Peta and Rep turn 50: Why it’s also a golden moment for PH theater
Representing
the two major streams of contemporary Filipino drama, they broke ground and
changed the scene for good—and for the better
(Published
in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 1 April 2017. Also in http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/258785/peta-rep-turn-50-also-golden-moment-ph-theater/)
Sometime
in the first few months of 1967, Carmen “Baby” Barredo received a telephone
call from her former classmate Cecile Guidote: Would Baby be willing to join in
a new theater company that was being formed, envisioned to be the National
Theater and which would be called the Philippine Educational Theater Association
(Peta)?
Baby
politely declined, as she had previously committed to help Zeneida “Bibot”
Amador establish what was intended to be the first professional theater company
presenting a regular season of plays in the country. That company would be
known as Repertory Philippines (Rep).
As
they say, the rest is history. Both Peta and Rep presented their inaugural
productions the same year. The late theater director Behn Cervantes once said
that contemporary Philippine theater can be reckoned from that point forward.
(Coincidentally,
it was also during that period that Rolando Tinio premiered his Filipino
translations of “Death of a Salesman” and “The Glass Menagerie,” which shocked
Manila theater audiences not used to hearing cusswords in the vernacular on stage.)
Social
habit
Rep’s
vision was to help make theatergoing a social habit in Manila. Its first
production was August Strindberg’s “Miss Julie,” starring Ella Luansing and
Tony Amador, with Filipino translation and direction by Rolando Tinio. As the
story goes, only seven people were in the audience on opening night.
As
a result, Rep decided to concentrate on English-language plays, presenting them
without fail at their home venues—Insular Life Auditorium (1967-1992), William
Shaw Theater (1992-2002) and Onstage, Greenbelt 1 (2002 to the present)—as well
as in larger venues such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Meralco
Theater and what used to be the Rizal Theater.
It
has presented over 400 productions with more than 6,000 performances, and not
once has it canceled any show for any reason or catastrophe or calamity,
man-made or otherwise.
Exacting standards
Amador
was Rep’s president and artistic director from its founding until her death in
2004. “Bibot wanted theater people to concentrate on doing theater and not have
other jobs,” recalls Barredo. Amador’s exacting standards, which she imposed on
the cast and crew of every Rep production, were legendary.
This resulted in Rep being rightfully credited by theater historian Doreen Fernandez for its special contribution in the “training of actors in the modes of the Western theater,” as proven by the success of many of the company’s actors in roles in London and other western theater capitals. Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Junix Inocian, Jon Jon Briones and Sheila Francisco are just some of the examples.
But
it was not only acting that those who go through Rep were trained in. Aside
from providing onstage work, Rep also afforded valuable experiences and
training for many practitioners in various aspects of the theater. It was one
of the very first companies to have full-blown marketing and audience
development units.
Backstage
work
As
a result, many “Repists” gained enough knowledge and experience to equip and
enable them to head or establish their own companies. A list of those who spent
their early theater years with Rep includes former and present artistic directors
and theater managers such as Menchu Lauchengco Yulo and Michael Williams (Full
House), Bart Guingona and Dodo Lim (Actor’s Actors, Inc.), Audie Gemora and
Jaime del Mundo (Trumpets), Robbie Guevara (9 Works Theatrical), Monique Wilson
(New Voice Company), Dennis Marasigan and Liesl Batucan (Tanghalang Pilipino),
and Ana Abad Santos, Cris Villonco, Topper Fabregas, Jenny Jamora and Rem
Zamora (Red Turnip).
Guevara
recalls his days in Rep: “While I started out as an actor there, it was also in
Rep that I learned to do backstage work, from lights to sound to stage
management.”
In
celebration of Rep’s 50 years, a gala homecoming for all past and present Rep
alumni is set for June 11 at The Theatre at Solaire, with a team of eight
directors led by Bart Guingona overseeing the preparations.
“Rep
has accomplished the objectives it set out to achieve,” says current Rep
president Mindy Perez Rubio. Loyal Rep audiences can still expect the regular
season of five plays, including a production specifically for children and a
big musical every year.
Hopefully,
Rep can also have its own theater by 2020. “We also hope to expand our
workshops into a performing arts academy,” adds Perez Rubio. “We will continue
the Rep legacy.”
Peta
was established by Guidote (eventually Guidote-Alvarez) to concretize her
proposed “national theater framework.” Among the venues for its first
productions was Paco Park, until it gained access to a portion of Fort Santiago
which it transformed into the Raja Sulayman Theater. In 2004, it inaugurated
the Peta Theater Center, becoming the first Philippine theater company to have
its own theater structure.
From
the beginning, Peta’s pro-people bias was well-known. That philosophy dictated
its choice of materials to produce, as well as its chosen language for
performance—Filipino and other Philippine languages. It encouraged the writing
of original works as well as translation of world classics, especially those
that reflected and resonated with the social climate of the times.
Using
theater for education, Peta went all over the country to train theater
practitioners from various sectors—students, workers, farmers and fisherfolk,
even sex workers and people in areas of conflict. Its members continually immersed
themselves in various communities, particularly those oppressed and
marginalized.
These
resulted in the creation of a nationwide theater network, as well as the
writing and production of theater works deeply rooted in the experiences and
sensibilities of Filipinos.
Social
problems
As
such, a typical “Peta play” would be characterized as a well-researched piece
based on real-life events that portrays contemporary social problems with
accuracy and insight, combining realism and nonrealistic styles (particularly
the use of a Chorus) to convey to the audience the immediacy of the situations
presented, and the necessary actions that need to be taken.
Malou
Jacob’s “Juan Tamban” and “Macli-ing Dulag” are famous examples. Many other
plays are now considered as part of the Philippine theater canon, such as
“Hanggang Dito Na Lamang at Maraming Salamat” by Orlando Nadres; “May-i, May-i”
(1979), also by Jacob along with Eman Lacaba and Al Santos; and “Buwan at Baril
sa Eb Major” by Chris Millado.
For
some, Peta’s influence has affected personal beliefs and philosophies.
“At
first, I wanted to get myself out of poverty, to be rich; and I thought being
in theater would be the first step,” recalls Fernando Josef, current artistic
director of Tanghalang Pilipino. “Instead, it was in Peta that I became deeply
aware of inequality in society, and that theater can be used to educate and
even transform the lives of people.”
Other
aspects
Through
its productions and training programs, Peta has clearly affected and helped
shape Philippine Theater. Fittingly, the celebrations for its 50th anniversary
in 2017 are not only focused on performances.
“Peta
is not only about the productions, and we will be focusing on all the other
aspects of our work,” says current artistic director Maribel Legarda. A
recording of music from some of its landmark plays has been released; also in
the works are a thanksgiving concert, a “Festival of Windows” that will bring
together various groups and partners, and an immersive experience in Fort
Santiago.
For
the last 50 years, Peta and Rep have never wavered in their commitment towards
producing outstanding works, and the training of committed theater
practitioners. As a result of their efforts and those of the other theater
companies that have come after them, never in the history of theater in the
Philippines has there been so much variety and excellent choices afforded to
Filipinos.
We
are all the better for their brave, pioneering work. —CONTRIBUTED by DENNIS N.
MARASIGAN
Dennis
N. Marasigan is a director, writer, lighting designer, actor, producer, teacher
and learner. A member of the theater arts faculty at MINT College, he finds
time to mentor young artists even as he continues to work extensively in
theater, film and television.
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