Sunday, July 13, 2008

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.

12 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

hi! salamat sa suporta kuya ;-)
muahh!

July 14, 2008 at 9:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, I remember this theater. The plays were very good and very intimate. It seemed that in the 70s Filipinos were more artistically inclined than now. Even our television is like a dumping ground of nonsensical telenovelas. Very disheartening.

July 14, 2008 at 10:09 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

I am not aware of the theater situation in RP these days. Though TV, I can say that content-wise, it is indeed wanting.

However, during my time, TV was very limited in terms of facilities. We only used two cameras when taping shows, and we seldom go out for location filming. But, because of these limitations, I made sure that the concept and content of the show were absolutely strong and powerful. I wrote my scripts with tender loving care, resulting in a more sensible, meaningful shows.

Nowadays, ABS-CBN and GMA use 6 cameras during telenovela shoots, they even use Crane Shots (something we only used for making movies then), yet despite all these, we only get tepid, inane melodramas. More often than not, it's a waste of time watching them.

July 14, 2008 at 10:28 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

July 14, 2008 at 10:57 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Hi, Klitorika, the new author. Your bravery to celebrate your femininity is truly commendable and I totally admire you for doing so. More power to you and lots of luck, my dear.

July 14, 2008 at 11:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

JM,

Very strong nga ang theater noong 70s. I remember seeing Lino Brocka's play in Intramuros during those times. Hanggang Dito na Lamang at Maraming Salamat, and Paraisong Parisukat. TV plays were were good, as compared with today.
I also got to talk to Lino,in UP Los Banos, when he had a talk there. Simple lang siya, naka-tsinelas and his language was always punctuated with p__'tangna niya...Also with the barkada of Mike de Leon when they were scouting for a location of their dark opus, KISAPMATA.



Auggie

July 15, 2008 at 5:35 PM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Noon nga palang 1970s ay nauso rin ang dinner show. Stage plays presented in supper clubs. Wala na bang ganito diyan ngayon? Hindi na ba uso ang stage polay diyan sa atin? That would be a pity if indeed nobody cares about the theater anymore.

July 15, 2008 at 9:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

reading this is like reading "Nostalgia Manila" with a twist-- and that's first hand experience of the author.

October 22, 2008 at 12:44 AM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Naku Rey. Lalo mong ipinagdiinan na matanda na ako. He-he.

October 22, 2008 at 6:17 PM  
Blogger noel cuaresma said...

member ako ng kalinangan ng lahi siguro ako ang pinakabatang naging member. Iam noel cuaresma kung natatandaan nyo pa, sa Sta. Ana tayo nagmimiting sa bahay ng mga Licauco, kumsta na kayo mga ate mga kuya

October 14, 2009 at 12:57 AM  
Blogger TheCoolCanadian said...

Hi Noel:

How old are you now? Sorry for not remembering what you looked like in those days, but it is amazing that through the internet we were able to communicate again. How did Kalingan ng Lahi fade? What sort of field did you join later?

JM

October 14, 2009 at 2:06 AM  
Anonymous ecocard casinos said...

Matchless theme, it is very interesting to me :)

March 28, 2011 at 3:53 PM  

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