Requiescat in pace
Last week, I received a text message that said it has been one year to the day that theater, television and film actor, writer and director Mario O'Hara had passsed on. It made me look back at all the other icons and inspirations of my life and career that have since left us in this mortal world, especially those that i have had the privilege of knowing and working with. TONY ESPEJO (June 15, 1948 - July 21, 2012) Tony Espejo succumbed to multiple organ failure a few days before Mario O'Hara's passing. He had founded Bulwagang Gantimpala and nursed the company even after it left the Cultural Center of the Philippines post-EDSA. I had been fortunate to work with Tony and Gantimpala on a number of productions as lighting designer, as a writer and as an actor. Many people have heard the story of how I learned that my play "Silang Nalugmok sa Gabi" won in the 1984 CCP Literary Contest by way of a phone call from Tony, minutes just before I stepped out of the hous...