A CREATIVE WRITING alumna’s one-act play was among the works staged at the Virgin Labfest Writing Fellowship Showcase on June 28 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Black Box Theater.
Rosemarie Uy presented “Para Hindi Habulin,” which follows former classmates Ericka (Sabel Lamadrid) and Yumi (Chantel Cortez), who drifted apart after Ericka left to study abroad.
The story begins with Ericka returning to the Philippines and reconnecting with Yumi after their friend Gello took his own life.
Uy said the play drew from her own experience of grieving the loss of a friend to suicide.
“Alam ko ‘yung pakiramdam na hindi tinuturo sa ‘yo kung paano pagluksaan ang isang taong nagpakamatay. Lalo na kung hindi mo talaga alam ang rason, o kung ikaw mismo caught up ka sa sarili mong mga problema at hindi mo iniisip ang ibang tao sa buhay mo,” Uy told the Varsitarian.
(I know what it feels like when no one teaches you how to grieve someone who died by suicide, especially when you never really knew the reason, or when you yourself were caught up in your own problems and failed to think about the other people in your life.)
“And there’s no guilt. There’s no shame in having your own problems and acknowledging that we can’t all have the same ones. Minsan kulang talaga tayo sa mga mahal natin sa buhay,” she added.
(And there’s no guilt. There’s no shame in having your own problems and acknowledging that we can’t all have the same ones. Sometimes, we simply fall short for the people we love.)
Before the showcase, Uy and the other writing fellows underwent a two-week workshop on their plays under the mentorship of award-winning playwright Glenn Sevilla Mas.
Uy said the fellows were encouraged to trust the writing process by relying on their instincts rather than worrying about how audiences would receive their work.
“I love na parang ina-advise nila kami to trust the script, and to trust ourselves. Kasi, at the end of the day, ayun ‘yung pinakamalaking factor kung masusulat mo siya ng maayos, o hindi,” she said.
(I love that they encouraged us to trust the script and trust ourselves because, at the end of the day, that’s the biggest factor in whether we write it well or not.)
“Iba-iba ang reaction ng tao, and we learn to let go from that kind of fear, or anxiety, kasi what matters is that we trusted ourselves na,” she added.
(People react differently, and we learn to let go of that kind of fear or anxiety because what matters is that we trusted ourselves.)
Eight works were showcased at the 21st Virgin Labfest Writing Fellowship Program, which carried the theme “Hubo’t Hubad,” exploring inner truth and identity.
Established in 2005, the Virgin Labfest supports the production of untested and unstaged plays while developing emerging theatrical voices in the country. John Kobe S. Balod
