Editors’ Notes: Since 2019, Pista nin Teatro is regionally known as the annual celebration and convergence of different Bicol-based theatre groups. This year it has transitioned from regional to national in scope and reach as it welcomes five theater companies from outside the region. It has also invited national theater personalities as speakers for its workshop activities. The author, Eilyn Nidea, co-founder and theater director of Teatro Ragayano, writes about her experience in Pista nin Teatro 2024 from the perspective of a stage performer and theater advocate. The Pista nin Teatro theatrical performances were held at the Albay Astrodome on April 4-6, 2024, Legazpi City.

---

Theater loves.

There is heart in theater. A much-appreciated part of the opening ceremonies was the tribute to the pillars of Bikol theater who have already passed on. Their lives, works, and legacies were highlighted. Closest to my heart is Carlos A. Arejola of Pili, Camarines Sur, a co-founder and chief playwright and director of Teatro Ragayano, and a friend.

Love springs in theater. Time is immaterial. I love my theater mentors, co-collaborators, and friends, both those who I have known for years, and those who were strangers a few days ago. This year, love blossomed between me and my Art Vox Club Family, from Cavite National High School Senior High School despite the short time we spent together for the production of SKATES (Silip/Sumbat sa Kumpas ng Agwat at Tunggalian ng Estado at Sambayanan), written and directed by Bernardo O. Aguay, Jr. who is also credited with bringing the Cavite friends into my life.

(Author’s note: The collaboration between the Art Vox Club of Cavite NHS-SHS started with the playwright and director of SKATES, Bernardo O. Aguay, Jr., a long-time friend, mentor, and co-collaborator invited/ requested me to play the role of Pinang, who symbolizes Inang Bayan.)

Theater validates.

Through the varied performances with myriad themes and treatments, I confirmed a number of new knowledge and beliefs, and revisited old ones. Tinubuang Lupa by Tanghalang St. Louis University in Baguio City reawakened my resolve to sustain my advocacy for local heritage preservation. Also, it triggered my appreciation for previously heard and read histories and stories relative to the aswang phenomenon as a colonial form of subjugation.

Through the interplay of talent and skills among the delegates in my midst, I glowed! It’s always a deep honor and privilege to be among the greats. I don’t have any other course of action except to be in my best. Pinang’s signature laugh helped me more heard and appreciated. As Lino Lopez of Tanghalang SLU put it: “Thank you for the laughter and joy you brought to the crowd. The lesson left by Inang Bayan’s laughs will be the sustenance of everyone in the ongoing struggle for art and theater.”

Theater questions.

Despite (or maybe because of?) trigger warnings aired before staging plays with sex, near-nudity, violence, and profanities, I found myself asking: 1. Could that scene be played using a certain theater treatment or technique to make it less glaring? Or was it really meant to be glaring? I know, art should not always be comforting, but be disturbing and thought provoking. 2. What can the effect be to young members of the audiences of those I termed “glaring” scenes? Will talking about them with adults, a sort of processing, help? 3. If I write and stage a play (or act in one) with this level of triggers, will I be successful?

“Ang laban ng tsuper ay laban ng kumyuter”. This was repeatedly highlighted in two productions: Art Vox Club’s SKATES (Jun’s participation in a rally), and Sining Lila Bicol’s Byahero interactive/participative theater). A slogan, a line, strong enough to trigger many questions, demanding answers, and shouting: “No to Jeepney Phase Out! Yes to Genuine Rehabilitation!”

Theater experiments.

It gives spaces for the untried, the never heard of, the doubted, the rejected, the imagined, and re-imagined.

/Trapped/, by Shepherd Pictures from Guiguinto, Bulacan, is a series of stories highlighted through a lone actor. Her movements, her dialogues and the stage design and props screamed pain, prison, and pessimism. Their play synopsis read: A devised experimental work about generational trauma, this work portrays the reactions and movements of bodies towards a specific trauma.

Pilipinas, Geym ka na ba? by Umalohokan, Inc. of Los Baἠos, Laguna played with traditional and contemporary games, giving them twists, and applying tricks to place a number of socio-political evils on spotlight, making it difficult to refuse confronting them. The effect was a kick in the stomach. I nearly toppled from my seat, if not for Pipoy’s (the child main actor) charm and wit, and undeniable talent.

Again, it made me question: What is the limit of theater in the context of experimentation? Or is there such? But then, Badong in SKATES asserts about doing it his way, and I’m reminded that in theater, there are as much deviations as there are parallels. The dynamics makes it all the more fruitful, engaging, and effective.

Theater gives.

Generously. There are always opportunities for growth, chances for collaborations, and avenues to push advocacies. Taragbo Bikol Theater Network, the Pista prime mover, led by Sining Banwa and Direk Sari Saysay are continuously applauded for successfully pulling off something that was grand and complex as the Pista nin Teatro 2024.

It provides alternative courses of actions, as in Pinang’s assertions in SKATES: “Sining, hindi baril. Violn, hindi violence.”

It provides for the development and enhancement of raw talents. The Art Vox Club members are mostly newbies, but through the Pista journey, they delivered quality outputs as actors and production crew members, paving the way for them to be more passionate toward their theater craft.

Theater heals.

Any wound soothes any ache. It finds solace that “Scarred people are beautiful.”

Sining Banwa and Dawani Project’s Higit sa Pag-ibig The Musical sang its way to my heart even as it ripped apart due to the half-forgotten aches, and half-buried scars that 55 years of living accorded me. Yet, through the film of my quiet tears as I watched, I found the echo of Liza’s “promise” to be able to forgive, one day, someday, in due time.

An Kaogmahan ni Art by Burabod Artists stressed the role of mindfulness and spirituality in healing one’s troubled mind, body, and soul.

Indeed, I found the roller coaster of thoughts and feeling evoked by the Pista experiences cathartic. Road to personal, and collective healing, I believe.

Theater teaches.

The effect is immediate. Even children understand and learn. Even young people share, teach, and mentor.

Songs and dialogues become mantras that delegate find difficult, and at times, nearly impossible to break away from. Hours after the last echoes of the Pista theme song faded away, I found myself humming melodies and singing lines from the festival entries. I repeatedly saw in my mind scenes that particularly touched and moved, and distracted and disturbed me.

Sharing the Pista stage with practitioners across various ages and contexts, I couldn’t escape learning.

Even now, as I’m writing this essay, 48 hours after the curtains closed, I can’t totally let go. I acknowledge that the self I brought to Pista nin Teatro is no longer the self that I am now. I’ve changed. I’ve grown.

Theater celebrates.

Pista nin Teatro 2024 celebrates its rooster of organizers, volunteers, supporters, and participants. This was evident in the meticulous preparation for, and conduct of the festival, and most importantly, in the care, love, accommodation, recognition, and appreciation extended to the delegates. It was apparent in the meaningful and memorable opening and closing ceremonies palpable in their festive atmosphere.

I celebrate being in theater! As a co-founder, and artistic director of Teatro Ragayano, a playwright, a director, and an actor, I really claim the stage as my home. There is where I am at my happiest.

I celebrate the mentors and friends I get to be reunited with in Pista: Direk Sari Saysay, Direk Buboy Aguay, Madam Frida, Sir Raffy Tejada (who gave a workshop), Ma’am Bel Borja, Direk Grey Landeza (who gave us the ever-entertaining Kan Madakop ni Jauncho an Manaok ni San Pedro), Direk Cresnil Templado, Co-playwright Diwa Samingkil, Doc Elsie Albis, Emmanuel Barrameda, and the rest of my PedXing Kolab Series and Manay! Manay! Co-collaborators.

I celebrate the new friends I found and began to love: The Art Vox Club Family of SKATES (Kharla Mae Buco- assistant director, Jeff Queency Gomez – technical director/sound effects, Kurt Samuel – lights director/costume designer, Kristine Gabuco – props and stage manager, and my co-actors: Ford Morelos as John, Wein Pangan as Kagawad Kane, Godwyn Santos as PO2 Paco, Paolo Azuela as Estranghero, Sir Romeo Dones as Badong, Ma’am Arvi Chua as Ms. Chona, Jheiydhin Navarro as Tonying, Jad Emmanuel Bonus as Mang Manny, and Uzziah Fabilinia as Mr. George; and the ever-caring LOs and SMs of our Cavite Team: Genver Geralde, Laira Minette Lorenzo, and Lovely Bueza.

I celebrate the seventeen stories, seventeen acts, seventeen worlds from within and outside Bikol that co-rotated and collided resulting to the fireworks of emotions and insights that remain disturbing and calming and motivating even after the last glow of sparks has dimmed.

Theater hopes.

Sangre de Naga Theater Company’s musical version of Emelina Regis’ Dalawang Mukha ng Kagubatan has an alarming major theme: that of human abuses resulting to death, not only of their fellow humans, but also of their only home, the Mother Earth. Yet, the message of hope is clear as Inang Kalikasan enthused: “May pag-asa pa ang tao!”

Undeniably, theater work is never easy, and never-ending. It is a way of life. And it has hope as the wind beneath its wings.

There is always hope that through theater, the stories of our people, our places, and our times shall be reclaimed, retold, and sustained!

Pista nin Teatro 2024 has written 30 on its final page, yet the friendship, camaraderie, and the love shall never be over. Parting ways proved to be like breaking hearts. Separation anxieties abound. I felt like I wanted to follow my Art Vox Club Family to Cavite just to be among them one more time.  As Pagdusay sa Patalunan (PedXing Kolab Series 5) Director Cresnil B. Templado put it: “Ang hirap magpagpag!”

Nevertheless, there’s this glimmer of hope: As I’ve said a lot of times when goodbyes were being said at the close of the Pista: “Meeting again is certain for those who are friends.” For now, I take comfort in revisiting social media posts and photos about Pista.

Theater lives.

It survived the COVID 19 pandemic, and even transitioned to/morphed into other staging platforms. With the passion, dedication, and direction of the practitioners and advocates, theater is here to stay, something solid, and an anchor in these ever-changing and challenging times. As the Pista crowd asserts: “Mabuhay ang Teatro!”

Sa aking mga ka-Pista nin Teatro 2024, Hanggang sa susunod na pagtatanghal!

Featured header photo of Eilyn Nidea onstage with the Pista nin Teatro participants (credit: Bellatrix Shots)