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.

BILAO & SALAKOT: BOTH CAN FLY BUT INVENTED BY DIFFERENT FOLKS

The previous post, I mentioned that BES PASCUAL wrote MAGIC BILAO in LAGIM KOMIKS. Thanks to SIMON SANTOS for sending me a movie ad of MAGIC BILAO.
It is actually written by AMADO S. CASTRILLO & AFLREDO ALCALA, serialized in REDONDO KOMIX.

On the other hand, BES PASCUAL wrote & illustrated BATIKOBRA AT FLYING SALAKOT, serialized in Lagim Komiks. Both appeared almost simultaneously, hence the confusion. Therefore, I apologize for being a SPACE CADET!

Here’s that wonderful Alfredo Alcala rendition of MAGIC BILAO movie ad. Enjoy the art, folks.

WRITER’S BLOCK – or WHY DO WRITERS NEED A WINNOWING TRAY – or WHO NEEDS BES PASCUAL’S MAGIC BILAO?

New writers have one problem that we can also consider as a writer’s DEMON. This monstrous pesky vexation is simply called: WRITER’S BLOCK. One has to EXORCISE this demon in order to be set free from bondage.

And how do you exorcise this demon?

The answer is quite simple. Just like a MANANAWAS, SANTIGUADOR, MAMBABAWI, ARBOLARIO… they use the winnowing tray to triumph over the enemy. Therefore, as a writer, why don’t you use the same tool to overcome your writer’s block?

No, komiks writer-illustrator BES PASCUAL didn’t use the winnowing tray to exorcise his demon, but he used it nevertheless to write MAGIC BILAO in LAGIM KOMIKS in the 60s, which was made into a movie starring APENG DALDAL.

Pero, no, mi compañeros, amigos y colegas… I am not telling you to copy Bes Pascual’s fantasy tale and claim it as your own, but use only the bilao to redeem yourself from the clutch of the writer’s demon. And how do you do this?

Well, look at the image. How many kinds of fruit can you put in a winnowing tray?

A lot. Isn’t it?

Well, you can also do the same with your writer’s block.
You can win over this demon by using CLUSTERING.

The winnowing tray is your topic. The fruits are the related objects that need to be placed in the tray.

Therefore, if your subject is HOSPITAL, place that in the tray. Then, like what the image shows, write every possible things one can see or feel in the hospital. By doing this, it will open doors for you to develop your story.




Simple, but it works. Try it next time when you’re possessed by the demon. This is the best way to exorcise the bastud!