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[damdamin-ni-margo]

10 — pagtatapos

June 23, 2021.

Today’s our watch party and last session for the semester.

It was honestly bittersweet, and believe it or not, I’ve been so excited for this session ever since because:

1. I haven’t been in synchronous sessions (that’s fun, ha) in such a long time.

2. I missed the energy of the entire class.

3. I’m stoked for my classmates’ performances!!!

Sadly, we weren’t complete, but I still was able to watch each performance and enjoyed every bit of it. If I could praise my classmates for their hard work and how well they presented and produced their ‘plays’ 24/7, I definitely would. But we were pressed for time, so I wasn’t able to voice out my comments as much I as wanted to. Which is why I’ll use this opportunity to give my comments and praises here!

Deeper Than Divide - Margs and Allie Wanted to start first with Allie and I’s performance before anything else. I wanted to say how proud and happy I am to be working and acting with Allie again, given that we’ve been partners in crime since day 1 of college. This project is really going to be memorable for us since it encapsulates what our friendship really is. I just wished we were able to squeeze and compress our content into 10 minutes just like the others, but I’d also like to believe that everything in the video was hand-in-hand and necessary to put so that the story would be complete. Overall, I’m happy with how it turned out and I enjoyed producing and watching it. I’m excited to watch this 5-10 years from now and reminisce about it.

Me and My Jowapp - Abby and Lance I have no words, sobrang galing!! Haha, super halata na hasang hasa na si Abby and Lance; it shows how well they know what they’re doing, at parang gamay na gamay na nila entire flow. I loved the graphics, I loved the thrilling and mysterious concept, and I super appreciated how unique and all out they went. They also incorporated so many challenging elements, at na-pull of nila lahat! Kudos!! 

Keiko’s Performance Hay grabe, so much emotions felt in this performance. I felt everything and related a lot in almost every scene. The concept is just so applicable to everybody, not just music majors/artists. It really is something everyone is going through, and ate Keiko perfectly representing and showing that realistically was something to applaud for. It’s also very refreshing to see ate Keiko in this light, as someone who personally knows her as the bubbly type, it’s amazing to see her do something very different from what she normally does. Galing, and as the only one working on it - super hands down!!

Caren and Luke’s Musical Performance Sobrang tuwa at aliw!! Didn’t cross my mind at all to do a musical, given that it’s so hard to do online pero naitawid nang bongga nila Caren and Luke. My eyes started to get bigger from the moment it started at lalo na siyang lumaki at bumulwak when they were singing an original?! Wala akong masabi hahaha napakagaling! I know Caren and Luke as our undergrads and it’s nice to see them shining like this, doing what they love to do the most. Ang saya kasi kitang kita sa mga mukha nila na sobrang enjoy at damang dama nila bawat salita at kanta. Galing talaga - onting tweak at add lang sa storyline, pwedeng pwede na i-produce sa big stage!! Kakaproud!

Initiating Gian.exe - Dan Simula pa lang ng sem, amazed na amazed na ako sa utak ni Dan. From the moment he showed his skills and capabilities and how his minds works when he instroduced himself to the class, to the final project of this class, in awe talaga ako of Dan. I’ve always admired theatre artists who always produces and presents somethings simple, pero sobrang laki ng impact at ang deep ng message. For this final output that he did, ganun pa rin, tuwang tuwa pa rin ako sa ginawa niya. It was well-thought of, and to be in one scene for 10 minutes, ‘tas tahing tahi lahat - super enjoy panoorin. Didn’t even feel like 10 minutes at all! I just know Dan will go far. Bravo!!

Yuka’s Performance I appreciated Yuka’s performance a lot because I got to know her better! Shows how passionate she is with sharing her life story and being able to share to the world her talents, skills and capabilities. I’m glad to be hearing more of her and what’s ahead of her, and that I’m rooting for her all the way! <3

Jinky’s Performance Heartwarming performance, as expected of ate Jinky <3 This is the type of stories you’d share online for everyone to engage in and relate to. The concept or theme she showed has been prevailing talaga in this pandemic, and the way she acted just perfectly encapsulates the heavy emotions and feelings brought about the situations and challenges that are being experienced. Super nice to see ate Jinky so good with her craft, and showing to the entire class what she’s capable of. Nakakaproud ulit, at super nakakataba ng puso makita na mga gantong storya sa mga mata ng kaklase ko. :)

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I have to say, I got excited for this session for a really meaningful and big reason!! I’m so so happy to have watched all the performances and saw the labor of love and the hard work my classmates have put in in the stories they had to share. My heart was feeling sad a bit since it was the last session, but it was even more grateful that I got to meet, interact and got to know such wonderful and talented people in the class. I got to hear their stories and what they all had to say about certain things, which gave me so much more perspectives in life. I’m so thankful for Ma’am Uleb and the entire class. This is definitely one of the most memorable classes I’ve had in this pandemic school year. Hopeful for the coming years that this class would make the same impact, if not more, once things go back to normal. Artista ng bayan, laging lumalaban!

[damdamin-ni-margo]

9 — pagkakaibigan

After the last synchronous session, it’s game time for our final project. Allison and I decided to partner up and conceptualize for our last and major output for this class. 

In all honesty, it was pretty difficult to let alone conceptualize for a short ‘play’ on video, what more in this online setting and situation. When we planned for the first time, natatawa kami palagi kasi halatang clueless kami sa ginagawa namin at sa gagawin namin. But eventually, we got the flow of our conversation and ended up with having ‘friendship’ as our third theme to complete the entire concept of our 10-minute performance. 

At first, we were tossing and turning how we can make our friendship turn out interesting, or how we can make up a specific storyline that sends out a message and also has a plot or climax in it. We first came up with ending it on a sad note, as we both know this pandemic and this entire situation was more negative than positive, but as soon as we consulted with Ma’am, we realized in the end how we didn’t need to make it hard for ourselves, and we just had to follow our friendship for what it naturally and normally is. When we knew and finally figured out what the entire flow of our story is, we started first with curating a proper and fixed outline, then working on an informal script. We chose to not have set dialogues and make it as impromptu or improvised as possible, so that we can emphasize the essence of how true our friendship is. We worked on a schedule as well and made a timeline. We also set when specific videos should be uploaded on our drive, when we should have the video calls, what videos should we take individually, and so on. 

Overall, the entire process was definitely interesting given that it’s our first time in this online setting, but at the same time, it was definitely fun and refreshing. Our theme and concept is pretty simple, but what made it enjoyable was that we were already so comfortable with each other and that we knew our dynamics as friends. This helped us a lot with how our conversations were free-flowing as we were recording our video calls. I also believe how meaningful our story is, because of the deeper meaning behind our gestures, the way we typed and the way we conversed in our video recordings. 

I’m excited to share the final output and be able to share the concept and the deeper meaning behind our video performance to the entire class. Big thanks to Ma’am Uleb for helping us complete and create something this remarkable and memorable for our friendship, and for this Theatre 131 class for giving us a chance to engage more with each other in this pandemic and making Allie and I’s friendship much stronger. :)

[damdamin-ni-margo]

8 — paghahanda

I really really liked this session! For some reason, our sessions always turn out to be fun no matter what. Sadly, we haven’t been seeing each other as often as we did in March but when do, it’s always guaranteed that it’s going to be fun, productive and eye-opening.

For this session, we started off with bringing ourselves back to time. It felt like we were all in this time machine, and each person sharing brought us with them during a time in their childhood. We had to share to the class what our most vivid memory was or what was most memorable to us when we were kids. It was such a nice way to begin the class, because it allowed us to be very open with one another and gave us a glimpse to what it’s like when my classmates were kids. I got to know their simple joys and interests, who they were with most of the time, their surroundings at the time, and so much more. It felt great to recall the happy moments I had as a kid, and remind myself of the things that made me smile back then. It was much simpler then, and the way I thought as a kid is very much different with how I do now, and how times now are just much more complex. Overall, I liked this part of the class because everything felt so refreshing and made me realize that most of us shared something similar. 

Afterwards, we did a few rounds of the game “What Are You Doing?” and I didn’t expect that this game would be so much fun. Mostly dahil sa mga tao sa class, kaya mas naging interesting. We were all being so demure and giving out simple actions for our classmates to do at first, but as we were going about the game for how many rounds, we were all starting to get crazier with the ideas and actions. I appreciated this because the development of the class’ chemistry can be seen immediately. It’s so much better then being crazy and high with the ideas at the start then completely being inconsistent about it. This activity made me much more comfortable with my classmates and I was able to have a peek with their creative and crazy minds. 

Lastly, to cap off the session, we played the game “Why Are You Late?” and honestly, as much as you’d like to think that the mechanics and whatever you have to do for it is quite simple, it’s actually not. This is when I realized that although there are many minds collaborating, sometimes it can turn chaotic when we don’t communicate with each other well or that we’re not on the same page. This can lead to misinterpretations or misunderstandings. Eventually, we were able to achieve what has to be done and in the end, we felt accomplished and enjoyed the entire activity.

The exercises or the things we did today required a lot of energy, but it was worth it. I had fun and I realized how most of the activities and games we did always just had an underlying meaning to them and how we can apply these specific learnings once we work on our final projects or when we do want to pursue theater. Every session is enjoyable and I’m so glad this is what I feel all the time. Times are tough but this class reminds me that there are many ways I can learn; in such a way that I’d still be enjoying and relaxing.

[damdamin-ni-margo]

7 — pagpahinga

After almost a week of not meeting, we finally got to have a synchronous session again. I honestly expected that we’d do some improv and strenuous exercises but thankfully, we were told that it was just going to be a relaxing, calming session. We did breathing exercises and laid down on our mats, with our eyes closed, just clearing our minds. Given the current situation, along with the heavy workload we have with our academics, there’s just so much to think and worry about. Especially for me, who found the activity so fitting because it was what I definitely needed for the week. I started the week quite badly, feeling demotivated with a lot on my plate, but I realized through this session that all I needed was to calm down and take time to breathe, rest my head and let go of all my worries. I also shared with the class that during the session, I got disconnected, and normally, I’d panic and think of it as a really big inconvenience, but because of how great the session flow was, I already instilled a relaxed and serene mindset and just brushed it off and calmly went back in the class. Afterwards, we had a few simple activities that would help us work together as a class and establish a good chemistry with one another by feeling each other even just through the Zoom meeting. Overall, the entire session was interesting and fun, and I believe, was necessary too. Helped me ease a lot of my problems. I’m quite thankful we had this session. 

[damdamin-ni-margo]

6 — pag-alam

During the Holy Week, I used the break for me to catch up on readings and also watch the videos that were shared to us in the Google Classroom. It was very insightful and interesting to be able to consume these because it felt as if I wasn’t really watching or reading for class. It felt like I was just doing it for leisure and just adding more knowledge to a hobby or have these value-adding information to a possible career I’d like to pursue in the future. Besides the readings that we had to go through, I specifically liked watching the videos, as someone who prefers visual learning. I started off watching the MonoVlog: Madame Theatre and also the podcast-type video with Aldo Vencilao on Creating Digital Performances. Watching Madame Theatre was a fun experience! Doon ko nakita kung gaano ka-natural lang mag-improv ng mga gumanap. The content was super interesting as well, because it emphasized how, yes, there is a feeling of deprivation with Theatre, that we aren’t able to perform on stage, to have live audiences, to rehearse with other cast members, and everything else in between. But, the situation is something we cannot control, so we find alternatives for this. Digital Theatre then comes into the picture, and we should be able to appreciate it and its impact on our lives. The lessons we learn as we explore digital theatre, is something we can apply in the future when we do get to perform live again. 

Another few videos I enjoyed watching were the TED Talks that focused more on improvisation. The Way of Improvisation are the type of talks that never fails to get my attention. I loved that as he was talking, it shows how excellent he is in improvisation. Each word he blurted out was nothing short of interesting, amazing, and funny. What struck me the most was the fourth rule of improvisation: to say Yes. A series of yeses will take us somewhere. I remember in one theatre workshop I attended, the word we always had to remember was plunge. Just let go, and say yes. Your co-actor said something? Receive, then give back. Tuloy lang. Because it will always go somewhere. As long as you get to contribute to the context. Something I remembered as well is to shush off that inner critic, and to stop doubting yourself. If there’s something that there was initially thought of, go for it! You may never know where it would lead to. 

As someone who’s quite intimidated with improvisation in general, it’s refreshing to receive these type of advices from these mentors I watched. They’re something I’d definitely take with me in the hopes that I get to pursue theatre in the future.

[damdamin-ni-margo]

5 — paghahanda

The session we had was pretty short. We only had to show our performative space for us to work around with whenever we’d have our synchronous sessions or when we do our final performance. I chose to have my performative space situated at our master’s bedroom, since it has a larger space and I could also pinpoint an area in the room as my backstage. Here’s a photo to visualize properly: 

Ever since classes started, I chose to have my space here so I can freely move around and not be cramped up in the other room which is smaller. I’m pretty excited with what kind of magic I’ll be doing or simple productions or performances I’ll be doing in the future with this space. It’s limited, yes, but we’ll definitely work with what we have. Hopefully digital theater will progress and be more appreciated as it is what’s most accessible to us now. May this space help me grow as an actor and help me think outside of the box all the time and just let go.

[damdamin-ni-margo]

4 — pag-alala

After about three sessions together, I knew it was time to do a few simple improv exercises. For this session, we had to say our names as we do a simple movement. We have to say the names while doing the movements of the people before us. So kung bandang huli, medyo lugi o mahirap kasi marami pang i-mememorize. I didn’t worry too much because luckily enough, I do know that I am quite good with memorizing names! GOOD FOR ME! Joke haha. I think it’s also because I was used to doing this activity a couple of times in the past so I know how it goes more or less. Overall, it was a fun experience seeing all of us enjoy and try to find ways as to how we can remember the names and the movements. Makikita sa bawat video frame, may nagmumuble ng name habang pinapractice ‘yung movement. Kanya-kanyang strategy talaga. For me, inulit ulit ko lang habang ginagawa ng mga tao before me. Gumana naman. Masaya siya because even if the main purpose of it was to practice having to memorize in general, I still was able to get to know my classmates. And I think that’s the best part! May nabuo akong alaala sa pag-aalala. :)

[damdamin-ni-margo]

3 — pagkilala

For our second week in Theatre 131, we met with each other and got the chance to watch each other’s introduction videos. Sabi ni Ma’am Nieto, ito paboritong linggo niya tuwing classes kasi magkakakilala na ang bawat isa through our videos. I have to agree, that so far, ito na paboritong linggo ko. (Wow, kung makapagsalita, eh dalawang linggo pa lang naman?!?!)

I enjoyed so much throughout the two sessions we had for week 2. We spent the time just watching each other’s creative videos and it was fun to learn more about the class and their cute ideas to introduce themselves. Besides watching and getting to know more of my classmates, I enjoyed engaging with them through the Zoom chat and supporting the one who’s presenting. We gave comments as well after the presentation which was also interesting because we got a glimpse of how each person critiques when we all gave feedbacks to one another. Positive feedbacks muna, of course. 

Based from all the videos I’ve watched, overall, I’m expecting such a fun and diverse class. I feel like we’ll all be able to jive with each other, in one way or another. All our personalities seem so flexible and interesting, and I’m excited how our relationship as a class will manifest and reflect in how we act and deliver and go through the entire process of learning the art of theatre.

I’m really looking forward to see more of each person in the class and get to know their acting styles and how we’ll all progress. As I said in my first blog entry, I’ve always loved theatre and acting in general, and to be able to ace and hone this skill would be an absolute dream come true. I believe reaching this dream little by little, along with people who are supportive and trusting, won’t be impossible. I’m hoping some of these people are coming from this class. :)

[damdamin-ni-margo]

2 — pag-umpisa

For my diagnostic performance video, I wrote a song to ~creatively~ introduce myself! 

In all honesty, I’ve been tossing and turning around as to how I can actually make a creative introduction video; but as soon as I picked up the ukulele, I figured that writing a song and introducing myself in the lyrics would work best.

Lo and behold, I enjoyed writing, singing and doing the video overall. I was just experimenting with different chords and tried to put in some basic and interesting information about myself and made up an entire melody.

I think it’s fun to be able to explore a lot of things even in the simplest ways. ‘Di ko rin inexpect na I’ll end up just making up a song and find joy in it...and be completely LSS to it right after recording. 

I realized that while these lyrics could be so basic and simple, at least it’s what I get to call mine! It was fun playing around with the words and feeling them in front of the camera. :)

Here’s the lyrics of “Ako”! 

Gumawa ako ng kanta  Para ako'y inyong mas makilala 'Di ko naman 'to pahahabain Kaya't makinig at alamin Alamin na CHORUS: Ako'y si Margo Edad ko ay bente uno Ako'y isang musiko Sa kantang ito ay mas makikilala niyo 'ko Mahilig akong kumanta ('di pa ba halata) Mahilig akong mag-piano't gitara (ukelele na rin!) Mahilig akong kumain (maliban sa mais) Mahilig akong makinig sa kwento't musika Mahilig akong magtrabaho (orgwork o internship man 'to) Mahilig akong manood ng kung anu-ano Masasabi kong ako'y matiyaga, maalagain at masipag  Marunong makisama, at matatag CHORUS: Ako'y si Margo Ako'y na sa harap ninyo Ako'y isang simpleng tao Sa kantang ito ay mas nakilala niyo 'ko OUTRO: Salamat sa pakikinig Sana'y nagustuhan niyong himig Na aking binuo Madami pang gustong sabihin Pero sa susunod na lang na panahon Oh, ako

Here’s the link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9_pvY98e94

[damdamin-ni-margo]

1 — pag-arte

Bata pa lang ata, nahihilig na ako sa pag-arte sa iba’t ibang paraan. Tulad na lang ng pagi-impersonate ng mga kamag-anak ko tuwing reunion. O kaya makikisali sa mga skit ng mga bata sa school. Sasali sa mga malilitt at simpleng roleplay tuwing may klase. 

Nakikita ko siya bilang kasiyahan at isang paraan para makapagbahagi ng mga emosyon. Masayang matuto ng iba’t ibang mga karakter. Na-enjoy kong magpakitang gilas at maging confident sa harap ng mga tao. Kahit na kinatutuwa ko ang pag-arte in general, minsan naman, syempre, kinakabahan talaga ako’t lalo na’y ‘di biro ang umarte. Madalas ay kakailanganin mong mag-isip nang mabuti kapag kailangang improv ang gagawin. Kailangan ay mabilis din ang pagiintindi sa bawat kagalawan sa entablado. Mahirap din talaga umarte maliban sa masaya itong gawin.

Naniniwala akong patuloy lang na proseso ang pag-aarte. Hindi siya one time big time na makukuha mo lahat, o gagaling ka agad. Minsan kasi, sa dami na ring pinanonood, naiisip ko na, “Ay ang dali lang.”, o kaya, “Ah, kaya ko ‘to.”, pero tuwing susubukan nang gawin, hindi siya tulad sa kung ano ang lumalabas sa pinanonood natin. May mahaba at madugong proseso, praktis at passion na kasama rito. 

Sana sa klaseng ito, ay madama at matuto kong mahalin ang proseso ng pag-aarte. Na sana ay mas makilala ko pa at intindihin ang bawat gawain para maabot at makamit ang nakakapaniwala at magaling na pag-aarte.