CCP inaugurates the super modern Black Box Theater, Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez
WALA LANG
The super modern Tanghalang Ignacio B. Gimenez (“TIG,” the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ “Black Box Theater”) was inaugurated last week. The building’s heart is really just that, a black box. Performers are on half the box and the audience, on the other. Imagination supplies time and place. Designed by architect Andy Locsin, the theater is the only indoor performance space in the Cultural Center complex while the half-century-old main building is being rehabilitated.
Financier Ignacio B. Gimenez, who later became Manila Stock Exchange president and head of numerous enterprises, was a student actor. He was a talkative little boy and, at age 12, Gimenez recalled, his teacher gave him a couple of knocks and pointed to the door saying, “Shut up, join the theater group.” So he did and in college became one of the leading actors of national artist Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero’s U.P. Dramatic Club and U.P. Mobile Theater.
Gimenez related how he did everything, from acting to set design, lighting, prop making and all around backstage hand, how they performed in public plazas in towns large and small, how they made people laugh and cry. It is “give back time,” he said, referring to the building and its state-of-the-art light and sound system that is the Teatro Ignacio B. Gimenez. It is a munificent gift, probably the largest, gift of a private individual to culture and the arts, one that benefits the talented and the appreciative public. Gimenez’s hope is that his example will inspire others to do the same.
STARBRIGHT The CCP will shine bright even as lights of the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo briefly dim starting in January.
At the TIG’s inaugural, Tanghalang Pilipino transported the audience back to the 1950s, Gimenez’ acting years. Three actors performed scenes from Guerrero comedy of manners premiered by the U.P. Dramatic Club in Diliman, in the Little Theater of what was then called the Liberal Arts Building. The program continued with a sampler of what is to come, a Repertory Philippines production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel, a Donizetti aria by internationally renowned tenor Arthur Espiritu, numbers by national artist Ryan Cayabyab, Nick Tiongson, other stars of the Philippine artistic firmament.
Time and tide wait for no man. As the lights of its main building dim, the Cultural Center is focusing on the regions, on Filipinos working overseas, on the creative industries, on the youth and new media.
CCP imagineers are thinking of balagtasan and rap events, dramatic readings of verse narratives such as Florante at Laura and traditional awit at corrido, chamber music ensembles in places where Schubert is an ice cream vendor and Beethoven a garden vegetable.
The CCP has been active among the youth, notably through NAMCYA, the 13 Artists Program, and PHSA. The hope is to raise the effort to a higher level, furthering the careers of talented youth, through advanced training, creating opportunities to perform, exhibit, or otherwise work with established groups. Youth orchestras, chamber music groups, choirs, and bands are clear possibilities.
Filipinos abroad already performing professionally or undergoing advanced training on their own could be invited for short stays to inspire young people and enrich the lives of the general public.
The participation of existing art groups—music, dance, drama, painting, sculpture—in international competitions and exhibits would go a long way both in developing talent and obtaining international recognition for artists and the country.
The accomplished musicians of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) has been active in the CCP outreach program, performing both abroad and in the regions. They could touch more lives with chamber music concerts and master classes for local musicians. Doing so in cooperation with normal schools would have high multiplier effects as their future school teacher students touch the lives of the next generation of Ignacio Gimenez.
Ties could be strengthened with the millions of Filipino overseas workers and second and third generation Filipinos abroad. More exhibits and performing arts events, online access, and innovations, such as culture-based computer games, could have far reaching effects.
Our first OFWs were Hawaii and California field workers and Filipino bands playing in bars and cruise ships. There is a need to upgrade their skills to ensure competitiveness with other countries’ popular performers. It has also been suggested that there are similar possibilities for groups playing classical music, witness the popularity of the Peninsula Manila Christmas concerts. The CCP proposes to explore this possibility.
The CCP main building will be under retrofitting for two to three years. The new TIG fills a big gap that could be further closed with open air performing spaces within the sprawling CCP complex including the “Jungle” behind Aliw Theater and along Roxas Boulevard, and the grassy area behind the PICC, possibly with a concert shell. It would also be nice to have an air-cooled “Sabuñgan” type structure with the audience in bleachers enjoying a music, dance, or drama presentation at the center.
The CCP presented these and other ideas to the Senate Committee on Culture and the Arts headed by Senators Loren Legarda, Imee Marcos, and Robin Padilla. The committee was very encouraging and expressed support for the CCPs existing and proposed activities and with their support, culture and the arts will not only further national development but also enrich the lives of the ordinary Filipino.
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