 Magad ng araw, ito po ang ikaining na episode ng aming show na Kultura, Cine and Iba pa. Ang topic po ngayon ay teatro sa Pilipinas, contemporary Philippine theater. At meron po kami ng tatlong mga panawihin, sila po ay mga practitioners ng Philippine theater, isapong director at dalawa po ang manonulat or playwrights. Ang aking co-host ngayong araw ay si Professor Cecil Dela Paz na natuturo ng art study sa UP Diliman. Siguro Cecil simula natin by introducing our guests. Would you do the honors of introducing from the right? Maganang araw sa manonulod ngayon ang ating mga visita mula sa UP Diliman, natuturo ng teatro si Professor Jose Estrelia. Former director ng Dalang UP at natuturo sa theater arts program ng UP Diliman. Beside her is a multi awarded playwright and translator and also writes scripts for theater and for film, si Rudi Vera, Rudolfa Vera. To your left is a professor of theater arts in Ateneo de Manila. Playwright who comes from Panay Island and also is a Hiligay Nuan playwright and also writes plays in Filipino and English. Kinaraya. Professor Glenn Sidilia Maas. Okay. So we begin our discussion with a very personal question which is usually how we begin. We would like to ask our guests to describe their personal journey into this art form. How and why did you end up in theater doing directing or writing scripts for the stage? I use Jose. Jose bina yung real name ko. But I use Jose because high school po yan yun na. So it's my favorite. I prefer that. Are you bothered that sometimes people who haven't seen you will mistake you as male? No, it's okay. I can take it. It's part of the thrill. Yeah, it's part of the mystery. Anyway, I got into theater. I think like most, a lot of those who got into theater. Agong bisayin sa grade school. You know, you know how in English classes and Filipino classes, et cetera, music. You're always being asked to perform, somehow. So may attraction na yun. I mean, it's just a vague memory. I just got stronger sa high school where very distinctly, for some reason na punta ako talaga sa directin. Or in writing. But writing meaning, not really necessarily original stuff. But kung ano yung assign the novel or... Tinasat na na. Inadap mo. So may mga kasama kung may friends ako sort of like, you know, we like working together. So parang high school pa lang parang may team ako. In college, actually I was torn between film and theater. I wanted to go to film, actually. Because malaki yung influence sa akin ng television and movies. So pretty much blew up on western stuff. I mean, for good or not. So I wanted to be a movie director, actually. Pero I think nung time na yung wala pang film major, as a major. Pero may theater arts na. Meron na. Meron na. May speech, parang speech yung drama. And then may theater arts. And then, inisip ko pa nang English, even. Like comparative lit. Because I love literature. So anyway, matagal na ano yung. Then I decided on theater arts. Which of course, this please, my father. Who sa generation nila, dapat punin mo commerce. Okay, yeah. Commerce. Business ad, bang ganyan. So kanya, okay, may commerce. May title. Commerce, commerce kanyan. So anyway, so I entered theater arts. Pero first year ko, di ko pa... Hindi pa ko active dole nisa. Sa theater. Parang kumakapapa. Pero very studio type ang ating theater program. So freshman ka pa lang. Parang pinapahipuhipo ka na sa likod. It's different. Because you're talking about the certificate program. Which is newer. Hey, much, much later. Sorry, sorry. So nung time ko ko, which was... Akademically talaga siya. B.A. program siya. So I entered the B.A. program. So I wasn't able to get into a theater course until my second year. So and then to sa baptism of fire. Kasi si Tony Mabesa akadang. Director ko. Ibang kultura yan. So nasi gawan ako agad. I should talk about that later. Kasi it's part of the training of theater artists, particularly in UPD-Liman, that they have to sort of be strong and have fortitude. Kasi part of the kultura ng theater ay masisigawan, mamumura. May gano na, no? And I think within limits naman. Pero I think everyone has gone through that. And it's in the consensus it has actually made you stronger and fortified your love for it. I can't speak for everybody. But generally, yes. I think it will make you stronger. Did you pursue it after college, theater? You took an M.A.? Yes, I took an M.A. first. Kasi actually after my B.A. Sukang-sukako sa theater. So all I wanted to do was to leave the country. I wanted to go to the U.S. just to visit my sister. I didn't want to do anything theatrically related. Although na sa U.S. ako, tinitin na po na yung mga schools. Kasi I was interested to go abroad. Anyway, but I went back. And my first job was really sa film. Nag-PA'y ako, nag-AD'y ako. And then for some reason nag-tatago ako sa theater people. And the last person I wanted to hear from would be Mr. Mabesa. Although he's my mentor. One day, basta after eight, siguro mga eight months of doing film, ganyan. Big line na lang may tumawag sa bahay. And ito na yung booming voice niya, hoi sa... magturukah. Ganyan, ganyan, ganyan. So, I was up against the wall. Hindi ko alam na sa sabihin ko sa kanya. Sabi ko ayok, parang ganoon. I was really very hesitant. Because I actually never thought I would teach. Parang hindi yung interesting for me. So, hindi ko alam exactly what made me say yes. Aside from yung... Mahirap kumindike Tony. I think up to now, a lot of people would say that. If you've been asked to teach naman in a beautiful campus like UPD-Liman, shouldn't be that hard to decide? No, it was hard for me. It's still hard? Yeah, because I won't fight. Ang lakas-lakas ng resistance ko to teaching. And just going back to the theater. Sigo rin yung idea lang na, maybe I can now direct one day. Wala naman siyang promise na ganoon ay. Pero, inisip ko nalang, maybe that's my way into directing. And, ba sasabi ko lang, sasaya ko magturo ng confi, ha? Sasabi yung spoiled ko talaga. Ganon, sasabi ko, o sige. Ganon lang. And that was... Just a little later. So, magandang lesson from that take away from that is para you really start from low. Panang may hierarchy naman talaga siya. You have to work your way up. So, you finally got to direct after how many years of teaching? Sigo ron, after one year. Oh, it's welcome ha. After one year, nag-direct ka na. Ano eh, because si Tony used to do all of the directing. Patalagang yung boong season siya. So, we all served him in a way. But of course, we learned a lot. Basta one day, sabi niya, dapat... You remember the first production? Ito si mo, I don't know if you remember, Mon Hoxon. Ano yan, sa Filipino department. So, yung nang ano niya, mag-direct ka mo na ng one act play. Dun ka mo na sa THY, yung that small, still theater. That's the thing to play right theater. Panang ano. So, yun. Ano yan, palaging, if you get his approval, then may future. Parang ganyan niya. So, he was pleased with what I did. Just as, I, akala ko nga niya kung may director nung una, kasi, nung college palang, yung to get, to get to do a directing thesis. Akala niya kasi PMSM ako e, because that's what I was doing. Kasi I was good at it. So, parang feeling niya, dapat ina, ganyan mo ay, sabi ko, but I want to be a director, sabi, no. Really? You want to be a director? Parang ganyan ng directing, one-two na ako. Parang, bakit? Ano yung time pa na yun, yung si Tony was, parang hermit siya. Ano yung siya sa gardens, niya sa, sa, Tony will watch this episode. I'm just telling the truth. Yes. So, that was a face of Tony na yung, he didn't go to the department a lot. And then, so nag-garden siya every afternoon and morning. Walking the dog. Kaya, iya. Pero mas-garden ng siya na niya. So, parang makausap mo siya, kailangan, puntaan mo siya. Hahanapin mo siya kung masan siya. So, I went to the garden sa, dun sa area, near da ano, yung ubal, malapit sa chocolate kiss now. And, sabi niya, why? Why do you want to direct? Because that's what I want to do. Pinilit, parang, ano siya, very skeptical na magagawa. Oh, hindi snainis ako sa kanil. Parang, my God, I've been directing since high school. And, in my mind, I can do it. I know how to talent. So, I must tell you, Jose, when you came back with your MFA, with your MFA, and your first production was Divina's Palabras, you had surpassed, I think, the expectation of everyone. That is, that was the most, up to now, it is a touchstone play. Mag-garden, tagali na, so parang sinasabi. I had never seen a production. It was like downhill all the time. No, of course not. No, no, no. You had several, but you know, just going back to your story, the love of literature, I think it's clear in you the way you direct it, because you do very good direction if you're devising, rather than giving us a script that's fully there, you do a good job sort of imagining or translating from word, the written word to the stage. Thank you. That is your wonderful, wonderful gift. You're not the director who works well with scripts, na finished. You work well to devise texts. I don't know. I don't know. I don't want to define myself that way, because I've worked with, I've worked with Roddy. Iba mga bagong scripts, nilaman si Roddy, even before. I guess I like the challenge. My profound effects go into America to study, because I wanted to go because and I made sure I could go. So luckily, I got a scholarship and madami talagang akong na panodin, naturo sa akin. Naturo in terms of critique. See, it's not, you don't learn directing by one, two, three. It's not like that. There's no formula to these things. Not to acting, not to design. But you need to get your fundamentals really down pat. No, and then you start looking at things differently. So it's more of that. Malaki yung difference to me nung how I approach text. Ever since I went to Columbia, I think it's not just because of Columbia, but yung teachers ko doon, yung mentors ko doon. The experience of theater is not experience of reading. Because when I watch a play and I'm familiar with the text you're working with, you have really envisioned it na and you have rested it from the page and you've turned it into a theatrical experience. Because I think that's the job. That's the job of the theater director. I cannot do na pagpinanod nila yung ginawa ko. It's just, ah, okay. This is what I read. This is what I saw. That's it. So it's a translation project. You translate talaga reinterpret. In a sense, although interpretation, I'm not writing. I mean something original. But yung reimagining this whole, this text. You're reimagining it into a different world altogether. That's my thing. It's not a job. I mean, that's my challenge. You translate from one language to the other. And the language of theater is something you know very, very well. That is why it's a visual and auditory language and experiential language. And that's what you give na. That's such a big fan of Ossesio. It's obvious. Obvious fan. Such a huge fan. She's our best director. Thank you. I think you say that to every director. Clearly. And one of our best playwrights. I can't say the only best one but marami naman sila. But one of my favorites is Rodi Vera, of course. I first became aware of this work when I saw the better production of Kupanok Pinatay Si Dayana Ross which was probably your first major di naman. Niba. But that was the first time I heard about you. And I was already blown away by that wonderful script. And the director was Soxy. Soxy. That's why it was also handled very sensitively by Soxy. So now you're a journey. That was a wonderful long journey. Yes. Now I'm going to hear a long journey also. This is probably longer. By age, masyayong. Rodi has more years to cover. Kasi yung pamilya ko naman came from my grandfather established Sampag ito pictures. Oh, so ayan na. Si Don Petrovera. Pero hindi ako sa film nagsimula. Nagsimula ako sa teatro. Katulad niya atulad ni Jose grade two ang first encounter ko sa theater when I was listed to be auditioned sa isang father James Reuter play. Kasi nagkarol kami sa theater. And dun siya nagdut magdidereksya sa college of the Holy Spirit. So it's a mindi o lahat. So kailangan niya ng mga bata na mamamatay kasi gilagawa yung Francis of Nabar. So I was one of the Indian boys. Extra lang. Oh, extra lang. And I did miserably bad talaga. Kasi hula ka naman speaking part kasi may baril yun e. Pag nagsound yung baril mamamatay ka hindi nagsound yung baril. So nakatingin hindi nagsound yung baril. Ititimigil yung show. Pero mga ganoon na that was my first encounter but I loved it so much not because I really understood what was going on but I was with so can you put your finger on the nature of that love? Even maybe Jose can also try to answer what is it about theater that's ang sayasayan nung mga kasama ko. Kasama ko si Vic Diaz. Nakalakon nakikita ko siya sa TV na nakakatakot pandido. Tapos on his playing the devil in the play. Okay. But he's so lovable. And he's so ebatapano. So and then yung mga co-actors na ang sayasaya lagyakong maagap mong kontadong kait wala ba rehearsal. It's the company I guess that made me feel so at home. Parang ganoon. But after that mga high school na that that's when I started when I entered a workshop sa PETA sa teen theater workshop. Yun yung talagang an-realize ko hindi lang pala masaya. Masaya. Meron din palang sinasabi. Kasi nila ka 13 men. Ano na yun? 1976 na yun. So ano na siya our way of making theater had to be based on the social reality. So ang unanang dun ko na realize ah, kailangan na exposure. So we were exposed. We went to a squatters area. And then we built our improvisations there. So siguro pa kong taro o ano na ano na nakikita ko na nagsusulat ako kasama ko sa writer's pool ng teen theater, et cetera. So I guess masikidong sa PETA when I entered that parang dun na nila ko na nakikita na yun nagiging parang reference ko na gagawin. But I really didn't think of theater as a career. Kasi wala naman talaga ang career. Can we think of theater as a career even now? Or is it something like a passion lang that you need a real job? Mang hirap mag-recomend na... That's the consensus I've been hearing from all the artists we've been talking to in this show. Even the visual artists may mga day jobs. Tapos this is something you pursue as a passion which also protects it from compromise. Kasi hindi mo siya talaga pinakakitaan e. Ginagawa mo siya kasi mahal mo siya, gusto mo siya ang gawin. So siyose may day job ang tawal pagtuturo at pareho siya ng job day job namin e sessil at ni Glenn. So ikaw, ane day job mo? Full time ka ba? Nde, susulat ako para sa pelikula. Medyo ang formula films, iba? Nde, naman while I can help it. Yeah. O kung ganoon man, nag-e-check... Mami at ako nga namin, similar ba yung karanasan ang pagsusulat para sa tiyatro at pagsusulat para sa pelikula? At kung merong kaibahan, ano yung difference sa sanyoan? Sige. Kasi patura rin very different. Kayo pareho silang collaborative, iba? Pero I think mas maraming compromise nangyari sa film e. Kasi may producer, may star system, may mga celebrities, may mga givens. Or even kahit sa indie, iba pa rin. Tapos yan, kanina pinagusapan namin yung indeed versus mainstream mas alimut na usapin. So continue with your story. Anyway, pas high school na tayo. Past high school na e ang pinuhako, biology. Kasi... Gusto kong... Nga ganoon mo? Hindi ko iniisip ka. Habi ko, hindi ko naminisip na magiging career talaga yung theater. Pero so when I entered UP, I entered as a biology major. So pre-med siya. So nung pero... Moving towards Edson na tayo na yung time na yan. Lipa. Lipa. Oh my God. Sorry, my God. Okay. Okay. So 70... Oh my God, 70 pa di pala tayo. Okay. Pero nung bandang 80... 70 tayo. Nakatapos ka ba ng biology? Hindi. Hindi ako natapos ng biology naging activista ako. Pero naging activista ako sa PETA. Don ako na organized. Pero dahil doon, naging masyadong importante sa... Don ang mas naging important sa akin. Yung pagiging activist. But using theater. So theater for me was the secondary kwan. Dahil doon, nagshift ako to Philippine studies. Nung 80... At yun na naging B.A. mo in Philippine studies. Hindi ako nakatapos. Wala kang degree. Wala kang degree. Ang gangayon. Ang gangayon. At tumigil ako ng iyan. Pag katingyan balakit para sa buhay ng isang artista. Degrees are really not as important. I remember in our program creative writing, anong na yan? Anong namin? And full professors namin si Frans Arciliana at si N.V.M. Gonzales. Wala mga degrees. High school graduates lang. Pero kasi di ba? What really establishes your credibility, your reputation, is really your work. So actually, pwede kama professor ng playwriting. So all the production all the all the place you've written and translation. You can teach translation also. Because already you have that track record. Way to see good. That's a good thing for the art system. Yeah, we will try to get you. Just say, maliitam. Ano palatang? Application palatang. Recruitang. You can write. So let's go to the contemporary Roddy there na. Kasi hindi ka lang playwright. Ikaw ay also I mean, you are the actor. Oh, hindi mo ako pina-note sa fathers and sons. I mean, sorry. Artista rin siya. Actually, hindi mo ginalaw yung book mo for that. For a while, dito mo na nagpagupeta. And who can say no to Tony mo besang? And you cannot say no to Tony. Directly he called me para. Imagine that story from Jose Anggang ngayon, Tony is still there. But I wanted to say you actually are a translator. And that is another discipline altogether. At an tanong ko, siguro mamaya sa'yo will be to also talk a little more about translation for theater. And what are the challenges of a translator and ibabayon sa pagsusulat ng original play. Okay. Okay, so maybe we can start now and ask him for his story. Tagapurbain siya sa pinangalak sa Iluilo, lumaki sa antike. And then right after college sa Iluilo. Kinaraya. Okay. Although I also speak aheligay non. Okay. Dahil I spent na tapos ako ng elementariya sa Iluilo at ang tapos din ako ng college sa Iluilo din. So right after college yung Puntang Manila and then worked sa Itbulaga as assistant writer and then so masaya. And then dahil bagong salta. Take production na. Take production na. Okay. Nang enjoy naman ako except that I got tired of writing yung scripts for paing pagtinatang ako sa Provincia. Mas, kong graduate ako. So anong ginagawa mo ngayon? Sa ABS ako because Itbulaga was then with ABS-CBN. At anong show Itbulaga o bilang assistant writer ano sinasulat mo dun? Itbulagaan scripts. So parang many times in you think of knock-knock jokes. So but mat yan, nag-enjoy naman. But at some point nanuod ako ng isang palabas na yung Pilipino ang palabas doon ang bone ulan bahan ni Frank Rivera. I like what I saw and then in-invite nila ako na gusto mo mag workshop so nila ako sa theater sa Mandilim Metropolitan Theater sa Teatro Metropolitano. And then after maybe a year with Teatro Metropolitano pinag-audition kami sa actors company ng Tanghalang Pilipino for a scholarship and then I got in oh, sa CCP and then I spent two theater seasons with Tanghalang Pilipino. So we had all these classes under Sina Sernonon. We had karate lessons, dance lessons kay teacher Agnes Luxin. So ang saya-saya. I guess katulad di rodi din parang if I think of the most memorable summer that I had ano siya, yung summer na nag acting workshop na acting workshop pa ako sa Teatro Metropolitano kailin Frank Rivera kasi so ang saya di pa parang bata ka and then ang saya maglaro maggunya ko niya rin aswang maggunya ko niya rin ganyto rapist ganyan o rapee rapee and then right after either a show or rehearsals pupunta sa kiapo maglalakan sa kiapo kakain ang show pa magpagwentuhan at feeling mo theater artist ka talaga kasi ito yung manila na panuod ko ng bata pa ako sa mga pelikula nila yung broca ganyan so yun and then after doing yung sa Tanghalang Pilipino with all these classes and all these plays nagturo sa high school for the arts stayed there for seven years and then at sulat ng play on the side pero at some point ano yung dati pa nung isajanti pa lang ako fascinated ako sa palangka scripts mahilig akong basahin siya out loud nagkokolek talaga ako pa paano ba to pa paano ba to ganyan ay so yun and then ano yung I did my best kineril kayong pagsasulat based on what I read sa palangka ganyan so okay naman third second parang before I die saan ang maranasan ko yung lagyan ng medal sa harap ng lahat iiak et cetera et cetera so sabi ko hindi ata enough hindi ata enough yung nagpupuyat at ang arti-arti ko noon para pag magsulat di takantike ganyan mag-rent ako ng puputa ako sa aninii sa Siraan Hot Springs I will rent a cottage isang buong building ako lang siya dahil nabasa ko yung paola na libro ni Isabel Allende at sabi niya may rondo siyang ritual na every new year nagsisimula lang siya magsulat ng bagong obra pag new year so habang wala 11.59 wala pa pag 12 o'clock magsusulat na siya so ginaya ko siya so ni-rent ko yung buong during the day na nanood na ako sa mga naliligo huy hello kung musta kayo ganyan ako-artista ko I am preparing myself actor training kasi ito I am focusing on my objectives and ganyan et cetera hindi pag ating 12 o'clock ok naman except that the farthest I got to a second kinari din contest mas sabi ko ano kayo papano ba ito papano ba medal papano ba yan so I thought of an MFA program so nag-enroll nag-aral sa katulad ni Jose sa America and then on a Ford Foundation Fellowship and then on my first year of graduate school so kinari ko talaga siya di ba and then yung pala I didn't have ang exposure ko sa Shakespeare yung nabapanood ko lang usually sa pelikula pa so sa grad school sumakatang ulu ko dahil may mga classes na we will talk about four Shakespeare plays in one lecture pa pano pa I'm representing ngamay country sa papano ito so anyway so yun sa inaral class course et cetera kinari ko talaga siya and then ang feeling ko pa noon I shouldn't have any problems here in the U.S. because I studied English the same number of years that I studied by national language sesame street and friends and all these American TV shows yun ang unang sinabi ko sa sa klasi and then sabi na classmates ko oh Glenn that is so not the English that is at each other so yun wala dadak-dak lang talaga ako so anyway so the MFA went back to Manila and then nagturo sa ateneyo where I have been teaching for 11 years and then I do sometimes my plays get staged I'm the artistic director tahan lang ateneyo so I like you've written plays in different languages now you have kinari a play already ang tag dito kinari at least English play pero nandunay your linguistic plurality is in the things you write that's a good development yeah and that encouraged my students to do exactly that also I wonder da palang ka siya daba category na mixed language para ma-free na siya so I'm thinking particularly now the next question is Philippine Theater in English original Philippine Theater in English so many of the award-winning kasi it's a category that's still alive da palang ka still has short one act and a full-length category for theater in English it used to be that when people like Wilfredo Maraguero and let's say Montano were alive there really was original Philippine Theater in English scene that was practically all that there was theater in Filipino then and these plays judging from the biography and from the accounts I've been reading were really being sort of like moved from venue to venue around the Philippines and may audiences siya in public school system basically and can you imagine how it must have felt to be a member of that audience watching this play like Sabina by Montano which is set in the rural a rural place but it's an anglophone play they're all the characters are all speaking in English and it's obviously translated because people like Sabina and the others wouldn't have spoken perfect English throughout like for one whole day talking in English to each other so that that kind of theater it's I don't know we can't suspender disbelief anymore about that so most of the plays that win in the palang ka now for for English the one actress full-length win and don't ever get staged anymore so maybe my question is is there hope for original Philippine theater in English pa or as Glenn was saying the way to do it is actually free the language if I have to write let's say a play now my characters are let's say UP students probably they will code shift from English to Filipino to mother tongue or to gay speak or whatever people talk but if you have to do it straight English throughout that stretches credulity and I don't know theater is the most mimetic of the arts you can't quite suspend your disbelief in the same way you can for a novel in English a Filipino novel in English you can't suspend your disbelief kasi sabihin mo hindi naman realism talaga lang yan maybe it's magic realism but theater you expect imitation of life so it's hard so maybe my question pa lang ka to just diso the category or or maybe look at some of these plays that have one and maybe translate them into Filipino will you be willing to do that Roddy? para maipasok para ma-stage sila adaming nanalo na ilan na siguro ilang two decades worth of plays na hindi na i-stage actually baga ng idea yun and we have done that in PETA ang actually ang play na tungkol kay ang one in English and then we had it translated into Filipino but I think one of the more successful playwrights writing originally in English now is Floyd Kintos with his evening at the opera yung ganyang fluid yata was in English next so para angry Christ I mean nga ano siya pero siya pag ganon yung play mo limited yung yung world like yung angry Christ for example well o na naging English nila lahat pero siya na kukod-shift din nagpapalamga nag-iilongbu yung carapos pero smattering lang neat lang actually siguro baka nga kung gusto mo conversation baka anupal lang siya baka directorial pa yun let's put some I mean it goes along in the process of rehearsal but as a playwright he would I would like to believe that he wrote it in English entirely and then chakagin ano para makarunang flavor dahil kailangan i-locate yung play parang ganon so hindi ako masyadong maanod dun sa ganon kasi ako pag nanunod nako ng play at sinet na sinabi ng ng anot at display will be in English kung unta ako dun tapos na nakinig ako inexpect ko naman na maging English na ang English naman nila o di siya pero tingnan mo yung character kasi the reason why angry cries worked and I did review the play and I think of the recent productions of gula ang UP talagang yun ang massively review the daming nag review at medyo positive yung trend ng mga review I think that the language issue was not really noticeable because it was actually a period play matter speaking and the main characters are actually they are like Filipino Americans but the tenants you see the peasants in the province particularly of the time nag-English naman din talagang nag-try yung parish priest para nagtutok siya in English tapos nakikita mo naman na yung character ng English yung quality ng English yung mga kausap niya is actually very local so na localized I think directorial nalang yun siguro na probably on the page it must have sounded sounded standard English but the delivery of it made it local so that probably is the way to do it but I think those are exceptions if you did the play now and the characters are talking to let's say Bananak-Uvendors naman ganyan tasag-iglisan sila it will be hard to suspend your disbelief kasi ti-enter siya meaning the mimetic requirement is quite strong but then if you extend that argument like for example yung pelikula ni mestegus mana diablo it was set in Ilocos but it was people were speaking in Filipino so tapos may smattering lang ng Ilocano pero minsan may meron Ilocano actor and he will allow this actor to talk entirely in Ilocano pero kasi wala wala baggage naman ng Filipino versus vis-a-vis Ilocano in the others but if you're talking about very similitude if you're talking about di ba bakit siya but we have a Filipino national discourse kasi and we have the bilingual policy so all north and south of the country Filipino is being taught and read and spoken so that's a little different I think from the English thing so really means it's a class question sa aten pag Englishero class di ba may parang ah Englishero siya na Filipino ang Ilocano parang Ilocano parang parang ok lang din yun kung kung nari kung kung nari ang angry cries ba ay ang mga nag-appreciate ba dito ay medyo nasa high class baka baka kung nari na nuhood yung yung pesante napapiganyong it might register a different reaction no that play the problem with that play if at all is that it actually idealize the pesan di ba and you understand it it started deguistically that's the first and then ideally but that play for me it wasn't realistic entirely nga kita naman siya para may mayroon siya transfigured reality siya so I guess baka rin nasa intention nung nasa mode kung yung mode mong di talaga like when I wrote when I wrote dream weavers it was that was in English and they were like workers pesants et cetera but then it was a practical decision because it was supposed to be performed in the Netherlands so yun yung touring nung nung natuan naman yung mga artista kung dating dito halika gawin natin ginawa and it's still I guess it was it worked kasi pinalabas namin sa RCBC doon pa doon pa doon pa doon pa asama sa season ng Romeo and Juliet oh yun na na nga gano kasi inan tenong kung baka is it market driven then meaning to say alam yun ay audience nyo beforehand what if sa university di ba may English version may Filipino version of the same play does that affect the decision those are language use or like you were the director of the U.P. you had to program the season ahead so may mga obligatory gestures na kayo o in Shakespeare yan kasi may audience yan in high schools require Shakespeare plays o kailangan may Shakespeare o kailangan meron tayong Filipino nationalist play or something like that so meron na kayong iili niyang for that all of those are affected also by marketing and you think about programming and looking for audiences right well college pa lang when I entered lang U.P. yan o na so napansin ko yun may English version siya may Filipino version precisely because of marketing na some teachers prefer the English version and then yung mga Filipino those who are teaching in Filipino Filipino subjects would prefer two birds with one stone more or less pero ako personally eventually natin ginagawa ko rin but eventually it didn't make sense to me I cannot hindi ko nang may reconcile kung niya kung pag iniisip ko mag-direct ako na Shakespeare kailangan in translation if I do because iniisip ko kasi na sa Pilipina sa ko yung ganoon ako Filipino yung ganoon yung sensitivity ko so hindi ko siya may isip na so ano sila they're what British pretending to be you know what I mean and then hindi naman makuha talaga yung let's say not even the indexion how do you pronounce what is the correct isip ang parinon even in England every Shakespeare production is a translation because you can't go back to the original Shakespeare anymore they're trying to do it it's very funny the way that the English was spoken actual the English of Shakespeare's time Elizabethan English it's practically cannot be understood even by the contemporary English audience I mean I guess I can just go with what I would say yung just good competent English pronunciation yung mayintindihan ko pero still yung in terms of as a director interpreting the text iniisip ko palaag so kung dalong versions to yung Filipino version ano yung and then pag nag-English so ano nais beti na nag-English di nabay so I don't do it anymore my observation about that is now and then you have the same actor doing both right and you really you really do feel better when you watch the actor doing Filipino kasi yung di siya nang hirapan kitang kitam mo na talagang at na-intindihan yung sinasabi na kititam mo nang na-intindihan niya that's my problem when we do a lot of English mga Shakespeare plays you can tell the actors just memorize the lines I don't really quite understand what they're saying kasi mga medyo malupit yung script analysis na gagawin mo for Shakespeare even for the director so that's why dramaturgs help a lot because can you explain what the dramaturg does because that's a new-ish kind of category in the theater scene in the Philippines relatively new actually to make it even simpler dramaturgy means research so actually everybody does research the director does research the playwright does research so a dramaturg is necessary or if the director is particularly adept and diligent pwede siya na rin ang mag-dramaturg pwede rin, pwede rin pero kasi ang what I see na advantage of having a dramaturg is to have that you know the other perspective yes and somebody to in a way protect you that's the job of dramaturg to protect the whole production to protect you as a director to make sure somebody's asking you pa lako ng play at may nakita ko ang questionable understanding of the philosophy of dramaturg pa lak ay naka hindi naman kaya pa lalut ang pwede rin ang review kong isang play ang misupa na yun ang misupa na yun kong ulang masensin na because the director can still hindi na german romanticism ifang hindi ang play ba to at pwede pa at pwede pa pwede pa pwede pa pwede pa house house no, no, no no, pareho ibay ang dramaturg ng isang pareho sila may problema yeah but well in the end director pa rin yan nyan at least in my case i guess they're directors for me for me i can't speak for all directors but i will always say well in the end ako nag-decision right so ganun talaga i mean that's part of the deal director gets all the blame most of the time as it ever happened like you two have collaborated that you disagreed on how let's say the vision is because you envision the play you turn to translate it you have a theatrical vision of it and let's say the play is a script have you actually come to heads regarding let's say the way you chose to do it tapos hindi na type pa nang wala na kung napatayin ganun yung grave wala, wala wala nang like nung sa pier nung sinabi nga halika gamin natin yung pier ang unang ko tanong bakit so parang hindi ko maano it took a while it took a number of of discussions sessions at heal the Ferdlando's plays na lagi kami naga hindi ko mailagay hindi ko mailuga hindi ko mailagay hanggang na na work naman siya slowly i mean na you found the analog there were drama terms and there were analog were really trying to break that I mean so if so sometimes you have a director like I'm not really a very talkative or you know articulate director pag ayoko ng explain sabihin kung kung wari kinan I'm real ganito lang yan ay can you explain to Roddy and kaya hindi yung matay okay explain it to Roddy parang ganun di ba? because may be hindi ka na confrontation house kaya si Andrew lang ane nung mo hindi naman because I choose my battles pero hindi wala naman kaming major problems ni Roddy in terms of working together maybe we can ask Lynn and how do you choose your material parang sa company? for the season do you do programming for teatro at it? at it? so what should you consider marketing things also? yeah so among other things yung nasabi na na first time Filipino department ang nag-require department et cetera so that's taken into consideration and then what's going on in the country sometimes I go through the issues of guidance ano yung or go online sa pages ng ating incidents is it okay to ask if the owners of your university ever actually tell you kailangan natin ng jasuit play wala at saka ano siya life unsatignation we did middle finger we did middle finger wala, a rin subsidy ka we did middle finger which was soft sustaining yeah we thrive on ticket sales and mga iso jante yung nagahanap ng sponsors et cetera the heroic mahirap mahirap in the state of most no kami subsidized oh okay a little bit government anyway we're sponsoring a process of programming so yung nga anong nangyari sa bansa et cetera and then sa kanyari sa second semester we're doing yeah and then we did middle finger before na nananood na mga jasuits it's anti-catholic yes but they liked it naman actually I was just kidding the jasuits were the most open minded exactly oh kailangan mga una they'll be the most troubled of all kailangan mga siya dung payos diba so yeah since this is still akadim based theater and of course ang UP akadim based theater you have done non akadim based na peta can you can we talk about the difference between akadim and non akadim based theater what would be the most important difference and what are the advantages of doing akadim based theater for example now you've done because you've done both let's hear from Roddy because peta is also a peculiar theater company because educational theater siya but at the same time during that time when I entered mas ano siya sa social political issues but peta has been doing musical plays now building all production around pop songs you'll never UP will never do that talaga baka naman dahil sa copyright issues siguro kung okay lang ng libril lahat kasi ang laki ng binabayad nila nila pero let's may commercial imperative of peta na Hindi ng UP masyado na nga rin nalang na endless endless season ng care ulit-ulit-ulit kasi talagang commercially appealing diba UP will only do it once let's say tapos hindi naman kami talaga will not pursue it for profit but that's just seeing peta on one side kasi lalo ngayon dahil they have a theater center that they need to to really sustain they have to be sustained it's really an expensive building so isa yung sa mga nagiging pa in fact it's the fifth time na nag-run in the rap of ages medyo para hindi naman preset kung hindi alam nila na minimilk nalang nila ito alam yun pero at the same time they have a lot of other programs sa sa grassroots for example yung Yolanda may anong sila mga kailangan these are things that you don't really hear and they're not in that building anymore it's really out-reach out-reach tapos noon lalo ngayon sa 50th and then yung festival of windows para ipakita ishokis yung lahat ng people's theater practices na ginawa ng PETA throughout the anong so I guess yung talagang nakatambad ngayon talaga sa if you're going to say mainstream so very peculiar ngang PETA because hindi naman siya nakabaysa university or any college but it's actually it's been doing educative work through all the decades and people don't normally know it they don't know that nandun yung sa communities but I'm thinking meron tayong commercial talaga na mga theater companies like let's say repertory, philillines ang mga nyan or ano pa ba ibayang mga actors-actor mga nyan or new boys they're still into producing and talagang kailangan laga sila they make profit because that's the way they assure future production so very different set of variables and sort of constants for them pag-accadene base yung theater more or less meron din tayong we have to work with the curriculum and make sure that we have a Shakespeare play because it's required et cetera okay now how do we ensure quality control I think in theater are you sensitive to critics do you read reviews are you happy about critical recognition like you joining the palanka for your scripts is it important that you win have you have you ever written a play that you never entered in a palanka or that you entered that didn't win and yet you actually believe is better than some scripts that won yes yes but you're a holofamer aren't you yeah okay so we shouldn't listen to him Glenn, wala pang masyadong holofame but it's critical recognition is it important and is that a good way to assure quality in the theatrical as far as sa tahala atina yung is concerned nagbapa sa syempre ng what other people have to say about the production because to begin with naman sa sa theater yung merong apeta night or merong bloodbath right before opening and of course you are interested in hearing what your potential audience members have to say critics night or in our case kung nakamarket if you are in a department then the entire department watches and then gives comments but in the long run so okay siya na opportunity to know what your audience is what your audience thinks about your show but in the long run kung misan you agree with reviews you not agree with reviews so okay din siya although maganda syempre pag okay ang review pwede mong magamit sa pagmarket ng show but other than that pero as a writer yung recognition you kept entering the pala ang kasabi mo because it's important to be recognized I haven't joined in a long time but yes I think it's one way for a new writer beginning writer to diwad na papansyan and more than mapansyan I guess in joining writer's workshops for instance it's aside from na pumasaka and parang inannoun sa lahat kasi may press release but other than that it's the opportunity to meet the literary lions people you look up to and then get the opportunity for any new artists it's important to be validated because it's such a counter intuitive decision and why would anyone want to be an artist and so you do want to get affirmation somewhere that your decision is actually the right one and it comes in the form of awards and I think the palangka is let's be fair it's actually one of the better awards to get because hindi naman sya kabal of group think your play that you enter now may lose this year because the particular composition of the judges is not incline that way enter it next year magbabago yung composition ng judges you know meron ako mga na meet I've been judging na palangka na nanalo sila eventually after 10 tries of the same play of the same nina mga play the same story or the same poetry collection tini tweak tweak nila of course kasi na agree it also gives them time to revise but they believe in the work and probably that's the best piece of advice we can give if you believe in your work then to help with the world to help with what critics say and that's true also for productions you know you did a good job and you believe in the work so what if the critics didn't get it I think you have to have your own personal meter some personal way of measuring if you've done well if you're happy with what you've done so I choose who to listen to who to read but I pay attention ako yung pinaka first and last judge because sakin ang galing so I have to suffer to enjoy whatever it is moabalik sakin but of course that being said yung process of collaboration with your creative team is also so important so yun I mean siyempre nakikita lang if you look at reviews di ba pa pinapanod lang naman nila siyempre yung final product they might come on a bad day because you can't you can't sort of pa hindi naman parang ano yun it's a perfect show every time because actors are human yung staff ganun din nakakarunan tech problems and so on so sometimes it's a bad day I mean those are just little things I mean of course you can just be a bad director all together and production is really bad but if you don't have some way to measure or to say yung parang self-awareness na ganang pangit to show di ba kahit natapus na kasi ginagawa mo yung paninindigen mo kilang panindigen mo yun no matter what it's like the child the ugly child that only you will really have to love it minsan yung collaborators mo iiwang ka na or di ka na pinapansin din ang sila nanunod but you have to be there for your actors every single time you can't abandon your actors sila re and they're in a terrible position terrible but exciting position of facing a live audience who would clap for them whatever not react to them that's why it's props to theater people because it's really you are really putting yourself there to be judged yung film you can actually more or less detach yourself from the product but theater you can't you're there physically if you're the actor if you're the director and you get to bear the reward and you get to receive the reward or bear the consequence if it's a bad production now we unfortunately have no more time and so we would like to ask all of you to more or less give your last words probably your last words can be also bit of an advice for theater artists whether they're actors or future directors or playwrights maybe a words of encouragement would be another way of putting it what should they prepare for what does this calling or vocation require what should you have let's begin with Glenn advice line to go to a theater to read as many places as possible watch as many places as possible attend ito bang a festival so lower virgin lab fest short and sweet et cetera plan to develop friendships with some theater people that you look up to get mentored by people you look up to do you recommend getting a degree getting a degree helps then because about the university will make things a bit easier for you by introducing you to professors and industry people yun so persevere and hard work and nothing beats yun na ba should we you also fall in love kahit naman nya tanong career mo nakaad ng spice yun inspired bits of advice para sa akin I guess ang pinaka practical especially since I was advisor for Philippine high school for the arts for theater for a good number of years for a good number of years ang nariyalize namin importante na sumali sila sa isang group o magtayo o sila na isang group that napapractice ng theater dahil kung hindi din din na nariyalize ang possibilities nito for turning it into some kind of sustainable that will keep them sustainable kasi yung iba sa kanila pag katapos Grumadway they had on to other different katulad ko if I work kung tumuloy-tuloy ako I would have been a doctor Dami mo na saan or a nurse pero pero para sa aking important makomino nang theater work so it's good to be in community a play like a playwright cannot survive alone he has to find some group or person who will be interested to stage it and that already is a group and also for actors it would be good to be part of a company or a group or at least you always you keep together parang ka namin mo yung you're either kung Tanghalang Pilipino yan or even sa UP et cetera dun mas pinakam makikita mo pinaka-active yung yung mga individuals ng theater That's wonderful advice and who says actually yung kinabi mo kanina-advice na yun Yung kinabi more more Nga ba you can't do theater or you can't be in theater without doing theater so just to supplement what they said You learn by practice talaga You cannot learn theater through books You have to practice it Yung iba naman madayang magaling na director na hindi naman nag-directing class but they for some reason they kept doing it so with actors a lot of actors di ba sa film na din hindi naman tayo yung industry natin hindi kasing laki sa America or sa Europe so madaming pag-ukulang sa curriculum so kung ano naman yung kulang dun sa you need to keep on looking for work for projects di ba yung mga director parang haldi yung get to direct ang hirap na ne so it's either you found the company yun which is so difficult so to me kaya ako siguro na ano magturo because nakita ko agad yung connection ok, I'll teach pero that to me the price is really to be able to direct so you need to find that or you need to you need to start apprenticing with directors you like start looking for good people that you want to work with look for a mentor lalo na dito it has to be so informale because it's not the industry it's not practical ok, thank you very much to all our guests yet again we find ourselves running out of time we would have wanted to extend the discussion to forever so many other issues to cover but I hope you guys viewers of this show have enjoyed our episode today we look forward to the next episode and so til then goodbye