STORY adaptation serves as translation and commissioned work, often requiring a departure from the original text to draw new audiences in evolving times.
Vladimeir Gonzales, director of Likhaan: UP Institute of Creative Writing and a Palanca-winning author, said playwrights must consider how audiences experience time within the narrative.
“‘Yong esensya ng adaptation work ay parang pagtukoy ng ano ‘yong mga outdated na. Balikan natin, mag-appreciate din ng [kung] ano ‘yong mga nag-work at promising, at i-develop from the existing work,“ he said in a seminar on Feb. 6.
Gonzales stressed the need to highlight crucial elements, including clear timelines, defined spaces and actions that propel conflict, in the adaptation of books into plays.
“Ang kailangan tandaan, paano magiging meaningful at enjoyable at the same time ‘yong experience ng isang tao, na mula sa pagbabasa ay [magiging manonood] ng actual na characters na nagpe-perform sa isang physical stage,” Gonzales told the Varsitarian.
Gonzales said playwriting involves testing whether an idea could be sustained throughout the entire production and revising it when necessary.
In most commissioned adaptations, guidance from the commissioners helps set the initial focus for the playwright, he said.
“May considerations pa rin sa original, tapos ‘yong pag-create ng kahulugan at pagtatawid ng kahulugan ay p’wedeng ipagkatiwala rin ng playwright doon sa kanyang audience,” said Gonzales.
He urged creative writing students to view adaptation as an act of creative assertion.
In 2015, Gonzales was given the Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature in Dulaang May Isang Yugto (one-act play) for his play “Mal.”
He is a professor of creative writing, literature, and popular culture at the University of the Philippines.
Gonzales’ lecture, titled “Adaptasyon ng Dula: Praktika at Pananaw,” was part of the “Authors on Demand” series organized by the Department of Creative Writing.
This marked the first of five sessions in the topical discussion series meant to highlight career opportunities for creative writing majors. David Nigel C. Co and Charlize Ann D. Lavastida
