WEARING A LONG FACE

Friday, 12 Jan. was particularly difficult. Ian and I visited lights and sound systems for rent in Pinggan, Gasan and Malbog. Bobby L of Pinggan who helped us with "Sukat.." unfortunately had left earlier in the morning for Manila. His mother told us, however, that Bobby after "Sukat..." had invested on new lights and microphones expecting that we would return for a new project. The blacklights and par 38 lamps were all kept in a room that only Bobby had access to since there was no duplicate door key.

The man from Gasan told us that it was a losing proposition to invest in such stage lights, that he had tried it, that a once or twice-a-year need for such lights could not be feasible and that travels to and from different venues often meant damaged lights and mics. The man from Malbog said the same thing but showed us what was left of the stage lights he had made for the holding of "Miss Foundation". He said he created colors not with gels but with 'yema wrapping paper' and no one noticed the difference. He didn't have blacklights since such lights are no longer a fad in barangay dances, he said.

Obviously we needed some cash to cover expenses for additional costumes, props, snacks, tapes, cd's and for running forth and back. I typed out a brief solicitation letter signed by Ian and made 20 copies. He had earlier identified persons whom he felt would be sympathetic to the project. An early response came from Sonny Arevalo who pledged P. 500. (But Ian got too occupied with many things and got to deliver less than 10 such request letters. One gave P. 40, a few gave P. 100, another gave P. 300 - Ian's total collection was P. 1,300).

The rehearsal on Friday, 13th Jan started 1 1/2 hours late. Many among the cast were part of a cheerdance competition for secondary schools scheduled on 17th Jan and held afternoon rehearsals in their school ground. The cast was not focused and to me none appeared to have any sense of urgency. Many have not mastered their cues for exits and entrances. Ian also had difficulty playing the appropriate music for certain sequences. I made it clear to the cast that it was not my style to shout at actors or scream when things got out of hand and would stick to that policy then reminded them that active viruses (actors making unnecessary noise during rehearsal or who tend to distract others or just playing around), were still free to quit... I asked Ian to take charge of the yet to be completed run through of all sequences we had covered. ("Our director will decide after this run through if we should still pursue this dance-drama or not", Ian admonished the cast). It went surprisingly well and I couldn't hide my smile after wearing a long face the whole day. It lasted til 9:30 pm. These rehearsals were held at the Buenavista Elementary School's Friendship Hall, the only place that offered some privacy. But these rehearsals had attracted for the last couple of nights a number of curious onlookers, sometimes applauding at what they'd see...