theater Festival  “Ika-Apat na Tagpo, Ang Bagong Yugto: The New Act” is organized by the Cultural Center of the Philippines in cooperation with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. For more information, call the NTF Secretariat at 832.2314 or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.