February 12, 2015
Kritika Kultura, the international refereed journal of language, literary, and cultural studies of the Department of English, Ateneo de Manila University will be hosting an event featuring the work of playwright Rogelio Braga on Feb. 17, 2015, 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University. The event is co-sponsored by Ateneo Art Gallery, Rizal Library, Fine Arts Program, and Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices (AILAP).
The program for the afternoon includes: a performance of Rogelio Braga’s plays by the University of the Philippines Repertory Company; a craft talk by Braga on his works; and the launch of Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro at Iba Pang Mga Dula. In the event, Kristian Cordero, Ateneo de Naga University Press deputy officer, will introduce the book.
Seating is limited. RVSP: Dani Olivan ([email protected]).
About the Author
Rogelio Braga is a playwright, fictionist, and essayist. His plays have been performed in various venues in the country and in the annual national theater festival Virgin Labfest of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In 2014, UP Repertory Company was invited by the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao to perform Braga’s three plays in Cotabato City; that was the first in the history of ARMM that the autonomous government invited non-Moro artists and performers from outside Mindanao. Braga’s stories have appeared in national literary publications such as Tomás and Ani of the CCP. He received a Literary Excellence Award from University of Santo Tomas in 2000 and has won a Palanca for his short story. His works were nominated in Philstage’s Gawad Buhay.
Braga was a fellow for Fiction (Novel) in the 2014 UP National Writers Workshop in Baguio City. He is a member of Naratibo, a group of emerging and established novelists and short story writers in Philippines, and the UP Writers Club. He was also a Convenor for Moro culture, history and arts in the Young Moro Professional Networks, Inc. Braga is currently a faculty member of the School of Languages, Humanities, and Social Sciences of Mapúa Institute of Technology (Intramuros). Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro at Iba Pang mga Dula is Braga’s first book of plays.
About the Book
Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro at Iba Pang Mga Dula carries Braga’s critically-acclaimed four Virgin Labfest plays written between 2007 to 2009 when Braga started to visit Mindanao: Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro (2007), Ang Bayot, Ang Meranao, at ang Habal-Habal sa Isang Nakababagot na Paghihintay sa Kanto ng Lanao del Norte (2008), Ang Mga Mananahi (2008), and So Sanggibo a Ranon na Piyatay o Satiman a Tadman (2010). All these plays were performed originally by the UP Repertory Company; since then, they have been performed throughout the country on many occasions. In 2014, the ARMM government invited the UP Repertory Company to perform three plays in this collection in Cotabato City for the celebration of the International Human Rights Day.
Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro at Iba Pang Mga Dula touches on dominant issues relevant to Filipino and Moro relations: discrimination and marginalization of minorities, conflict, human security, colonization, and self-determination. Sa Pagdating ng Barbaro at Iba Pang Mga Dula humanizes these issues for the stage while carefully traversing the conflict-ridden narratives of ‘the Mindanao’ in the Filipino-Moro relations and imaginations; moreover, the collection rejects the nationalist tradition of portraying Mindanao and Moro culture.
About the Performers
Established in 1972 by director Behn Cervantes, the UP Repertory Company, or UP Rep, was an answer to the University’s need for a socially responsible performing group. UP Rep’s wide repertoire of plays include that of National Artists and writers such as Joi Barrios, Romulo Baquiran, Jr., Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio, Rogelio Sicat, Alberto Florentino, Domingo Landicho, and Nick Joaquin. As a student organization, UP Rep has continually strived to train its members in the art of theater. UP Rep has produced talents, most of whom are successful in their chosen fields. Joi Barrios, Bibeth Orteza, Rory Quintos, Ces Quesada, Jon Santos, Angeli Bayani, Ching Arellano, Nick Olanka, Kata Inocencio, Blaise Gacoscos, Eugene Domingo, Stella Cañete, Chris Martinez, and Enrico Santos are just some of them.
Because of its continuous commitment to Philippine Culture and the Arts, UP Rep was named as the University Performing Group (UPG) by the UP-Diliman administration, and to date, is the only student-theater organization given such a title by the school. UP Rep has also received the Wenceslao O. Vinzons Achievement Award for Special Interest Organization (1983), Wenceslao O. Vinzons Achievement Award for Most Outstanding Student Organization (1985), Aliw Awards for Best Cultural Series (1987), and was also a finalist in Cultural Center of the Philippines’ National Drama Competition (1989).
