MANILA, Philippines — Like most young people, today’s young actors are equally distracted. Tending to do a lot more than just theatre, they actually do it all!

“There’s a lot of interest but young people have a lot of distractions. In the ‘80s, they had limited things to do, it was only theater for most kids.

Now, there are so many options, everyone wants to be in showbiz. So they either want to be a host, DJ, model, sing, dance. That takes away the focus,’’ says Audie Gemora, veteran theater actor, director, and producer.

This is a cause for worry for Gemora and fellow veteran theater artists. They think about the future of Philippine theatre and who would be left to continue after their generation.

“It worries us, bihira ‘yung lumilitaw na puwedeng magmana sa posisyon namin. Menchu Lauchengco and I would sometimes sit and say, ‘Okay, who’s going to replace us?’ We always wonder.

Does it mean that today’s generation is less talented? No, it’s not that there are less talent, they’re just defocused because of too many distractions,” he says.

The lack of focus also stems from the fact that theater actors also delve into television, film, and recording, something that Gemora will not deride the actors for.

“Actors do not make money by doing theatre alone. That is why they have sidelines here and there. And it is also becoming normal for television and film actors to cross over to theater, which is actually a good thing because they pull in audiences that don’t usually watch theater productions,’’ Gemora says.

Working with young talents

Undaunted, Gemora continues to work with young talents, hoping to discover the rightful heirs to Philippine theatre, through MyTalent, a theater workshop for young theater actors.

He is also the president of Stages and founder and head of Trumpets Theater Company. His new stint as head of the Talent5, the talent center of television network TV5, also requires him to work with young people.

“We’re sowing the seeds. As a matter of fact everything in my career now seems to be pointing towards training. For the last 15 years I’ve been training people,” he shares.

“Yes, they’re talented, yes they’re good, yes they’re interested but they have so many other things to do so much that they do not give attention and dedication to theatre.”

Gemora even plans to put up a school dedicated to theater arts, a primary to secondary institution that has a strong arts program. Theater is always a good place to start, he says.

“There is discipline in theatre that is not found in showbiz. For example sa taping sa TV, they may or may not give you the script until the day itself or the night before. Anong homework ang magagawa mo diyan? How can you learn your part? How can you prepare your character? So actors tend to pull out what they just know.

It’s almost mechanical, almost fabricated, not really authentic. But in theatre, you have two months to rehearse, every day until the process becomes organic so everything you do on stage becomes real,” Gemora qualifies.

Re-staging a classic

Gemora reveals that the same distractions have become a problem in theater productions. For instance, in his new directorial stint, the re-staging of “Noli Me Tangere: The Musical” as the anniversary presentation of Tanghalang Pilipino, he was only able to complete the cast on opening night! Lead actor Mark Bautista, who plays the lead role of Crisostomo Ibarra, wasn’t able to open the musical because of a commitment abroad.

The musical, written by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera with music by Ryan Cayabyab, had opened earlier this month at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“In all my years in the theatre, this is the only production I ever experienced where the cast was completed only on opening night. I wish they could dedicate themselves to theatre, but I know it’s not possible,” he laments.

Despite this, Gemora is satisfied with the outcome of the play. He is even nostalgic because he originated the role of Ibarra 17 years ago.

“It was intimidating because our director then, Nonon Padilla, had a really fantastically profound, visual staging. Tumatak ‘yun sa isip namin, sa ilang henerasyon na gumagawa ng Noli. It was the definitive staging,” he says. “I had great leading ladies in the person of Monique Wilson and Regine Velasquez. We toured around Japan, and we had fans following us from one city to another. It was a proud moment for Philippine theatre. So it’s a very special show for me and I just have great memories playing the role.”

Making 'Noli' relevant

Wearing the director’s hat now, Gemora is ushering in a new season in his life.

‘‘My joy now is to be able to orchestrate everything and come up with a complete new staging and for it be well-received, that gives me great satisfaction as well. An actor’s satisfaction is to be able to give his role life. A director’s satisfaction or fulfilment is gives a whole production life so it’s bigger in a sense. Both are satisfying,” he adds.

The challenge for him is to make ‘Noli’ relevant in such a way that students can understand and appreciate it.

“Anong kuwento ng Noli? Bakit ako nahirapan magbasa ng Noli and Fili nung nasa school pa ako at paano ko puwede gawing relevant sa mga estudyante ngayon,” he explains. “So what I wanted to do is take away all the imagery, all the symbolisms that were in the past productions and just make it clear storytelling. Focus on the acting, focus on fleshing out the characters so they can be real people that the audience can identify with.’’

This version focuses on the love story of Ibarra, alternately played by Bautista and Gian Magdangal, and Maria Clara portrayed by Cris Villongco. It’s even a love triangle story between the two main characters and the priest Padre Salvi, played by Al Gatmaitan.

Other characters in the play include Elias played by Jerald Napoles and Riki Benedicto; Padre Damaso by Bodjie Pascua; Doña Victorina by Ring Antonio; Don Tiburcio by Garry Lim and Jonathan Tadioan; Kapitan Tiago by Red Nuestro and Jonathan Tadioan; Tia Isabel by Jenny Villegas; Sisa by Angeli Bayani; and Leproso by Paolo Rodriguez.

“The next thing I really want to bring up is the relevance. A lot of kids don’t get it and when I reread the book, I realized that most of the ills of the society that Rizal exposed in the book are still very much present. For example, the theme is oppression by the Spaniards and by the Church, we are still oppressed up to now — by fellow Filipinos.

The corrupt government officials are oppressing the people. So that’s a really strong statement that Filipinos still have to fight for their right. And when the youth realize this, then they will not go by way of Ibarra who was idealistic but lost his idealism towards the end.

I hope the idealism of the youth will not disappear, the idealism to change the government, to demand for a better government,” Gemora says.

‘Noli Me Tangere’ the musical, runs on all weekends until August 28, at the Cultural Center of the