A Life in the Theater

Every year, the Virgin Labfest assembles an outstanding assortment of DIRECTORS and PERFORMERS, coming from various groups and persuasion, brought together by a shared desire to do theater. I have always been awed by the suprises I find in the Labfest, and I should like to think that the playwrights whose works are being performed for the first time as well as the audiences that watch the performances should only be too eager to rush to the CCP from June 25 to July 6, 2014. The names of the playwrights are in all of the posters and collaterals, but those who will be trooping to the Cultural Center of the Philippines for the Virgin Labfest 10:The Harvest will also be seeing the works of any of the following Directors and Actors.     DIRECTORS JK Anicoche  Emman Dela Cruz  Law Fajardo  Audie Gemora  Rolando Inocencio  Jenny Jamora  Ed Lacson Jr.  Melvin Lee  Joshua Lim So   Dennis Marasigan  Chris Martinez ...

Elmar (far left) along with other artists in Congress for a hearing on the National Artists Awards. With his tall and lanky frame, he could not be missed as he entered a meeting room or walked along the corridors of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He worked in the Visual Arts Division; I was with the Theater Operations Department. Occasionally, we would find ourselves together in the Coordinators Meetings attended by representative s from the CCP Artistic Units. Next thing I heard, he taken a position in Thailand to work for an international agency promoting arts in the Southeast Region. In that position, he managed to organize an international conference on the role and problem of arts audiences in the region, hosted by the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Returning to Manila, he took the job of Executive Director of the Organisasyon ng mga Pilipinong Mang-aawit. When the Philippine Legitimate Artists Group was organized, he also became its Execut...