TIME OUT: SAY WHAT? YOU CAN GO TO FARMERS' MARKET AND WATCH A PLAY?

Indeed, you could. But that was many years ago, 1975 to be exact.
The group was called KALINANGAN NG LAHI, established by Loretta Lichauco.
They’ve selected the works of new playwrights, and funny how even an established film director like Lino Brocka and well-known komiks writer and screenplay writer/director Orlando Nadres joined in to showcase their first plays written (that was when they were also new writers).

The theater was on the third floor of the market, and when Miss Lichauco phoned me asking my permission to present two of my plays AMAG SA KARIMLAN and LUKSANG BITUIN (ARTISTA), I couldn’t believe that it was indeed at the Farmers’ Market. I found it quite amusing at first, but what the heck, it was a fantastic idea to bring theater in the market, and that was that. The group also went to different schools and each school was assigned to mount the play. I thought it was a fantastic idea to let the young people (who were more or less about my age) be exposed and have some training in stage plays.

My plays were assigned to JASMS. The actors were amazingly good and the director was brilliant, she was actually the valedictorian of their school.

Here’s the cover of the program.



And here's the list of playwrights:



Though I didn’t know what happened to KALINANGAN NG LAHI afterwards. I became too busy writing for TV, and in 1980, left for north America.