NOT EVEN rain would stop the wildfire that was the UST Graduate School Academic Theater (GSAT) in the 14th Keochang International Festival of Theater in Korea last August.
The GSAT’s performance in the festival was a milestone for UST and Philippine theater as a whole. It was the first time that UST was represented in an international drama festival and the first time that the country was invited to participate in the prestigious festival.
The GSAT, which performed Nick Joaquin’s Portrait of the Artist as Filipino for the first time abroad, was the sole representative of the Philippines and Southeast Asia. Out of 101 entries, the guild was one of 34 entries selected to perform in the festival. The foreign entries were there to exhibit while the Korean Drama groups were there to compete.
GSAT is known for mounting Portrait, so as a prerequisite, necessary documents related to the play including videotapes, the script, and pictures were submitted to the organizers. Finally, they were selected to perform under the direction of Naty Crame Rogers.
The theater groups were instructed to perform regardless of the theater conditions. At first, the small open-air amphitheater was jampacked until it started to rain hard, leaving barely 10 people in the audience, including the festival’s executive director, Jong Il Lee, who watched the play from start to finish despite the cruel weather. According to Fr. Antonio Aureada O.P.,Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and GSAT founder, a Korean national artist who was there all throughout was amazed with the performance and could only say, “Russia was the best, until you came.”
“Because of our excellent performance, the organization is granting one scholarship to a UST undergraduate who would like to excel in drama. They will take care of everything for four years until he/she graduates with a degree in drama. We’re just waiting for the official negotiation regarding this particular issue,“ Fr. Aureada, said.
Aside from that, the organizers will invite UST every year for free. “We’ll send other drama groups and even the Salinggawi and others. I think it will be better if we perform ethnic productions this time, like dances, “ Fr. Aureada added.
The GSAT has been mounting Portrait ever since the guild’s inception in 1998, in tune with the diamond anniversary of the Graduate School. The guild has already performed outside Metro Manila in Bicol and La Union. The guild is expecting other invitations abroad like Singapore and the United States. “I really want to join a competition this time,” Fr. Aureada said.
“What is important is we made a mark in the consciousness of the Koreans and we were able to penetrate the market and create a noise and after that it spread like wildfire,” Fr. Aureada proudly said.
