About DULAANG SIBOL
I. Dulaang Sibol
is a THEATRE.
It was blessed and inaugurated on a Saturday, 14
August 1976. It is actually the front portion of the High School Cafeteria. It
is an air-conditioned intimate theatre with 159 upholstered seats.
II. Dulaang
Sibol is a THEATRE MOVEMENT.
Dramatics, as Fr. Miguel A. Bernad of
the Society of Jesus puts in his book, Dramatics
at the Ateneo, has always been regarded as an important part of Jesuit
pedagogy. In an effort to encourage the whole student body to actually
experience this “important part of Jesuit pedagogy,” the Sibol Repertory
Theatre Group, in cooperation with the Filipino Department, has sponsored a
number of school wide projects in theatre, with Dulaang Sibol Theatre as the
venue.
In 1967, the Paligsahang Pandulaan, a contest in the writing and mounting of
original one-act plays, was begun. In 1975, theTimpalak sa Sabayang Bigkas, a contest in theatricalized choral
recitation, was started. In 1975 also, the Timpalak-Awit,
a contest in the writing and choral performance of original songs, was
initiated. In 1977, Alay Kay Maria, a
Marian choral concert featuring different singing groups and musical artists
both in and out of the Loyola Heights campus, was introduced as an annual
affair to honor Mary’s birthday.
In 1991, in an effort to prepare
Ateneans to reach a wider audience through mass media, changes were made in the
annual contests. The Timpalak sa Sabayang
Bigkas was limited to first year students. The Timpalak sa Dulang Panradyo, a contest in the writing and mounting
of original radio plays, was introduced to second year students. The Paligsahang Pandulaan, now known as the Timpalak sa Dulang Pantanghalan, was
held for third year students only. The Timpalak
sa Maikling Pelikula, a contest in film making, was initiated for fourth
year students. Significant products of these competitions are the now nationally
acclaimed play “Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio” by Paul Dumol and the now
nationally performed song “Hindi Kita Malilimutan” by Manoling Francisco.
In 1 December 2000, the newly
renovated Tanghalang-Onofre Pagsanghan was, again, inaugurated. The renovation included:
the replacement of 131 old seats, the addition of 28 new seats and the
beautification of the foyer.
III. Dulaang
Sibol is a REPERTORY THEATRE GROUP.
This is also the Core Group of Sibol.
As a repertory theatre group, Dulaang Sibol
grew out of the Ateneo High School Dramatics Society. Among its earliest
performances were three one-act plays presented in 1956 at the St. Paul High
School Auditorium on Herran Street. It started catching public attention with a
series of Shakespearean plays, performed in a grand scale at the High School
Covered Courts. Among these were Macbeth,
Julius Caesar and Hamlet.
In 1966, the group presented at the
Ateneo Law School Auditorium in Padre Faura in public performances its first
Filipino plays, two one-act plays: Julian Balmaceda’s “Sino ba Kayo?” and Soc
Rodrigo’s “Paa ng Kuwago.” With its presentation of its first Filipino plays,
the group gave itself a Filipino name: Dulaang Sibol.
Sibol
is a root word that catches the spectrum of young images with the addition of
affixes. Sibol suggests a spring, a
brave burst of crystal clear water; or a sprout, a sprig, green with promise
and optimism; or the season of springtime itself. A root word, rather than a
finished word was chosen to connote a beginning, a start, an introduction to
theatre.
In an article for an Australian
magazine, Fr. Miguel Bernad, SJ, translates Dulaang Sibol into “A Theatre
Forever Young” with a measure of accuracy; for indeed, much as the group dates
back to 1956, the members are always high school students in their mid-teens
with the vigor and idealism of the young.
By 1972, Dulaang Sibol evolved into a
repertory theatre group.
Every movement, if it is to succeed,
must have a dedicated core group that can be depended upon to pour out
selflessly of its time and talent to spearhead the movement. In a theatre
movement, a core group is needed to do big jobs and small. To organize the
various projects and finance them. To write plays and light them. To act in the
plays and advertise them. To order tickets and sell them. To make posters and
post them. To welcome audiences and usher them. To open doors and lock them. To
complete theatre facilities and clean them. They are the playwrights and the
lights men, the lyricists and the composers, the carpenters and the directors,
the actors and ushers, the financiers and the janitors. A core group is needed
to serve the whole school in its theatre movement. “Men for others” are
necessary in theatre.
It is about this core group of Dulaang Sibol that the next pages are about.