Communitas 2010 Issue for PDF File.pmd - University of San Agustin

June 2010
THE USA Little Theater (USALT)
once again brought the University of
San Agustin to the national scene by
staging “Tarangban” at the Cultural
Center of the Philippines (CCP) and
at the College of St. Benilde-De la
Salle University Manila (CSB-
DLSU) on February of this year.
For the first time in its 35-years
of existence, the USALT performed
in said venues, coinciding with the
National Arts Month celebration.
The theater group performed
“Tarangban” as a participant to the
14 th Tanghal National University and
College Theater Festival and
Conference at the CSB-DLSU from
1-5 February 2010. The play was
then re-staged by the Augustinian
performers at the CCP on 7
February as an official entry to the
2010 Pasinaya CCP Open House
Festival.
The play was written by Edward
Divinagracia, former USALT Artistic
Director, based on Dr. Isidoro
Cruz’s Palanca award-winning poem
which was inspired by Panay’s
indigenous Bukidnon tribe.
Accompanying the USALT
members in their week-long
performance tour in Manila were
Artistic Director Edison Sicad,
former Executive Director Eric
Divinagracia, several alumni of the
USALT and Stage One Company, as
well as local musicians who
performed the music of the play.
Despite initial difficulties in
raising funds for the Manila tour, the
theater group’s performances earned
positive reviews, as printed in the
national broadsheet, The Philippine
Daily Inquirer. In the article titled
“Theater of the young, the here and
now” by Walter Ang and dated 18
March 2010, the USALT’s
CULTURE AND ARTS Communitas 33
USALT in nat’l arts fest
performance was referred to as a
“damned good show.”
In his write-up, Ang elaborated:
“The show was great fun. There was
adventure, a search for love, magic,
monsters, battles. The chanting (by
members of the Panay Bukidnon
Society) throughout the tight show
added a unique aural texture; the
rousing music and sound design was
exhilarating.” (The Augustinian/
UCRP)