The open-air Maquiling Performance Garden in the University of the Philippines-Los Baños once again becomes a venue for theater performances with the staging of the German postmodern masterpiece “Offending the Audience,” written by Peter Handke, in a Filipino translation by UPLB faculty of literature and young playwright Om Narayan Velasco, under the direction of Joey Ting.
Ting, a director for theater, television and film, serves as the artistic director of Tanghalan, the newly formed theater laboratory arm of UPLB Samasining, a nonstock, nonprofit arts organization under the the UPLB Department of Humanities that seeks to promote, develop and institutionalize arts-related projects in the field of theater, dance, music, visual arts, film and literature among UPLB students and faculty members.
“Offending the Audience” is meant as an antiplay, a piece of antitheater. Audience members are challenged to embark on reorientation, reassessment and reevaluation with a unique staging that intersperses Philippine rituals such as the Taephag of Mindanao practiced by the Manobo tribe (Agusanon Manobo), Pangalay of Mindanao practiced by Tausug tribe in Sulu Province, Pabukas of Visayas (Hiligaynon, Iloilo) and Sanghiyang (Sayaw sa Apoy) of Luzon in Alfonso, Cavite. The play traces the origins of Philippine theater to these largely forgotten rituals and ceremonies.
The artistic team includes UPLB faculty-mentors and artists Kulay Labitigan (production design), Rudyard Pesimo (choreography), Toto De La Cruz (dramaturgy), Eljay Sanidad (managing direction) and student-artists Yuri Sta. Maria (sound) and Kian Beltran (original music). The cast is made up of UPLB student-actors.
“Offending the Audience” is presented by the UPLB Department of Humanities under the overall supervision of Dr. Leonora Fajutagana, together with Tanghalan of UPLB Samasining under the artistic direction of Joey Ting.
Performances are on Nov. 19, 20 and 21, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Audience members are encouraged to bring an extra shirt.
For tickets, call audience and development head Aaron Nazario 0917-8205883.
