L ibretto
the story on stage
PNU Speech & Theater Arts Unit
NEWSLETTER
STA UNIT TEACHES
DRAMA TO
BASECO CHILDREN
The Bachelor in Secondary Education (BSE)
Speech and Theater Arts (STA) unit visited Gawad
KalingaBaseco community to formally kick off an
extension project last January 30, 2010 in Tondo
Manila.
The project called Theatre Arts for
Development for Sagip Children in Gawad Kalinga
Baseco, Tondo is an annual activity implemented
by the STA unit composed of BSE-STA seniors
and masteral students with specialization in Drama
Education and Theater Arts (DETA).
This year’s implementation of the said
project was participated by sixteen BSE-STA seniors
and 10 masterals with specialization in DETA.
The aim of this extension project is to offer
skills development for better opportunities in the
future of the lesser privilege children.
Dr. Anita Navarro, Project Advisor, stated
“As theatre artists, we believe that the theatre arts
can be a powerful development tool. Theater in its
holistic perspective provides for a whole gamut of
wonderful and exciting learning experiences. The
theatre arts experience is so fulfilling that the process
becomes a joyous journey of self-development.”
“This project utilizes the different arts of the
theatre: skills that will inculcate social responsibility
among children.
February, 2010 :: ISSUE 001
We, as educators desire to offer skills
development for better opportunities in the future
of these children. We believe that our initiative and
creative strategy would be of great help in the pursuit
of development,” Dr. Navarro continued.
The Gawad Kalinga is a charitable institution
providing housing to the less privileged. It is
supported by commercial groups and individuals
like ABS-CBN, Smart and others. It has numerous
sites around the country. One of its major sites is GK
Baseco, Tondo which is under the supervision of Mr.
Jun Valbuena. “I am glad that people and different
institutions like you (STA unit) continue to support
us for the improvement of out little community. You
are always welcome here.” said Mr. Valbuena upon
receiving the concept letter of the project.
The project was approved by Mr. Valbuena
on January 23,2010 with the following schedules and
topics: January 30 - Environment and Indigenous
People, February 6 - Peace and Women Equality,
February 13 - Health, Hygiene and Education, and
February 20 and 27 and March 6 - Improvisation
for Theater, Rehearsals and Culminating Activity.
Each session will start from 10 am to 3 pm.
PNU-STAGE GIVES LIFE
TO PALANCA WINNER
“ANG DYIP”
Giving life of the play “DYIP” written by
Christian Tordesillas, was the recent challenge for
the STAGE people. This play serves to be their major
production for this year 2010. The whole production
was managed by Ms. Syra Jean Palma (Production
Manager) and directed by Ms. Maria Regina Justine
Galang. “DYIP” by Christian U. Tordesillas won
the third prize in the category one act play in
Filipino during the 2006 Palanca Awards.“DYIP” is
a political play, sort of comical; but the aim is to let
the audience see and feel the reality that’s been going
on in our country. “Dapat pinapatawa natin ang
audience at the same time kinukurot”, quoted from
Prof. Shirley Cerbo (critique) as she commented in
the previous Technical and Dress rehearsal (TDR)
last January 23, 2010; one week before the play
date. It was musical play and a kind of farcical type
of play. The play date was January 28 and 29 year
2010, 10am, 1pm and 4pm at the AV Theater. Every
STAGE members did their very best to make the
production possible and successful.
 Libretto
2 the story on stage
Speech and Theater Arts
Guild in Education:
“ANG DYIP”
Current issues in the twentieth century,
poverty, corruption, unemployment, crime, food
shortage, price hike, politics, and other sociological
turmoils and misjudgements are classic and
all-evident.
Thousands of stories have been written about
histories, and political heroes. Millions of poets have
depicted a myriad illustration of pain, and sufferings.
Although every single day is a challenge, authors
and world-wide organizations have continually
developed a grand survival of schemes. Reality and
drama are never inseparable. Reality that hurts and
drama that draws millions of emotions.
What Tordesillas’ masterpiece has pictured
is a very significant symbol in the realm of Filipino
culture and heritage - the ‘jeep.’ It is, indeed, more
than an allusion, but a microcosmic representation
of the Philippines and the people in it and even the
E D IT O R IA L
bigger world that experiences and realizes social
cancers. Yes, we are not alone. We are included in
one optimal circle and it determines our ephemeral
bond to each other. We are all inside the ‘dyip.’
We all rush for work and for school, we all have
experienced being ‘late’ and ‘absent’ of our own aims,
we all have experience racism and underestimation.
We experience the squeezing, the pushing, and the
strong force made by an engine and the enormous
universe. We exist as one.
Social problems are everywhere. Every alley
and avenue of life. Every corner and wall. They are
innate since the colonial passing of our indelible
traditions. We have developed the ‘bahala na’
attitude and have been effected to change to become
worse and become more marred of becoming ‘just’
human.
Speech and Theater Arts Guild in
Education’s (STAGE) interpretion of Christian
Tordesilla’s “Ang Dyip” offered an intrinsic flavor.
It is a spice that both slaps and burns. It has found
the pleasurable sensibility of every sensitive part
of the audience. It was more than a “wow” but an
“agape” until the end of the play. It was more than an
“umph” but a “guffaw” for every humorous line the
characters delivered.
The characters have shown every Filipino’s
story, every underdog and elitist. The mirroring
of truths has classified the determined objective
of the playwright. The old lady, two students, the
driver and the bystanders - teacher, vendors, traffic
enforcers, have been in our hearts and minds all
along. They are, in fact, an unescapable reflection of
our social reality - our ‘dyip.’
 Libretto
PNU-STA’s
‘ANG PAPET’
BECOMES A HUGE
SUCCESS
Two staging of a play were mounted by
Philippine Normal University (PNU) Speech (BSE) major in Speech and Theater Arts (STA) is
and Theater Arts (STA) sophomore students last conducting a tracer study called Employability of
January 14, 2010 at Maceda Auditorium.
The one-hour stage play “And Papet”,
authored by Mark Joseph Belen, was directed by The research concentrates on gauging the
Mary Grace Delos Reyes. employability of STAs graduates by looking at the
II – Weird, a class organization in PNU
which composed of 13 Speech and Theater Arts
(STA) students, participated in the stage play under
the supervision of Prof. Shirley N. Cerbo.
The story is about old puppets in a theater
that come to life whenever they are left alone. The
events heated up when a new puppet enters the scene
and conflict arises among them. The story gives
emphasis on acceptance of individual differences.
“We prepared for this play for almost a month. Every
aspect of the production is carefully scrutinized.
Starting from the script, selection of actors, costumes,
technical requirements, rehearsals and play dates,”
Delos Reyes said on an interview.
According to Delos Reyes, she was inspired
by Belen’s artistic work from the very first time she
read it and she felt honored to breathe life into the
characters of the play.
“There were many things that came out
of my mind on how I will present the story to the
audience. As a director, my priority is to relay the
message of the author. And at the end of the day,
receiving good feedbacks is the fulfillment of my
job,” the director added.
the story on stage
3
NEWS
Aside from that,
DETA LAUNCHES
Delos Reyes also gave
credit to her skilled artists
2 NEW STAGE PLAYS
who whole-heartedly THIS FEBRUARY 2010
participated in the play.
An accumulated
Two exciting stage plays launched by the
of two hundred students
attended the two-staged Drama Education and Theatre Arts (DETA) will
play and most of them soon be observed at the Audio-Visual Theatre,
are freshmen student. Idilberto Dagot Hall this coming February 27,
The play also aimed to 2010.
encourage the freshmen
“The Lost Prince” and “Bird Catcher in Hell”
student to choose STA as
culminates the annual activities set by DETA under
their specialization.
the production name of A Glimpse of East Asian
STAs CONDUCT Theatre. This will be the group’s main production
EMPLOYABILITY
for the school year 2010.
The Lost Prince is a story of Chinese prince
RESEARCH who is adopted by a poor family. Bird Catcher
in Hell is a hilarious farce about a bird catcher’s
The Bachelor of Secondary Education encounter with the Lord of Death.. This will be a
free admission presentation.
STA Graduates which aims to look into employment
status after graduation.
following parameters namely ability to gain initial
employment, maintain employment, and obtain
new employment if necessary.
According to their latest research, starting
from year 2000, Philippine Normal University
FRESHMEN STA EXAM
(PNU) already produced eighty four (84) graduates. PASSERS BOOMS AT 79
An average of fifteen (15) STA students successfully
finishes the said course every year. The Speech and theater arts (STA)majorship
successfully made its qualifying exam for freshmen
As of this date, forty seven (47) STA students of the Philippine Normal University last
graduates have already responded on the study December 14 and 16 2009 and made a final call
which represents 75% of the target sample. last January 13, 2010 for those who have not yet
taken the exam. According to some students they
Initial conclusion states ninety-seven
knew about the qualifying exams through their
percent (97%) of the respondents are employed, professors, former teachers, and from some STA
of which thirty percent (30%) are engaged in the majors who happened to be their friend—not to
forget the successful Speech and Theater Arts Guild
teaching profession and the remaining figure chose
in Education’s Opening Salvo: “Palasyo ni Valentin”
to settle in the outsourcing jobs such as call center and “the Finishing Touch”.
agents, online tutors and others. Ms. Lesley Anne Lechado of III-27 STA
said that an estimated 256 freshmen student took
The research uses data gathering tools such
the test. “It was an outpour!” one STA major
as phone interviews and questionnaires. It also commented. This year’s qualified exam passers
highlighted the use of an online survey generator reached to 79 out of the 256 compared to last
called Survey Monkey which summarizes data and year’s number of examinees where 20 students were
quickly produces real-time reports. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)
 B Novels
the TOP TEN
est
OF ALL TIME
Literature among
all facets of time has
surpassed all experiences
of life’s longing. Fiction
and among other natures
of the work has evolved
strong into the most
brilliant depictions of
best-known authors.
The stylus has yet never unremitted the
ink to write. Thousands and millions of words has
counted seconds and lightyears to perfectly capture
the moments of characters. Real life characters have
become an inspiration of beauty, of hate, of love, of
fame, of fervor and of trust.
The imagination of the undying author
has justified reality. It is, boundless, and human.
The bondage of creativity has transformed.
Early last year, the International Novels
Critiques of New York, has defined the top 10 best
novels of time. Every year has been a challenge to
name the most unchanging and dynamic literature.
Here we are, agape and amazed, the top 10
Best Novels of ALL time:
TOP TEN:
The Thousand and One Nights
The Thousand and One Nights comprises
a series of folktales which were compiled from
variety of sources, the most common being Hazâr
Afsâna, o the Thousand Myths. Around the 1300s,
an ingenious framework for the stories was added:
Scheherazade.
King Shahyar, disgusted by his wife’s
infidelity, has her executed. Convinced of the
innate unfaithfulness of all women, he instructed
his adviser to bring a new bride to him each night
- following morning they are also put to death.
The adviser’s daughter, Scheherazade, has an
ingenious idea: becoming Queen Scheherazade,
she entertains her new husband with a story, but at
dawn she breaks off the narrative at a crucial point, Anne Frank is a Jewish schoolgirl living in
Libretto
to be continued the following evening and thereby Amsterdam when she commences her diary n her
4 the story on stage
stalling her execution.
Although the tales are lively and inventive,
what is so astonishing about The Thousand and One
Nights is the web of narrative that Scheherazade
weaves, often telling several stories concurrently.
The collection contains stories which have become
common place: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves,
Sinbad the Sailor, and Alladin. It was first translated
into English in 1835, and more famously o in 1884
by Sir Richard Francis Burton who did not censor
the sometimes sexually explicit subject matter
( he had translated the Kama Sutra the year before).
TOP NINE:
The Remains of the Day
The Remains of the Day is typical of
Ishiguro’s style: delicate, detailed and evocative
prose which reveals the perceived flaws in a central
character through that character’s first person
narrative. Event tend to unfold within the narrative
and the character’s discoveries about himself are
revealed to the reader simultaneously, thus allowing
us t empathize and identify strongly with him.
The Main Protagonist is Stevens,
a traditional English butler, all reserve, discretion
and decorum. The story is set in the 1950s towards
the end of Steves’ career when he is looking back on
his years of service, and forward to what is left of
his life.
Steven reveals his unquestioning loyalty and
devotion to Lord Darlington, is long-term employer,
who came under suspicion as a Nazi sympathizer
during the war and suffered social ostracism. He also
realizes his love that is in conflict with his idea of life
in service and which he struggles to acknowledge.
At the start of the book, Lord Darlington,
has been dead for several years, and the Hall now
belongs to an American who wants a more informal
relationship with his butler, in keeping with the
times. Can the very traditional Stevens change
the habits of a lifetime and rise to the challenge of
the future?
This Booker Prize winner is brilliantly
crafted and beautifully observed in every detail.
TOP EIGHT:
The Diary of the Young Girl
thirteenth birthday. Early in her journal she states, ‘
After at 940 the good times were few and far between,’
and lists all the deprivations and restrictions and
restrictions that the Jews in Europe had to endure
during Hitler’s regime. It gets even worse when, a
month after her diary begins, Anne, her family and
four other go into hiding in the ‘secret annexe’ of her
father’s office, where they remain for two years.
In many ways Anne’s diary is like that of
any normal adolescent, in which she vents her anger
toward her mother, her jealousy of her sister and
her developing sexual feelings. We realize just how
terribly abnormal her situation is when she describes
the lack of privacy, the shortage of nourishing food,
the lack of freedom, fresh air ad sunlight, and most
of all, the ever-present fear of getting caught. But
however sad she sometimes becomes, she never
looses joy or hope.
Anne begins each entry with ‘Dear Kitty’, as
though she were writing to a close friend. When the
book ends abruptly on 1 August, 1994, we feel we
are on intimate terms with this spirited young girl,
making it all the ore tragic to learn that the Nazis
discovered the Franks’ hiding place and that Anne
died of typhoid in Bergen-Belsen concentration
camp less than a year later. Of the eight occupants of
the annexe only one survived - Anne’s father, Otto -
who eventually arranged for the diary’s publication.
Anne Frank’s diary is one of the world’s best-loved
books, and rightly so. It is beautifully written, and
gives an innocent human voice to the millions of
anonymous Jews who suffered and died under the
German occupation.
TOP SEVEN:
The Canterbury Tales
There is very little in the canon of English
literature that can rival The Canterbury Tales’ sheer
creatively, linguistic mettle, and its sometimes ribald
and passionately moving stories. The prologue
recounts the gathering of 31 pilgrims at Southwark’s
Tabard Inn. Twenty-four tales are then told as a kind
of competition on the pilgrimage to Canterbury
and they are linked by entertaining and insightful
exchanges between the different storytellers.
Highlights include ‘ The Miller’s Tale’,
a hilarious story of sexual deception and ‘nether eye’
kissing. ‘The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ has generated a great
deal of critical discussion because of its remarkably
modern gender politics. A disgraced knight is offered
freedom if he is able to answer a simple question:
what it I that women most desire? The resolution f
the tale is both intellectually satisfying ad moving.
‘The Pardoner’s Tale’ recounts how three
things come to a sticky end when they squabble over
the share of a treasure that they find in the forest; too
late do they realize that the old man that directed
them there was none other than Death himself.
Even though the cycle of tales is incomplete,
the stories have depth and linguistic verve, and are
perhaps so memorable for adding up to something
far greater than the sum of their arts.
TOP SIX:
Les Miserables
Perhaps the greatest writer that France has
produced, Victor Hugo published widely in fiction,
prose, poetry, drama and many other genres. Les
Miserables is his greatest achievement as a novelist,
but it is perhaps better known to contemporary
theatre-goers as one of the longest-running shows in
the history of musicals.
Set in the early 19th century, this panoramic
novel follows the fortunes, downfalls and histories
of a number of its characters over two decades. The
figure that draws the stories of its disparate characters
together is the ex-convict Jean Valjean. Having been
imprisoned for nearly 20 years for stealing family,
Valjean breaks his parole by committing a minor
crime and the novel then recounts Valjean’s attempts
to rid himself of his past and make his way in the
world. Years later, his past returns to haunt him
when the determined police inspector, Javert, arrests
the wrong man in Valjean’s place, drawing him out
of face the shame of his previous life.
So ambitious is the novel in its narrative and
philosophical scope, it is impossible to do it justice in
such a brief introduction. And despite its prodigious
length, the structure of the noel makes it somewhat
more accessible than expected.
TOP FIVE:
Little Women
The heart-warming story of the March
sisters - Meg, JO, Beth and Amy - is one of the most
popular books of 19th century American fiction. It is
set during the American Civil War, when their father
is away serving as a chaplain with the Union Army.
The family have fallen on hard times, and the girls
have to grow up fast. Helped by their ever-loving,
ever-patient Marmee and through Bible study, each
of the girls learns to shoulder some of the family’s
burdens and overcome her own particular character
flaws: literary Jo her temper and outspokenness,
domesticated Meg her greed and envy of other
people’s wealth, musical Beth her overwhelming
shyness, and artistic Amy her vanity and selfishness.
Alcott’s characters are more believable, and more
likeable, for their imperfections. As he story follows
them through their months of worries about their
father and about Beth’s health, there are moments of
both laughter and joy, as well as sadness.
Lighter notes often arrive in the form
of Laurie, the irrepressible scamp who lives next
Libretto
door with his stern, unapproachable grandfather.
He eventually helps Beth to overcome her shyness
through a shared love of music. Their lessons are not
always learned so easily: Meg sees that her friend
Sallie’s wealth has not brought her happiness; an
outspoken remark by Jo destroys her chances of being
taken to Europe by rich Aunt March and teaches her
that privileges must be earned and that her temper
has to curbed; while Amy learns that helping others is
rewarding. Despite the tragedies and hardships that
befall the family, this timeless book is an optimistic,
charming exploration f growing up.
TOP FOUR:
Lord of the Flies
Although written in 1954 at the start of
the Cold War, the significance of this book was
not acknowledged until 1983, when Golding
won a Putlizer Prize. The book depicts Golding’s
view than man’s inhumanity to man can only be
controlled through imposed social order. In his
allegorical world, he uses children, before maturity
and experience and the bounds of convention can
dictate their behavior, to represent the true nature
of man.
The story centers on a group of schoolboys
(5-12 years of age), marooned n an island after their
plane crashes. They were being evacuated from
Britain during an atomic war. The only adult, the
pilot, has died. In the beginning, the boys establish
order through election of leaders and allocation of
roles and responsibilities as they have seen adults
d, and in imitation of the society from which they
have come.
Soon their behavior degenerates into
competitive aggression between leaders and the
bullying of the weak and different. The boys create
a religion based on fear, symbolized by the beastie
(a dead parachutist). This leads to a nightmare world
of ‘packing behavior, ritual murder and anarchy.
It is only when a sip arrives, symbolizing society,
that the boys revert to civilized behavior and order
is reestablished.
TOP THREE:
Nineteen Eighty-Four
The ideas contained in Orwell’s chilling
dystopia have entered mainstream culture in a way
achieved by only very few books let alone science
fiction novels. Concepts such as Big Brother,
the Thought Police and Room 101 are instantly
recognized and understood. In the novel, the world
is divided between three regimes: Oceania, Eurasia
and Eastasia. Winston Smith, whose job in the
Ministry of Truth is to rewrite history in line with
current political thinking, lives in a London still
shattered by a nuclear war that took place not long
after the Second World War.
Oceania is a totalitarian state, which
resembles the more sinister aspects of the Soviet
Union when Orwell was writing, at a time when
he had become disillusioned with Socialism.
The population is brainwashed into unthinking
obedience, love of Big Brother, and hatred of
Eurasia and Emanuel Goldstein, the leader of the
Brotherhood, an underground group of dissenters.
They are also monitored for signs of deviance in
the story on stage
behavior or thought.
Winston and his girlfriend break the rules
and, although they think they have got away with it,
are being approached by O’Neil, who appears to be a
member of the Brotherhood, the trap is sprung and
they are sent to the Ministry of Love for a violent re-
education. There are unanswered questions: do Big
Brother, the Brotherhood or Emmanuel Goldstein
exist or are they Party inventions? Even after 50
years, Nineteen Eighty- Four is still relevant: its
depiction of a state where daring to think differently
is rewarded with torture, where people are monitored
every second of the day, and where Party Propaganda
tells people what to think, is a sobering reminder of
the evils of powerful, unaccountable governments.
TOP TWO:
Things Fall Apart
When, in 1958, Chinna Achebe wrote this
seminal work in African and Word Literature, the
novels of Africa, notably Conrad’s Heart of Darkness
and Joyce Cary’s Mister Johnson, presented African
culture and tradition as amorphous as valueless.
Achebe’s masterly riposte also served to remind his
fellow Africans of their irreplaceable heritage.
Things Fall Apart maps the clash between
the complex Ibo society of Umofia, a group of nine
villages in Nigeria, and colonialism and Christianity
in the late 1800s. This conflict is vested in the story
and character of Okokwo, a great man, who is forced
to commit he ultimate sin against the very values he
is trying to defend. The distinctive diction and use of
Ibo proverb and idiom in Achebe’s elegant English
prose, together with the rich plot ad characterization,
carry his message in perfect balance.
TOP ONE:
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The masterpiece of postmodern fiction
bought the extraordinary contemporary writing of
his Columbian Nobel Laureate in literature to the
wider world. It is an intensely personal work, drawing
upon the politics, history, culture, myth, magic and
ghosts that form the background to Marquez’s life
growing up in Columbia.
One Hundred Years of Solitude is the history
of Macondo, a fictional small town in an unspecified
are of South America, from its beginnings, to its
ultimate obliteration, when the last member of the
seventh generation of the founding Buendia family
finally translates the parchment that predicted the
town’s circular history. One of the features of the
narrative is the way time changes, speeding up and
slowing down, and moving in circles. The names of
the protagonists are also repeated in each generation
in variations of those of the founders. Jose Arcadio
Buendia, a strong man with a passion for science
(fired by Melquiades the leader of a gypsy band, who
recurs through out) eventually goes mad and must
be tied to a tree, while his Ursula lguaran lives to be
over 130, having slowly shrunk to the ize of a foetus.
Their distinct and intellectual characteristics are also
varied and repeated in each generation.
One Hundred Years of Solitude is known
for its use of magical realism as well as the immense
power, humour and beauty of its writing.
5

PNU-S.T.A. HISTORY
The drama department started as a graduate
program in July of 1953, when Dr. Severino Montano
established the Arena Theater of the Philippines. The
productions of the plays he had written: “Sabina”, a folk
tragedy, “The ladies and the Senator”, a satirical comedy;
and “Parting at Columba, a historical drama- at the second
floor sala of the Normal Hall heralded the establishment of
the Arena Theater
The goal of the group was to stimulate thinking
through drama. Having received a ten-year grant from the
Rockefeller Foundation, the group traveled throughout the
different regions of the country performing, conducting
workshops, and establishing branches. It was the first to
bring the theater to the grassroots, thus democratizing
theater in the Philippines. The President of the country
Ramon Magsaysay cited it for its program of uplifting
masses.
Some outstanding achievements and contributions
of the Arena Theater were as follows:
1. It has accumulated a total of over 200
performances with its repertoire of 4 plays.
2. It has sponsored in Pangasinan, the first
systematically organized Drama Festival in the Philippines.
3. It has trained over 400 people in various capacities
as actors, business managers, and theater technicians.
in the Seventies - Manila Style”, and adaptation ofAct II of
“Our Town” by T. Wilder.
These plays become part of the repertoire which
were presented from 1976 to 1981 as part of the PNC
Cultural Tours.
In 1983, the TCT as “Tanghalang Umiibig sa
Wastng Aral (TUWA) was invited to join the CCP-
sponsored Asian Theater Festival. The group presented a
program of Rizaliana: Parting at Calamba”, translated in
Filipino by Rolando Tinio; and Rizal’s “Junto al Pasig” a
Zarzuela for Children, with English translation by National
Artist Nick Joaquin.
In the years that fallowed, the department
established linkages with different organizations. On May
17 to 19, 1983, the PNC/DETA co-sponsored the First
Drama-in-Education and Children’s Theater Workshop
together with the CCP, East-West Center Alumni and
the Mariano Marcos State University. The workshop was
entitled: “Drama-in-Education; The Development of
the Whole man Through Drama.” It was followed by a
Consultative Seminar Conference on Drama-in-Education
held under the TCT-CMLI-TJCC Sponsorship Febuary
18-19 of the following year.
Awareness of the importance of drama-in-
FRESHMEN STA EXAM... contd.
qualified for interview. The test results were released
on the 3rd week of January this year to update the
students who passed for their scheduled interview
that will be facilitated by the Speech and Theater
Arts professors; Dr. Gina O. Gonong, Prof. Shirley
N. Cerbo, and Dr. Anita M. Navarro.
Some students who took the test were very
much excited to know the result of their exam. Upon
the release of the results, many were glad that they
passed and are eager to prepare for the next step. But
some did not make it. In an interview of a freshman,
he said: “I really wanted to be a Speech and Theater
Arts major, but sadly I wasn’t able to make it. It was
my first choice. When my classmates knew about
this they were also shocked. I don’t know what
to do.”
It only proves that being a Speech and
Theater Arts major is a privilege. It is not just about
acting, but being able to open a new avenue of
learning through the stage. It is about being who you
are and doing what you enjoy—interconnecting it
to the field of education, the result is always better
than good.

4. Its work has raised the standards in all phases of
local legitimate drama production.
5. It has developed for the Philippine Normal
College an excellent extension program through the
drama.
6. It has spearheaded semestral an summer seminar
program for the teaching of theater technique at the
college.
7. Its plays have become proficient in presenting
its productions not only in the two major languages, also in
other dialects.
In 1955, a Junior Arena Theater for the under
graduate has been organized and it has won second prize in
the inter collegiate one-act play contest.
Aside from running the Arena Theater, Dr.
Montano also taught Speech and Personality and
Dramatics at Room 109, even as the Speech laboratory was
built at Room 309 for the purpose of using methods in he
teaching of Speech and its equivalent in the Graduate Level,
Communication 503 (Effective Speech). The courses were
both geared to the objectives of the interpretative speech
and the study of the different kinds of speech activities that
help enrich the equipment of the future teacher.
Room 309, the Drama and Speech Laboratory
was venue for research and experimentation in drama
and speech methodology and in the different kinds of
techniques. It served was an open classroom for Drama
and Theater Arts courses in the graduate program. It was
also extensively used as a rehearsal area , as dressing room,
as a production meeting place and even for intimate theater
presentations.
Upon the retirement of Dr. Montano, Prof.
Natividad Crame- Rogers was appointed head of drama
program. Having served the college since 1960 as a speech
teachers and assistant to Dr. Montano, Prof. Rogers
continued the visions set by her predecessor. She introduced
the undergraduate major programs in Drama and Speech
On September 1st of 1974, reviving the spirit
as the Arena theater, the DETA program embarked on
the production of the “The Cradle Song” by G. Martinez
sierra with the PNC Faculty and Staff as cast. This heralded
the birth of the Teachers Theater, the production arm of
the DETA Department. The group, rename The Teachers
Community Theater as suggested by then PNC President
Dr. Bonifacio P. Sibayan , was formally presented to the
Philippine theater audience by the Cultural Center of the
Philippines with its presentation of “ The Cradle Song” on
March 20 and 21, 1976. Prof. Nicanor Agudo was associate
director with members of the Barangay Theater guild
headed by national Artist Lamberto Javellana, assisting.
Also on the same year, the TCT was invited by the CCP to
join the Manila Arts Festival. The group presented Popular
Filipino Drama: “Panhik-ligaw” adapted by D. Habito
from Checkov’s “The Marriage Proposal”, “Why Woman
Wash the Dishes” by Filomena Colendrino as story drama;
“Seven years” by Fidel Sicam; “The Love of Virgil and Cely”
by Lazaro Espinosa as story-drama; “Love and Marriage
Libretto
education became widespread when the PNU-DETA/
TCT, through its affiliation with the Children’s Museum
and Library Inc. (CMLI) and the German Cultural Center
co-sponsored the First National Workshop on Drama-in-
Education and Children’s Theater. The said workshop was
participated in by delegates from the different regions of
the country who were chosen by the ministry of Education
Culture and Sports. Two German experts conducted the
Workshop.
As an offshoot of the Workshop, the first Professional
organization in the field of Drama Education and Theatre
Arts was established in 1985. It was named the Philippine
Association of Drama and Theatre Education and Patrons
(PADTEP).
Upon the retirement of Prof. Rogers in 1987, Dr.
Rebecca Alcantara as designated Officer-in-Charge for a
year. The following year, Dr. Lilia Cortez, became OIC up
to 1989 when Dr. Ciriaco Tismo was appointed head of the
DETA Department. It was also during his headship that
the Thespian Society, the department’s dramatic guild, was
founded, and was advised by Prof. Shirley Naval- Cerbo.
In 1993, a new academic structure was the story on stage
implemented. The seven schools were replaced by three
colleges. The undergraduate and the graduate programs were
divided into different departments and placed under two
separate colleges. The DETA undergraduate department
-editorial staff-
was placed under the new College of Arts and Sciences. The
new head of the department Prof. Anita M. Navarro was
appointed.
Van Kirk Perlas
-editor-in-chief-
In 1996, DS 1 as General Education Course
for “STA Teaches at BASECO...”
for 4th year students was finally in place. Likewise, after
ten years of drought in majorship, the Drama and Speech
Department welcomed its new batch of thirteen (13)
majors on the first semester of 1998. It was also in the same Ernest John Tamana
-editorial consultant/layout artist-
year that the organization of DS majors and specialists, the
Speech and Theater Arts Guild in Education (STAGE) was for “Top 10 Best Novels...”
formed.
The year 1999 was new beginning for a newly
created department through the leadership of its first
STAFFERS/CONTRIBUTORS
Chair, Prof. Anita Navarro. The humanities aim to meet the
challenges of the present and the future. Alvin de los Santos
In the year 2000, the new curriculum in Drama - for “DETA Launches...”/ “STA Conducts...
Bachelor of Secondary Education with majorship in Speech
and Theater Arts and the revised Curriculum in course
music education were fully implemented. Humanities as Lyka Marie S. Balondo
a compulsory to al students was strengthen by a CHED for “PNU-STA’s ‘Ang Papet....”
mandate. Likewise, new linkages initiated. The department
conducted Summer In-Service Trainings to train teachers
and better equip them with the needed skills to be more Melanie Ann L. Carag
effective Music, Drama, and Art educators. Some of their
for “Ang Dyip... Editorial”
faculties were invited to be trainors and curriculum writers
in Theater Arts, Music, and Creative Writing of the DECS-
BSE in special program for the Arts.
To date, the Humanities Department strives
Mary Joy S. Ferdiz
to reach new heights to be true to its mission to develop for “STA Enrolees Boom....”
teachers who are leaders in the field of Music, Drama
Education, and Art Education.