ARTLETS PREMIERED original theatrical plays, “Pangarap” and “Eh Minsan Lang ‘Yan,” under their self-made production houses, Yugto Productions and Punla Productions, via Facebook last Jan. 29 and Jan. 31, respectively.
Following a story about a burned-out architecture student who has a secret passion for writing, Yugto Productions showed how it is like to have a dilemma between practicality and dreams.
Angelo Agito, one of the two directors of “Pangarap,” believed that the theme of their play is relevant in this time of the pandemic since many are faced with harsh truths that make having non-practical dreams unnecessary and irresponsible.
“Because of COVID-19, lots of youth of today experience the drained feeling of facing reality and slowly retreat from pursuing their real passions. Our play tells viewers to choose the former instead, even when it seems it’s too late. It’s never too late to rekindle a burned-out fire, a forgotten passion,” Agito told The Flame.
“No one [should stop] you [from doing the things you love]. It’s your future, it doesn’t belong to your parents, your relatives, or friends. Don’t let them get in your way, don’t let them be the cause of your doubts. Work to grow what you love, not to impress people,” added scriptwriter Andrea Gatera.
Yugto Productions obtained over 1,000 viewers during the premiere night. The uploaded video of the play has currently 2,400 views.
Numerous challenges made the production of the play a no easy feat, according to Agito. Aside from slow internet connections, the group had to experience a brutal critique night with the officers of Artistang Artlets.
“They were harsh. We felt very discouraged that night. They approached us that way so we can learn but it led to a lot of us wanting to back out, including me,” recalled Agito. “But after evaluating and talking through it within ourselves, the criticisms eventually turned to be the inspiration of the ‘dreams-reincarnated’ theme of the play.”
Agito said that they practically changed the whole script that night and the script that was shown to the public was eventually inspired by the criticisms of their officers from Artistang Artlets.
“There’s no plan yet although we are already throwing ideas here and there,” Gatera said when asked about the plans for another production.
Meanwhile, Punla Productions’ “Eh Minsan Lang ‘Yan” was described by one of its directors, Alia Aguilar as “a comedy online theatre play about a girl named Emily, who’s having a hard time [picking] what she wants for college since she has three different passions.”
The play is inspired by the film, “Inside Out” but instead of emotions, the characters portrayed the three different ‘passions’ of Emily.
“The whole Punla Productions aims to inspire the youth to pursue what they really want in life [because] minsan ka lang pipili ng iisang desisyon na maaring mabago ang tahak ng buhay mo,” Aguilar told The Flame.
She said that there were a lot of people who found Emily’s story relatable and fun to watch, as many young people nowadays struggle to find what they want to pursue in life.
Aguilar mentioned that they had prepared for two months and rehearsed four hours every day.
“There were a lot of struggles especially when it comes to the internet connection, since that kept us together,” said Aguilar.
Despite the challenges, Aguilar said that they did not expect to be able to make it a success and “put out a real work of art.”
“All I can say is that I’m beyond proud of our work, and even more proud of my production home,” Aguilar added.
“[We want to] let the world know that theatre will not die. How theatrical plays spoke to the hearts of the audiences before can still be done at our present time,” said Aguilar.
The play had about 2,500 viewers since its live premiere.
This served as a test project for their apprenticeship for Artistang Artlets, the official theater guild of the Faculty of Arts and Letters of UST. F
