DrameFest on its 32nd Year!

Last March 2, 2007 at exactly 6:30 pm, the DramaFest was held in the University of the Philippines High School Open Stage. This is an annual event which is awaited by students, faculty, parents, guests and most especially the UP Alumni. This year, UP High is celebrating its 32^nd DramaFest. It became a highlight during that night because aside from its nice weather, the stories were portrayed excellently by the actors and actresses of the different productions. There were only two productions that competed with each other, the Quevedo Productions and the TAnikala Productions. The Quevedo Productions was the production name of Section Gonzales whrerein Euvic FErrer was their Production Manager while Jann Krystel del Mar was their director. On the other hand, Tanikala Productions was the production name of Section Tan wherein RAzel Paldo was the production manager while Artsron Sumabong was the director. Before the start of the event, the performers were not only the ones who were scared of the output of their effort but also the people behind the excellent interpretatioin of the different stories. The two productions were very early and very busy preparing for the start of the event. The technicals, sounds and lights were tested to make sure that they function when its their turn to perform.

Who is behind this big event that all people are waiting for? It’s none other than Dr. Primitivo Ereno who is behind this main event that is usually celebrated during the Fourth Grading Period of the Fourth Years. Before this event, the Seniors were first exposed to Ensemble Acting which is the ABAKADA, the evolution of the Philippine culture, that is celebrated during the Communication Arts Week. For Fourth Periodical Exam, this genius man, let us choose from two options whether it will be an exam or a through a production which is the DramaFest. We, ourselves, chose DramaFest for we don’t want pressure during the Examination Week. Our effort was very fruitful for it gained a lot of good comments from the jurors. It was polished since we had the Critique’s Night wherein we had a lot of flaws in our presentation.

The first to present was the Tanikala Production, which was my production group, with a play entitled, “Bulag” which is a script written by one of the UP students of batch 1990 who was Anna Lee Loquinario. We had to perform the play twice because of the some technical errors especially the House Lights. During the second performance, although the House Lights was not that good, it was well presented because you can really feel the intense emotions of the characters portrayed. I was one of the characters of the story. My role was a squatter. Unfortunately, during the second turn of our presentation, I broke the bottle which caused danger to the characters during that scene. One of the main characters cried in the play because of the trauma he experienced when the bottle broke. After the presentation, it was applauded by the audiences and we can say that it is all worth it. The last part was so intense and was emphasized by Gayle who portrayed one of the main characters of the story when she said the word, “BULAG, BULAG. BULAG!”.

The second to present was the Quevedo Productions with a short story entitled, “Sa Ngalan ng Ama”. The short story was written by a scriptwriter. The story was all about a family which was under a militaristic rule of the father. The father was so strict, disciplined and always on the time. The members of the family had been always following the old system of the “padre de pamilya” until one of his son joined the rebel because of his care for the rebels because these rebels had also the same principle as that of the son. It was so happened that these rebels are the major enemies of his father. During their confrontation, words cannot just explain the reason of the son. It came to a point where all of the family members expressed what is their feeling on the harsh dictatorship of the father. This moment cause the death of the son. This story was full of emotion because I saw some parents who cried because of the presentation.

All I can say that our DramaFest is worth striving for. All our efforts was satisfied when the awards were given. The technical awards went to the Quevedo Productions while those on the Major Awards were grabbed by the Tanikala Productions. Once again, we thank everyone who believed that we can do this tough job and also to our parents as well who understood us whenever we arrived late at home. We are hoping for another fruitful DramaFest next year!