Award-winning Filipino actors will reprise their various roles on the featured stage productions of “Pista Rizalina: A Festival of Arts and Ideas,” happening from September 8 to September 28, at the various CCP theaters.
Cinemalaya 2017 Best Actress Angeli Bayani, together with actors JC Santos, Jackie Lou Blanco and Cherry Pie Picache, return to “Buwan at Baril in EÞ Major,” a play that tells the stories of various characters – a worker, a priest, a socialite, a wife and a police officer – whose lives are seemingly separate yet intersect at a crucial juncture in Philippine contemporary history, the height of the anti-dictatorship struggle. The production was written by Chris Millado, and directed by Andoy Ranay.
Actor Yul Servo, who was last featured in Cinemalaya’s Kiko Boksingero, stars in “Isang Araw sa Karnabal,” a funny but poignant play about two former activists who both with missing loved ones, meeting again after a long time and attempting to mend broken ties. Directed by Chris Millado, based on the script by Nick Pichay, the film also stars actress Sheenly Vee Gener.
Veteran actor Bembol Roco, with actresses Sherry Lara and Lhorvie Nuevo, will have a repeat performance of “Maliw,” another featured theater production. Written by Ruel Molina Aguila, and directed by Chris Millado, the play shows how a mother confronts the reality five years after the forced-disappearance of her eldest daughter.
From several days of immersion trips and interviews of families and people involved come “Tao Po,” composed of four monologues that address the issue of EJK (extrajudicial killings), as portrayed by actress Mae Paner who is popularly known as Juana Change.
In this production written by Maynard Manansala and directed by Ed Lacson Jr., Juan Change gives life to different characters – a Zumba instructor haunted by her husband and son, both victims of summary killings, a photographer whose sanity is questioned by the newspaper that employs him, a man living a double life as a policeman sworn to uphold the law and as a hitman paid to violate it, and a young girl paying tribute to EJK victims haphazardly buried in the notorious Tokhang Wall. Interspersed in these monologues, Juana Change shares her personal insights and reflections on the process of these interviews and research.
Other plays featured at Pista Rizalina include: National Artists F. Sionil Jose’s “Pragres,” directed by JK Anicoche featuring the PHSA Student Ensemble, Rody Vera’s “Indigo Child” directed by Jose Estrella featuring Skyzx Labastilla and Rafael Tibayan, Bonifacio Ilagan’s “Pagsambang Bayan The Musical” directed by Joel Lamangan, Nicanor Tiongson’s “Aurelio Sedisyoso” (a season production of Tanghalang Pilipino), and “Bata, Banta, Bantay, Tayo, Tayog, Bantayog” by the PHSA Student Ensemble.
There will also be a film screening of Aureaus Solito’s “Pisay,” Joel Lamangan’s “Sigwa,” Chito Roño’s “Dekada ‘70,” Mike de Leon’s “Sister Stella L,” and Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil’s “Indigo Child.” GMA documentaries “Busal,” “Alaala,” and “Ilaw ng Marawi” will also be shown.
Livestream Talkbacks, with the playwrights, directors, a cast of the plays, thought leaders and audiences as well as with directors, writers, and cast of the films, will happen after every screening.
Pista Rizalina also features a Festival of Art Works, Public Conversation, Interactive exhibit and Flash performances. Other events include a guest kulintangan ensemble and the Aga Mayo Butocan, master kulintang player, to name some. There will also be a live streaming of the community re-enactment of the Escalante Massacre to be mounted by the Escalante community and the Negros Theater League.
“Pista Rizalina: A Festival of Arts and Ideas” is the new festival of the CCP that engages the arts with current social, political, cultural issues. The festival selects a particular artistic expression as the main platform and engages it with a topic of urgency, relevance or potentially high engagement with the public.
Named after a young activist who was arrested by unidentified men in July 1977 during the Marcos regime, Pista Rizalina brings together artists and thought leaders in conversation with the public to map out the terrain of issues and stimulate a public discourse in the most participative, accessible and creative way.
