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Floy talks Theater

29 October, 2007 (13:54) | Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | By: Arpee

Theater, reintroduced. Gibbs Cadiz, once again, serves up another enlightening and awe-inspiring cultural smorgasbord for the uninitiated in Philippine Theater. What am I talking about? Last October 27, 2007, Noreen and I were some of the lucky 33 bloggers to come and see theater-great Floy Quintos to share his thoughts on how to appreciate a play.

As far as the numbers game go, theater is not on the top of the everyone’s list. Floy tells us the there is not as much money in theater as there is in television and movies, and this is the reason why little attention is given to it. My experience is that theater productions are more expensive to see than the average Hollywood flick. For the average employee, deciding whether to see a P300 (US$6.25) play or a P100 (US$2.13) movie at the mall will not take more than two seconds to think about.


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So, how do we appreciate a play? Floy suggests that we come to the theater with open minds, ready to accept all the givens. I am always confused at the beginning of a play, when I’m waiting for lights to dim, how the set connects to the story as described in the programme. Then as the story unfolds, I nod my head upon realizing the genius behind the plot. In other words, give it a chance. Let the play take you into its makeshift world and be moved by the experience. Abandon all logic, lest you end up with a regretful opinion of the whole experience. Abandon the Hollywood-movie-mentality.


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Of the things that Floy said, I will forever cherish his words describing theater as “a bastard of all the arts.” No truer was this when he started talking about works like “Walang Sugat,” “As You Like It” and “Romeo and Juliet.” His extensive knowledge of literature is impeccable, as is his mastery of history. In theater, one must be familiar with literature, production design, graphic arts (finance and logistics too, I believe) and psychology, at the very least.

Friends, one thing you need to remember, you need not be well-versed in literature to appreciate a good play. Come to the theater, buy the programme (it’s that pamphlet that they sell at the lobby that contains information about the play, the actors and what to expect), leave your logic at the door (along with your umbrella) and pay attention to the little details. Open yourself to the emotions and have a wonderful time. Guaranteed to please and enlighten your mind. No movie can do that for you.

So while I was getting reacquainted with theater, I was also rubbing elbows with some of the country’s prolific blogging soldiers. So as not to miss anyone, see the blogger roll below. Feel free to click on the links!

  1. Rei Alba
  2. Marco Angeles
  3. Glaiza Seguia
  4. Calvin Cortes
  5. Jason Dela Cruz
  6. Jeanne Louise Cruz
  7. Walter Ang
  8. Christopher Joseph San Jose
  9. Shari Cruz
  10. Chuck Smith
  11. Jhed Cabrera
  12. L.A. Lomarda
  13. Carlo Capelan
  14. Melissa Rosello
  15. Allan Rey Penilla
  16. James Andrian Bicaldo
  17. Carla Edeliza Varias
  18. Cyril Ramos
  19. Sharline Bareng
  20. Juned Sonido
  21. Exie Abola
  22. AJ Matela
  23. Jeff Villafranca
  24. Joseph Datinguinoo
  25. Faith Salazar
  26. Coy Caballes
  27. Chris Lagman
  28. Joel Macaventa
  29. Karla Maquiling
  30. JM Tuazon

The event was capped by spaghetti with pesto sauce, crab meat salad sandwiches and buco juice with pandan flavor (you really think I wouldn’t mention the food?) The good food was coupled by great conversations with some of blogging’s best.

Seen in the foreground is Noreen and Juned (talking about the next blogger ed project?) while in the background (from left to right) are Glaiza, Chuck and Sharline.

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Juned in the foreground, while I take the opportunity to pose with Gibbs Cadiz. A rare picture indeed!

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Comments

Comment from waltzang
Time: October 30, 2007, 2:21 am

haller! wow thanks for linking all of the urls of the attendees. i saw you both from my spot on the floor, i’m sorry i wasn’t feeling well and had to leave early, otherwise makikipagchikahan pa sana ako sa lahat ng tao dun. gagawa ba tayo ng yahoogroups?

Comment from arpee lazaro
Time: October 30, 2007, 4:38 am

hi walter! we should get together again for more chikahan. yahoo groups? pwede yun! email me anytime for any updates at sasali ako.

Comment from Glaiza
Time: October 30, 2007, 4:46 am

Kuya Arpee! :D Ginugutom ako sa blog mo. Very cool! Thanks for visiting my site too. Hope to see you and Noreen in more events!

Comment from huami
Time: October 30, 2007, 7:38 am

Thanks for linking the blogs of atttendees :) Continue venturing into theater-going. You guys got the Silver Pass from Repertory right? Go Maximize it next year. Regards to Noreen - lalah varias

Comment from Simon
Time: October 30, 2007, 10:32 am

Hi Arps! Did you know that Floy is a Palanca awardee for “God Loves Dem Filipinos”?

Comment from Shar
Time: October 30, 2007, 5:17 pm

Hi, Arpee! Thanks for visiting my blog. Linking you guys, too! Regards to Noreen. :) See you guys around!

Comment from P0ytee
Time: October 30, 2007, 6:42 pm

Nice seeing you again at PETA! :) Yeah, go for Olympus. It’s my best bet. Hehe.

Comment from danah
Time: November 1, 2007, 7:40 am

Hello!

Grabe, ngayon ko lang nadiskubre na may comment ka. Hi na rin kay noreen. I’ll be home sa dec. 14. I’ll call you when I get home. We can meet. Melanie is near my place, too. We teach in the same district. Sige kita-kits sa december.

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