Phillipine Theatre Arts

 Hi there! It's me again. Let me share to you now how is the theater in the Philippines. Let's define what is a theater first for you to briefly understand what am I tackling in here. Theater is basically a branch of performing arts.It mostly deals in acting. It may also include dancing and singing to present a story on stage dramatically.

Filipino talents most likely started on theater arts before becoming celebrities or TV actors and actresses. Stage plays have become a tradition on most Filipinos. Before, they tend to celebrate different things like festivals or any other occasions through this.An example is the Filipino tradition known as 'Cenaculo'. Cenaculo is celebrated during the holy week where in people used to reenact the passion of Christ.

 Another is the 'Moro-Moro' which expresses the conflict between the Christians and Muslims in the country. Only Philippines has this kind of play. No other country has thought of doing this kind of drama. This is said to be the root of war between Filipino Christians and Filipino Muslims.

In some other parts of the country, they celebrate 'carillo'. Carillo is a famous theater drama and is presented after harvest season.

 Another is the ‘Zarzuela’. This is a famous theater performance and it is the Philippines' version of Spanish opera.

Lights on! This is a common expression on a theater. Theater artists knows what to do once they hear the director say this. it's just simple. It means that the play will start once lights are on. And actors and actresses will do their parts.

Theater industry is one of the factors that made Philippines and Filipinos be known in the world. A lot of Filipino talents-actress, actors, etc, are recognized by other countries. Even on Hollywood. An example of this is Lea Salonga who plays an important role on the stage play Ms. Saigon.

 Here are some Filipino talents who excel in this industry and made Philippine theater a legacy:

1. Daisy H. Avellana - an actress, director and writer. She had elevated the level of theater into excellence by staging and performing the plays in a breakthrough performance. She is a co-founder of the Barangay Theatre Guild in 1939. This made a way on the popularization of theatrical drama all over the country.
2. Lamberto V. Avellana - the husband of Daisy Avellana. He is a director for theater and film and was known as "The Boy Wonder of Philippine Movies". He is said to be the first person who used picture camera to establish points of view. He is also the co-founder of the Barangay Theatre Guild.
3. Salvador F. Bernal - is known for his talent in theater designing. He designed more than 300 productions which has their own uniqueness and originality considering the fact that Philippines do lack budget for this. A great Filipino who shares his talent to younger designers for their improvement. He organized the PATDAT (Philippine Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians) in 1995 and by way of Philippine Center of OISTAT (Organization Internationale des Scenographes, Techniciens et Architectes du Theatre). Through this, he managed to introduce the Philippines' theatrical designs in the world.
4. Honorata "Atang" Dela Rama - is an actress and was formally known as Queen of Kundiman in 1979.  She became the very first actress in the very first Tagalog film. 
5. Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero - a teacher and a theater artist for 35 years. He pioneered the concept of theater campus tour. He manage to deliver more or less 2500 plays within 19 years. His plays are somehow related to the behavior of the Filipinos.
6. Severino Montano - he is a playwright, director, actor, and theater organizer.Although he studied abroad, he chose to share his knowledge to his countrymen who likes to learn about theater. He trained and directed new generations of dramatists like Joonee Gamboa, and Behn Cervantes.He had established trainings for playwrights, directors, technicians, actors, and designers at the Philippine Normal College- graduate course.He also established the Arena Theater Playwriting Contest in this lead for some playwright to be discovered.

Some of the schools in the Philippines offer acting courses and trainings. Good thing is that some of them are public schools which means that  training fee is cheaper that the other. Sometimes, these schools offers free workshop. You can visit the following if you wish to have trainings:

• De La Salle University
• De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
• University of the Philippines
  
• Far Eastern University
• University of Sto. Tomas
• International Academy of Film and Television
• Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center