Archive for the ‘Theater’ Category
2010
04.02
Tags: Cultural Center of the Philippines, Filipinos, Letters, Manila, Philippines, Saigon, Tanghalang Pilipino, Theater, Vietnam
Posted in Acting, Art, Filipinos, Life, Theater, Writing | No Comments »
(old letters: May 7, 2000)
Kathleen, Michaell, Jan, Leanne, Carl, and Dante,
Still trying to catch up reading your letters. Congratulations! to Carl, for making it to Steppenwolf and to Jan, for completing your doctorate…
Am annotating a six-week workshop for basic acting (adults), am learning a lot in the process…
Cameron Macintosh’s “Miss Saigon” is going to be staged here… not too happy about that… they are spending a lot of money to do that, money which could have been used to produce shows which are more relevant and “Filipino.” As some have remarked, it’s a western play with a western viewpoint, conceptualized and directed by westerners, utilizing asian talents.
No doubt, because of it, Filipinos came to be recognized as more than mere “domestic helpers.”
And it would certainly be a rare treat for Filipinos to watch big mechanized, revolving stages and helicopters descending on the stage… but the thing is, it won’t help much in the development of Philippine theater. In the process, they’re also displacing the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, and Tanghalang Pilipino (where I am a scholar-member of its Actors’ Company) from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (where Miss Saigon’s gonna be staged). Of the eight to ten plays mounted by TP per season, only four would be at the CCP (because of Miss Saigon). The CCP conference room, which has been the regular rehearsal room of TP’s plays, would be transformed into an office of the Miss Saigon guys.
I don’t know, even though I was made in Vietnam (really! my parents met there.), I’ve never really liked Miss Saigon… (I’ve never seen it… but I’ve never seen “Les Miserables,” too, and I like it.)
Am intending to become a freelance writer, while also auditioning for plays, etc.
Salamat.
ian
2009
08.13
Tags: Books, Dan Brown, Eternal Recurrence, Filipinos, Foucault's Pendulum, Friedrich Nietzsche, Himala, Lila, Lullaby: 100 Years of Songs, Matter, Movies, Robert Pirsig, spirituality, The Da Vinci Code, The Matrix Trilogy, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Umberto Eco, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Posted in Art, Books, Education, Filipinos, Gender Issues, Life, Movies, Nietzsche, Philosophy, spirituality, Theater | No Comments »
Read “The Da Vinci Code” in 2005, after deliberately ignoring it for quite some time because of the hype. And then saw the movie later.
Well, the wealth of information (esp. regarding symbols) is generally sound. But it doesn’t hold a candle to the erudition of Umberto Eco’s “Foucalt’s Pendulum.” (I have yet to understand the elaborate explanation of how Foucault’s Pendulum works…)
One thing I liked in the novel is the rather sympathetic portrayal of the head of the Opus Dei, Bishop Aringarosa. (Not so in the movie.) I’ve heard a lot of negative publicity regarding the Opus Dei and their founder Jose Ma. Escriva. (From the late Larry Henares, in his TV show and Philippine Daily Inquirer column, as well as from a Filipino priest who studied in a university run by the Opus Dei…) Bishop Aringarosa may be ultra-conservative in his theology but in the end, when the time came for his faith to be tested, his heart proved to be ultimately in the right place.
Also, it had a more hopeful, happy ending than “Foucault’s Pendulum,” which was darker and more poignant. Eco’s novel bewails the lack of understanding that so-called believers/enlightened ones have. Parang si Elsa sa Himala: “Walang himala! Ang himala ay nasa puso ng tao!”
(more…)
2009
08.11
Tags: Kabir Helminski, Lail Fourladvend, Poem, Rumi, Translation
Posted in Art, Books, Filipinos, Life, Music, Poetry, spirituality, Theater, Translation, Writing | No Comments »
A poem by Rumi:
Because I Cannot Sleep
Because I cannot sleep
I make music at night.
I am troubled by the one whose face has the color of spring flowers.
I have neither sleep nor patience,
neither a good reputation nor disgrace.
A thousand robes of wisdom are gone.
All my good manners have run a thousand miles away.
The heart and the mind are left angry with each other.
The stars and the moon are envious of each other.
Because of this alienation the physical universe is getting tighter and tighter.
The moon says, “How long will I remain suspended without a sun?”
Without Love’s jewel inside of me, let the bazaar of my existence be destroyed stone by stone.
O Love, You who have been called by a thousand names,
You who know how to pour the wine into the chalice of the body,
You who give culture to a thousand cultures,
You who are faceless but have a thousand faces.
O Love, You who shape the faces of Turks, Europeans, and Zanzibaris, give me a glass from Your bottle, or a handful of bheng from your branch.
Remove the cork once more.
Then we’ll see a thousand chiefs prostrate, and a circle of ecstatic troubadours will play.
The the addict will be freed of craving and will be resurrected, and stand in awe till Judgment Day.
(translation by Kabir Helminski and Lail Fouladvend)
2009
08.03
Tags: Dexter Santos, Dulaang UP, Earth Spirit, Frank Wedekind, Lulu, Morality, Pandora's Box, Sex, Theater
Posted in Acting, Art, Filipinos, Gender Issues, Life, Psychology, Theater | No Comments »
Dulaang UP’s Production of Frank Wedekind’s “Lulu”
LULU is a story of a person who has no qualms about the body and its sexual needs. Lulu, who is the alluring woman in the English version and the captivating transsexual in Filipino, is a being able to explore and express her desires without compromise or guilt. Adored and lusted after by men, women and creatures of the world, she takes them to a dance of bodily freedom, of the mind’s liberation and of utter ecstasy. But like any other person, Lulu searches for the other that could accept and understand her seemingly deviant nature.
In her hunt, Lulu meets a myriad of “civilized beasts”: painters, writers, the educated and the ignorant, the rich and poor men, the young and the dying who are upright and honorable by day but transform to hungry animals in the dark. Lulu embraces each person only to find him or her weak and forever trapped by man’s idea of propriety.
English Cast:
Che Ramos as LULU
Angeli Bayani as GESCHWITZ
Jules de la Paz as GOLL / HUGENBERG / HUNIDEI
Missy Maramara as JACK / RINGMASTER
Paolo O’Hara as DR. SCHON / CASTI-PIANI
Meynard Penalosa as SCHIGOLCH
Gabs Santos as ALVA SCHON
Randy Villarama as SCHWARZ / RODRIGO
Filipino Cast:
Tuxqs Rutaquio as LULU.
Acey Aguilar as SCHWARZ / RODRIGO
Alexander Cortez as SCHIGOLCH
Jules de la Paz as GOLL / HUGENBERG / HUNIDEI
Ian Lomongo as DR. SCHON / CASTI-PIANI
Jojit Lorenzo as JACK / RINGMASTER
Andoy Ranay as GESCHWITZ
JC Santos as ALVA
Direction and Choreography: Dexter M. Santos
Filipino Translation: Joel Saracho
Production Design: Tuxqs Rutaquio
Lights Design: John Batalla
Dramaturgy and Additional Text: Patrick Valera
Sounds Design: J Victor Villareal
Photography and Poster Design: Jojit Lorenzo
Poster Art Direction: Carlo Vergara
LULU will open on Aug 5 and will run till Aug 23 at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, UP Diliman.
English:
5 August 7pm – Opening
6 August 7pm
7 August 7pm – Gala
8 August 10am, 3pm
9 August 10am, 3pm
19 August 7pm
22 August 10am, 3pm
Filipino:
12 August 7pm – Opening
13 August 7pm
14 August 7pm – Gala
15 August 10am, 3pm
16 August 10am, 3pm
20 August 7pm
21 August 7pm
23 August 10am, 3pm
THIS PRODUCTION CONTAINS SCENES AND MATERIAL STRICTLY FOR MATURE AUDIENCES.
2009
07.27
Tags: Add new tag, Poetry
Posted in Acting, Art, Filipinos, Life, Poetry, Theater, Writing | No Comments »
Ganap.
(ni Miguel Juanjo (a.k.a. Wang-Ho) Tiamson Lomongo)
“Kailan kaya sasapit ang araw ng pagiging ganap
Ng lahat ng ating mga pinapangarap?”
Araw-araw, patuloy ang paghahanap,
Patuloy… maging ang pagpapanggap,
Patuloy ang pag-aapuhap,
Patuloy ang pagganap
Sa tungkulin, kahit walang kahina-hinagap
Sa katotohanang pinapangarap magagap,
Malanghap… Malasap!
Ano nga ba’ng nagaganap sa mga nagsisipagganap
Sa mga pagtatanghal na’ting kinakaharap?
Ay! Masalimuot na prosesong may kung anu-anong sangkap!
Mapa-dula man o pelikula, ang pagganap
Maihahalintulad sa pagdadalisay at pagbubusilak
Ng paglalaba. Mga damit na ginagamit
Sa pagharap sa sangmaliwanag, binabasa, pinapalo, pinipitpit,
Kinukusot, sinasabon. (Ang sabon, tulad ng tubig
At baha, lumilinis at pumapatay, sa pamamagitan ng bula…
Mga bulang tulad ng katotohanan, buhay, at dula,
Naglalaho, nawawala.)
At matapos banlawan, mga damit ikukula,
Isasabit sa sampayan
Upang sa liwanag ng araw masilayan.
Gayundin ang kinasasapitan ng mga damdamin, isip,
Guni-guni, panaginip, libog, pag-ibig, galit, pangamba, pananalig:
Dinadalisay, binubusilak, binabasa, sinasabon, pinapalo, pinipitpit,
Kinukusot, binabanlawan, ‘kinukula,
At saka ngayon pinaplantsa, upang maikubli ang mga gusot sa mata.
Mga maskarang tulad ng damit pinagpapalit-palit
Sa pangangarap na magampanang ganap
Ang pagganap.
Samantala, patuloy sa paghahanap…
Tuloy-tuloy maging pagpapanggap…
Tuloy-tuloy sa pag-aapuhap…
Tuloy-tuloy sa pagganap
Sa tungkulin, kahit walang kahina-hinagap
Sa — katotohanan, kabutihan, kagandahan, kaligayahan –
KaGANAPang pinapangarap magagap
Malanghap… Malasap!
“Kailan kaya sasapit ang araw ng pagiging ganap
Ng lahat ng ating mga pinapangarap?”
Ganap.
Ika-14 ng Disyembre, 2004
2009
01.10
Tags: Art, Life, Love, monologue, Music, songs
Posted in Acting, Art, Education, Filipinos, Life, Love, Music, Theater, Writing | 9 Comments »
Para Mama, Para Nga!!!
(isang monologo para sa bagong taon)
alay sa mga bwakanang files ko na nabura noong bisperas ng bwakanang bagong taon…
ni Body Dancer
Sampung taon na ang nakararaan ng una akong mag-odisyon para maging scholar ng Tanghalang Pilipino Actors’ Company. Mula sa mahigit limampung ininterbyu bago mag-odisyon, naiwan kaming kulang-kulang 20. Tatlong araw yung odisyon. Bawa’t araw, nababawasan kami. Matira matibay. Survival of the fittest. Darwinian natural selection. Selecta. Choose your own adventure.
Umabot ako sa pangatlong araw.
But ultimately failed to make the grade.
Almost made it. But didn’t.
(more…)
2008
07.24
Tags: Acting, Actors, Art, Bangungot, Death, Filipinos, Kafka, Life, Ramon Jose Leyran, Tanghalang Pilipino, Theater
Posted in Acting, Art, Filipinos, Life, Love, Philosophy, Psychology, spirituality, Theater | 1 Comment »
isang eulohiya para kay Ramon Jose Leyran, sinulat noong Octubre 10, 2003.
—————————————————————–
Lamay: Pakikiramay, Buhay, Kamatayan
ni Michael Ian Lomongo
Kung di ako nagkakamali, nabuo raw ni Wency Cornejo ang kantang “Habang May Buhay” sa isang lamay. Kakaiba nga ang lamay ng mga pinoy: sa mga probinsiya, may pasugal (madyong, baraha, trembe), may inuman pa sa iba, may mga laro (juego de prenda), may kantahan, kwentuhan, tugtugan, may pakain din (kape, tinapay, biskwit, sopas, kendi, atbp.). Para ngang lagi tayong naghahanap ng dahilan para magkaroon ng selebrasyon.
Minsan, meron akong kababata at kaklase sa elementaryang namatay. Malalaki na kami nang maaksidente si Rhey sa motorsiklo. Natural, nagkita-kita sa lamay ang mga dating magkakaklaseng bihira nang magkasama-sama. Meron din kaming kaklaseng nasa ibang bansa noon. Tumawag siya (si Elna) sa telepono at nakibalita sa isa sa amin, at ang sabi niya: “Magkakasama kayo d’yan? E ‘di ang saya-saya n’yo!”
Hindi na siguro kakatwang makakita ng mga taong tumatawa habang tumutulo ang luha sa mga lamay. May lungkot dahil sa pangungulila sa isang kasama o kaibigang hindi na makakahuntahan o makakabiruan. May saya dahil may pasasalamat sa magagandang ala-alang pinagsaluhan ng magkakaibigan.
(more…)
2008
05.25
Tags: Authenticity, Books, Buddhism, Illusion, Masks, Movies, Philosophy, spirituality
Posted in Art, Books, Life, Love, Movies, Philosophy, spirituality, Theater, Translation, Writing | No Comments »
Mwahahahaha! Just had to let the cosmic laughter resonate, no, reverberate in my body…
Everything is grace! Even when shit happens… Divine piss, holy shit!
I have always been wary of spirituality/religiosity that denied/denigrated the body. Non summus angeli! (We’re no angels!)
(more…)
2008
05.14
Tags: Acting, Actors, Boddhisatva, Masks, Shaman, spirituality, The King of Masks, Wu Tianming
Posted in Acting, Art, Life, Love, Movies, spirituality, Theater | 1 Comment »
The awareness of the shamanic aspect of acting (the actor as an agent of positive change in society) is one of the things that I liked in “The King of Masks.”
Society has always been ambivalent to actors.
On the one hand, people are fascinated by the magical, yes, shamanic capacity of the actor to become other than what and who he is. Acting was first done by priests/shamans. There has always been that mystical/divine/spiritual/religious aspect to acting.
And yet, because of that possibility of entering into the nature of “things,” actors themselves can be waylaid and thrown off, especially by the dark daemonic qualities of persons and things. This is what probably scares a lot of people. Actors get to cross boundaries and societal taboos with some measure of impunity – anyway they’re just fulfilling their roles. But when the iconoclasm breaks through from art to real life… uhuh… that’s where it becomes dangerous and suspicious.
Thus actors too were regarded as immoral people, lumped with the gypsies and criminal elements.
(more…)
