Composed of some of the most distinguished alumni of Artistang Artlets, the resident theater group of the University of Santo Tomas’ College of Arts and Letters, AA Lab is a group of theater stalwarts and enthusiasts organized to create “a laboratory for theatrical experimentation in creating alternative ways to perform without the presence of the physical stage.”
True to the group’s vision, they are taking to the virtual stage this weekend to present Covid 19 Virologues, an online play that director Bong Figueroa describes as “a compendium of original monologues that reflect the collective sentiments of amateur Filipino artists on the transmission and effects of Covid-19.”
The pandemic may have taken away a lot of things from a lot of people including the ability to perform before a live audience for artists and entertainers. But if the 19 compelling monologues of this online play are anything to go by, creativity is the one thing that no natural or man-made disaster can ever take away from those involved in the performing arts.
In staging Covid 19 Virologues, AA Lab considers the ongoing pandemic as “the first global experience of magnitude since the World Wars–the great shared misery of our time.”
“With singular experiences come collective sentiments. Filipinos reaching out to each other across worldwide borders of quarantine…this is the story of a handful of amateur Filipino poets and actors from all over the world coming together. In isolation from family and friends, reaching out, connecting and creating this incredible collaboration over the digital space,” the group further noted.
It all began when Artistang Artlets technical director (c. 1992) Carol Gancia, now based in San Francisco, led a COVID-19 virtual reunion over Zoom with some of the group’s alumni. The initial online get together led to regular meets that include table reading of scripts.
Two of the group’s alumnus, Chicago-based Jay Españo and Manila-based Bong Figueroa, eventually came up with materials worth staging in the virtual platform. One is Sundowning, Españo’s one-act play adaptation of his own short film screenplay and Figueroa’s Covid 19 Virologues, which ultimately shaped up to be a collaborative writing project consisting of monologues about the ongoing pandemic.
It was Izzai Monasterio-Tejedor, AA artistic director (c. 1989) who articulated the idea of “a live performance of a one-act theater play on a virtual stage.” Two months later, Sundowning was successfully staged online with “a cast and crew across five time zones from Southeast Asia, Oceania and North America,” all coordinated by Monasterio-Tejedor from Los Angeles.
Covid 19 Virologues was a tad more ambitious since it not only involves the aforementioned 19 monologues, eight writers and a cast and crew of 30 AA members dating back to the 1980s.
“We are, for all intents and purposes, creating an oral history of the pandemic through a curated set of monologues. Each unique piece will be interpreted theatrically, with every live performance pushing the boundaries of creativity within the rectangular stage that is Zoom. One can say that our small crew is pushing the limits of what is possible, and exploring digital theatre in the global stage,” Figueroa further explained.
Divided into three parts namely Pagpapakilala (introduction), Pagpapa-alala (reminder) and Paghahasik (spread), Covid 19 Virologues is scheduled to be performed at the Facebook page of AA Lab on October 31, 10AM Manila Time (October 30, 7PM Pacific Time) and November 1, 10AM Manila Time (October 31, 7PM Pacific Time).