Artistang Artlets Archives

Sep162022 by No Comments

‘This is our time’: Theater orgs perform on stage for the first time since the pandemic

Culture

by SAMANTHA Z. ARGONZA THE CURTAINS have finally opened. Artistang Artlets (AA) and Mediartrix return on stage as they welcomed the juniors and sophomores to the university-wide Homecoming event. This lauds their first live in-person performance since the pandemic happened. The applause and drumbeats inside the Quadricentennial Pavilion (QPAV) last August 23rd muted the heavy spatter of rain. Gleaming with the spotlight, the performers stood on the platform as the ocean of lights surrounded them like waves as if it was a cordial greeting solely meant for them. The homecoming “It’s unbelievable because we did not expect it,” Alea Loquinario, a performer from AA said. She said that it was a huge leap for their organization to be invited to the event as they were used...

May272021 by No Comments

Hanggang Sa Muli: Testing Strengths

Literary

By FATIMA B. BADURIA THE ILLNESSES of society can be the roots of appalling personal adversaries. Normally, when these problems attack, one would devise a counterblow. However, if the enemy possesses formidable strength, running away can be the only option. Even building defenses may prove to be futile in the face of an extremely powerful foe: death. Nonetheless, the shields are upheld in disparate ways. Hanggang Sa Muli, in its account of a world about to reach its expiration, exhibits the defenses set by a group of friends as they escape into a video game. As a major production directed by Jan Ivan Gondola and written by Claire Arianne Sundiang and Muriel Gwyn Fernandez, Artistang Artlets sets a storyline of an imagined future while retaining relevance to the pre...

Mar132021 by No Comments

Kisapmata: Mga Boses ng Kamalayan

Literary

By ABIGAIL M. ADRIATICO & DAWN DANIELLE D. SOLANO ANG UTAK ay may makapangyarihang papel sa pang araw-araw na pamumuhay ng tao. Pinamamahayan ito ng sari-saring boses na tumutulong upang maintindihan ang mga hindi inaasahang kaganapan sa kaniyang kapaligiran. Bagama’t ito ay nakadisenyo ayon sa kaniyang pangangailangan, maaari pa rin itong talaban ng mga panandaliang pagkakataon ng panghihina o pagkabalisa na siyang nagdudulot ng kaguluhan sa isipan. Sa panunulat at direksyon ni Sophia Eugenio, ang dulang Kisapmata ay tungkol sa istorya ni Alex, isang estudyanteng binabagabag ng mga boses sa kaniyang isipan. Hango sa teorya ni Sigmund Freud ukol sa pag-iisip ng mga tao, nabigyang katauhan ang id, ego, at superego sa pamamagitan ng mga boses ng konsiyensiya ni Alex n...

Nov62020 by No Comments

COVID 19 Virologues: Staging the Societal Plague

Literary

By FATIMA B. BADURIA & RAMON CHRISTIAN G. PLACIDO A COMMON enemy threatens the globe that preys on mankind. It is transmitted through physical contact, thus restricting close proximity. However, the virus proves to be more powerful than anticipated. Seemingly, masks, face shields, and disinfectants cannot obstruct its more profound contamination in society. Without prior notice, it creeps into the core of humanity and people’s principles. This notion is portrayed in COVID 19 Virologues, a set of nineteen monologues written by the Artistang Artlets alumni and directed by Bong Figueroa. Each monologue revolves around the societal equivalents of COVID-19 that deprave the ethics of humankind. The play was held via Zoom from Oct.31 to Nov. 1 and was live-streamed on Artistang Artl...

Nov202019 by No Comments

Kalayò: Bridging the Gaps

Literary

By RY PHILIP JACO T. GALVAN DISTANCE IS measured by how far two bodies or objects are apart. For the romantics, it is measured by how close hearts are to one another. Regardless, distance becomes a mere construct when both parties fight for love together. In their 39th season, Artistang Artlets proves that they are truly limitless by tackling the underrated importance of levels in their double-bill play, Kalayò. The play features the stories Isang Buwan Isang Araw and Pagdadalaga, both of which were directed by Voltaire Avendaño and discussed an underlying topic of distance and connection. Isang Araw Isang Buwan Written by Ivan Gordola, the play tells the story of two star-crossed lovers, Luna (Alyssa Paredes) and Paul (Hans Kho), who meet in a dating site and try ...

Mar122019 by No Comments

Sa Muling Pagkikita: No Comfort in Closure

Literary

By CORHEINNE JOYCE B. COLENDRES IN THE grand scale of certain journeys, one will always feel a specific kind of ease in finally figuring out the finality of things. No matter how tasking, however, people easily forget the importance of the process and the journey itself; instead, they like to focus on the results, on the ending. Some find it more comforting to be able to reach the destination without actually taking the entire route. Despite this, one must realize that some endings are never truly uplifting. Directed by Robert Villanueva and Fenichi Lozada and staged by Likhang Laya in partnership with Artistang Artlets, Sa Muling Pagkikita features an anthology of plays that proves how reaching the end of a journey does not always provide the necessary conclusion—how we do not alway...

Sep272018 by No Comments

Cleaners: Art against Oppression

Literary

By RYAN PIOLO U. VELUZ FROM the arid scrubs stroking the surface of the dusty floor, a strident sound shrouds the quarters of Ms. Dimaguiba’s classroom. Heightened by the boisterous conversation of the cleaners, the room transforms into an arena of juvenile arguments and mischievous plays. However, the blaring echoes are suddenly muted when the cadavers are exposed from the classroom’s cupboard. Written and directed by Jhudiel Clare Sosa, Cleaners is a play about a group of students and their regular cleaning sessions that turn into a plan on how to eliminate the biggest dirt in their classroom: the corpses of their classmates. After discussing possible methods to effectively solve the problem, Irish and her friends decide that they must address the root of the bloodshed by killi...

May52016 by 2 Comments

Artistang Artlets’ Pendulum: A Review

Literary

TIME IS the indefinite continued progression of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future. However, Pendulum seeks to let the audience think otherwise. Fascinated by the concept of time, writer Rani Mae Aberin attempted to reconcile Cronus, the god of time in Greek mythology, with the modern era. She revealed a god who intervenes with the linear motion of time. He halts time and allows the past to catch up. As he trains a student to be his rightful heir, the next in line to help the mortals proceed to the future, he was in awe by the struggles of the youth faces today. The play had three settings carefully arranged in one spacious stage with the mood set through stage lighting. Any change of color and the...