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By Libay Linsangan Cantor, Contributor
Let’s face it: there’s no money in theater.
But someone has to do drama. Dramaturgy, that is.
And who could better to do dramaturgy than
women. Whether 40-minuter one-act plays or hour-plus-long
full-length plays, local women playwrights have devoted time, talent
and tough love to produce quality work that say something important
about society, about being a woman, and about being Filipino. The
independent association known as the Writers Bloc Inc. has that type
of women. Once again, some of them will have their works staged at
the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) for the fourth Virgin
Labfest in the coming two weeks.
Writers Bloc members Debbie Tan, Layeta Bucoy,
and Liza Magtoto share their love for theater.
Magtoto reveals, “Since I was small, I was
already in love with theater. It’s the power of words and
immediate feedback from the audience. Especially during performances
in communities, it feels enriching that you get validated when you
hear the immediate feedback of the audience.”
Bucoy recounts early field trips in CCP inspired
her to eventually dabble into the art form. “It feels free when
you watch and you feel you’re at the center of that world
onstage,” she says.
Magtoto also cites that brand of freedom theater
provides, as she could compare it to her other work as a TV
scriptwriter: “You could say a lot on stage compared to TV or film
where there’s censorship so you could express and experiment more.
Like my play Hubad would be hard to pull off on TV. The only catch
is, theater has a limited audience.”
This is why the three tried to combine these
elements—the magic, the passion—and spice it up with their own
brand of feminism and views on sexuality. The results? Multiple
Palanca awards no less, with theater directors clamoring to handle
their plays onstage, and crowds upon crowds of pleased audiences
during the CCP staging of their works at the annual Virgin Labfest
event.
The three say that it is important to retain
that kind of message that talk about women’s issues as penned from
a woman’s perspective. Of the three, Magtoto boasts of the most
credentials in this area, counting the popular community
theater-staged Libby Manaoag plays, the award-winning Despedida de
Soltera on being a single woman, Balota Queen on women’s suffrage,
and St. Anthony Pray Por Us on being a single mother.
According to Magtoto, divorcing one’s gender
from writing is tough. “I can’t avoid questioning aspects of how
society or the Church look at women, for I see that they’re not
fair in assessing women’s situations.”
Tan is also conscious of that fact, among other
concerns. “I want to write meaty roles for women, where they are
the focus and the leads.” She adds, “What I want is to release
that voice of the Filipino-Chinese in theater without the
stereotypes, because that hasn’t been done yet.”
Bucoy approaches this gender issue: “I write
as a woman, writing women’s experiences as a woman because I want
to be sincere. This is how it is, this is how I understand and look
at things.”
Magtoto sums it up for them. “It’s passion.
Always strive and never stop writing.” And know more people,
people you don’t normally talk to or interact with.”
Audiences could get to know more of these
women’s characters in their plays to be staged at the Virgin
Labfest from June 25 to July 6, 2008, at the CCP. Layeta’s
restaged Ellas Inocentes (about two sisters whose relationship
oversteps normative boundaries) and her new one Las Mentiras de
Gloria (a story on guilt) will be both directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio.
Debbie’s Mga Babaeng Too Bright (about women and artificiality)
will be directed by Ana Valdez-Lim.
For details, visit www.virginlabfest.com.
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