Siftings
Iloilo Sarswela on the boards again!
The "Iloilo Sarswela: Padayon ang Istorya,".a collaboration of the UP Visayas and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), in partnership with the TAGUPCI (Theatre Arts Guild UP College Iloilo) Foundation goes on the boards again in Tigbauan town this coming Sunday October 26 with 2pm and 6pm performances. The show is slated to perform in Roxas City on November 29, with two performances also. Then there's another engagement for Lambunao early next year. These engagements are a sign that the taste for our local or indigenous, folk or popular cultural forms is still alive, demanding their return into our present lives, sounding a call to our cultural organizations to revive them in our time, as the first decade of this millennium draws to a close.
This sarswela (indigenized spelling of zarzuela, the original dramatic form brought here by the Spanish colonizers in the last decades of their rule) is unique. Designed primarily for the year-long celebration of UP's Centennial in UPVisayas, the production is composed of excerpts from 6 popular zarzuelas written by prominent zarzuelistas of the 1930's -50's, including one current writer in Hiligaynon. As such, it draws on the rich cultural tradition associated with the development of the zarzuela in Ilonggo society, history and culture. The excerpts included in the production are from: "Dumut Kag Huya" by Jose Ma. Ingalla, a classical operetta the music for which requires the high notes and discipline of Italian opera; "Mga Anak ni Sisa" by Serapion Torre, which sounds off the theme of colonial mentality even as early as the first decades of the American Occupation; "Ma-Pa-Ta" by Valente Cristobal, dubbed in his time as the Prince of Zarzuelistas for his capacity to draw crowds at performances of his works; "Noticia Lang Imo" by Salvador Magno, whose writing career spans the decades before, during and after the Second World War; "Sa Tiangge ni Takay" by Valente Cristobal again; and "Pinustahan Nga Gugma" by Alice Tan Gonzales, UPV Professor who has won Palanca Awards for her short stories, candidate for Ph.D. in Creative Writing from UP Diliman.
The cast and crew reads like a Who's Who of UPV faculty and alumni, and of regional theatrical talents. UPV Professors Celia Fuentes-Parcon, Dr. Cris Saclauso, Jesusa Libutaque, Ruben Gamala, John Barrios, Jeanette Sayno-Deslate, Martin Genodepa and Emmanuel Lerona show off their acting skills and take their voices out for a walk in the clouds. TAGUPCI and Teatro Amakan alumni Dr. Raoul Canonero, Dorothy Llariza, Edgar Javison, Ramiro Ocbena, Grace Prodigo-Lobaton, Josephine Cordon-Madlangbayan, Charmaine Belleze-Pido, Dr. Kristin Louise Gaona-Treñas, Jorvelyn Jaruda-Espinosa, Andrelyn Linacero-Cortez and Quennie Faye Norada-Montebon, along with G.C. Castro, Geoffrey Villanueva, Francis Habana sing and dance like the seasoned troupers that they are, over and above their current professions and concerns. The crew are a highly talented and motivated lot: Paolo Correa, Rene Bedonia, Rhodora Solis, Crista Sianson-Huyong. And the UPV Choristers represent the studentry in this 40-strong sarswela troupe under the combined strengths and power of Prof. Alfredo Diaz, Director par excellence, another candidate for Ph.D in Creative Writing, UP Diliman; Dr. Rosario Asong, Executive Producer, Director of UPV's Gender and Development Program; Joseph Albana, Producer and Manager, theatre artist for all seasons and cultural management and arts administration specialist; and last but not least, Eliodora Labos-Dimzon, Researcher, Scriptwriter and Proponent of this zarzuela revival, whose devotion to the documentation and preservation of our regional languages and culture constitutes the groundbreaking for this unique theatrical experience.
This writer is proud and honored to be part of this talented cast of seasoned and professional (indeed, in the double senses of the word! ) actors/ singers/ dancers. I am part of the Opener of the show as the "Ispirito sg Sarswela", the spirit or muse who, although past her prime, still puts on the show to project the optimism and hope that, yes, the Show, which is the Sarswela, which is in totality the Cultural Development of the Region, will go on and on forever. Harinawa, the culture and the arts will continue to entertain, enliven and enrich our lives as Ilonggos and as Filipinos, whether we are in our region, our country, or elsewhere in this fast-shrinking globe!
For enders, there's a standing joke that this show will eventually go to UP Diliman next year and after that – why not? – Tate! But that's wishful thinking, mostly. If even a small part of what ABS-CBN spends for the regular trips abroad of Wowowee gets to our coffers by some heavenly mistake, why not, indeed? There's certainly more culture and history in our sarswela than in the giling-giling and yugyugan of Willie Revillame's eye-filling babes and gimmicks!