A Life in the Theater

Behn Cervantes had been part of our family conversations even while I was a schoolboy about to graduate from secondary school in Lipa City.  He had directed a film called “Sakada” that was banned and confiscated by the Marcos regime; it had not been reported widely but somehow my parents had heard about it.  When I was about to enrol in U.P., one of themore specific instructions they had given me was not to be involved in any anti-government activity or organization, lest I become like Behn Cervantes. It was not long after enrolment that I got to watch U.P.Repertory Company’s production of Bonifacio Ilagan’s “Pagsambang Bayan”, directed by Behn, with film actor Orestes Ojeda as the priest.  It was an eye-opener, so different it was from all other plays that I had been in or seen up to that point (which was not that many).  The “fourth wall” was non-existent; the cast literally and figuratively gets the audience to stand up and join in the actio...

With the 2013 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival (or Cinemalaya 9) now part of history, I have compiled and compressed the capsule reviews I did of all the competing films in the New Breed and Directors Showcase categories.   They are written in the order that I saw the films. NEW BREED PUROK 7 (directed by Carlo Obispo) The film is a winsome coming-of-of age romance peopled with real characters that surprisingly still manages to address the present phenomenon of children of OFWs faced with a life without parental company or support. Much of the credit for this delightful film must be given to the three young leads -   Krystel Valentino, Miggs Cuaderno and Julian Trono – whose fetching portrayals repeatedly drew shrieks, laughter and even the occasional sighs from the audience.   They are ably   supported by an ensemble drawn largely from the theatre – Angeli Bayani, Arnold Reyes, Sheenly Vee Gener, Carlon Matobato, Ruth Alferez, Olive N...