schoolscolleges2020 hed news

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MINDANAO EXTRA VIRGIN LABFEST. From L-R: Anito Librando Jr (artistic director), Jay Rhen Galagnara (as Jerome), Camille Suarez (Stage Manager), Dr Reynards Tan (as Fr Romero), Reil Benedict Obinque (playwright), and Jet Hokin Paclar (artistic director) take a pose after staging a one-act play during the Mindanao Extra Virgin Labfest. Supplied photo. 

Considered as a first of its kind in Mindanao, the Extra Virgin Labfest 2019 held last December 4-7, 2019 brought theater artists, directors, and playwrights together and put up productions reflecting that of “Mindanao voices, experiences and expressions of imagination, lore and realities.”

The festival boasts of its staging of nine plays at the Rodelsa Hall making the event a part of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 50th Anniversary.

Xavier Ateneo Junior High School’s Jet Hokin Paclar and Anito Librando Jr were invited to co-direct “Act of Contrition” by Reil Benedict Obinque. Paclar has experience in directing and acting in several school plays and performances and taught theater performance to junior high school while Librando has also assisted students in staging their class school plays and served as musical director for The Xavier Stage.

Obinque is a graduate of Ateneo de Davao University and a member of the Davao Writers’ Guild and a fellow to Iligan and Siliman University National Writers Workshop. The one act play has two characters with theater enthusiast and Xavier Ateneo alumnus Dr Reynards Tan (BS Biology 2002) playing as Fr Romero and Student Activities and Leadership Development (SACDEV) program coordinator Jay Rhen Galagnara as young man Jerome. Camille Suarez (AB Interdisciplinary Studies) served as the production’s stage manager. Obinque’s work looks into the plight of a young man as he tries to resolve a troubled past with that of an acquainted confessor.

The festival’s selection panel includes Palanca awardee German Gervacio, Steven Prince Fernandez of the Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG), and The Xavier Stage's founding director Hobart Savior.

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MINDANAO EXTRA VIRGIN LABFEST. Anito Librando Jr (left) and Jet Hokin Paclar (right) receive their congratulatory leis after the staging of their production. Supplied photo.   

Set A comprised plays from Gil Nambatac’s “Si Balaw ug ang Lablab sa Palawpao” directed by Ronald Rivera, Darren Bendanillo’s “Banga” directed by Cipriano ‘Zip’ de Guzman and Norman Ralph Isla’s “Daan Papunta, Daang Pabalik” directed by Pepito Sumayan.

Set B included Lendz Barinque’s “Ang Mga Babae sa Kusina” directed by JC Salon, Jim Raborar’s “Bulan” directed by Josey Rex ‘Tat’ Soriano, and Aldren Alferez’s “Crystal Clear” directed by Maia Fortich-Poblete.  

“Act of Contrition” was part of Set C together with Angelo Dabbay’s Pultahan directed by Hobart Savior and Karlwinn Paitan’s “Unsay Koneksyon sa Iring?” directed by Felimon Blanco.

Festival director and dramaturg Hobart Savior considered the festival a viable opportunity to optimize Mindanao’s artistic resources and to “establish a promising, strong and united theater community” as reflected through the collaborative efforts of the nine directors, fifty actors and forty-five production staff. 

“The experience made me feel proud of the flourishing theater scene in the Cagayan de Oro City,” according to Jet Hokin Paclar, artistic director of Act of Contrition. “It also made me proud to be part of a community that is working for the preservation and promotion of culture and arts in Mindanao.”

Extra Virgin Labfest 2019: Untried, Untested Unstaged Plays was made possible by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Liceo Office of Cultural Affairs (LOCA).