Article by: Kristin Clarisse H. Mateo
Graphics by: Albert Dylan D. David
Along with fifteen theater groups from other universities, the Mapúa Tekno Teatro will be participating in the second installment of the Teatro Europa theater festival on August 14, 2021, via Facebook Live, performing a classical play by John Millington Synge entitled “Riders to the Sea”.
According to Mapúa Tekno Teatro External Vice President Ken Carlo B. Aguila, the main purpose of the Teatro Europa, organized by the European Union Delegation to the Philippines with the European Member States’ Embassies and Cultural Centers, was to “to share the European culture to the Philippines” by encouraging local universities to perform classic European plays.
Presenting an Irish drama originally published in the early 1900s, Aguila shared that their adviser, Mr. Dennis N. Marasigan, chose “Riders to the Sea” as the emotions and sentiments portrayed in the piece were close to that of Filipinos’ current feelings and experiences. The classical play was about a mother who grieves the loss of her sons whenever they set sail to the sea.
“Naging mirror siya sa sentiments ng Filipino[s] with regards to the ongoing pandemic, ang pangangailangan natin[g] makalabas ng bahay at ma-expose sa nakakamatay na virus mirrors ‘yung pag sakay ng mga sons sa boat,” the Mapúan theater performer shared.
Aguila, who is also the Production Manager of the play, mentioned that they have been preparing for the performance since June, through thorough script analysis to understand the play, the characters, and the historical context of the piece. After which, they moved on to the actual rehearsals. He added that they opted to do a pre-recorded video performance as internet connection problems may be experienced if it were presented live.
Despite the group’s challenge to transition to online mode, Aguila shared that they were able to surpass it through a particular schedule for rehearsals in the morning and video recording of their 20-minute performance in the evening, close to midnight.
Watch Mapúa Tekno Teatro’s livestream performance of the Irish play “Riders to the Sea” by John Millington Synge on the official Facebook page of the Teatro Europa on August 14, 2021, at 11:00 AM. The first rerun of the performance will be on September 6 while the second replay will be on September 20.