For their production of the stage play “Oedipus,” Dulaang Filipino (DF), the theatre company of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde under the Office of Culture and Arts (OCA), bagged several awards from the Teatralny Koufar International Theatre Festival Theatre Festival last September 24 in Minsk, Belarus.
DF’s award-winning adaptation of “Oedipus,” a stage play depicting the great tragedies of Sophocles, won the Best Amateur Theater Performance award, as well as the Best Physical and Sound Solution award as a special prize from the judges. An individual award was also given to Gracielle So for her Best Actress performance, while Ezra Ulanday was nominated as Best Supporting Actress.
According to DF Trainer and Artistic Director Riki Benedicto, the premiere theatre group was one of the 15 qualified to compete in the said youth and student festival, making the Philippines the first Southeast Asian country to join the competition.
Being the only Asian country competing in the festival, Benedicto admitted that the group was nervous, but wholly focused on their craft.
“It’s not about the competition anymore, DF needs to tell a story for them to witness,” he said.
With the help of financial assistance from sponsorships, various fund raising shows, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the group was able to finance their trip. Benedicto added the help and financial assistance given by Benilde was also a big factor in making their trip a success.
“Thankful talaga kami sa support ng buong school di ko na maisa isa but we are all in this together,” he added.
Among those who participated in the festival were Jason Dawis, Nigel Lim, Beatrice Molina, Paulito Parohinog, Ian Santos, Marvin Sigue, Gracielle So, Ezra Ulanday, Kiara Vicente, and Jade Abendan of OCA’s Stage Production Operations Team.
In addition, the group also performed “Oedipus” at the Mont-Laurier International Theatre Festival in Canada last 2015.
In a previous interview with The Benildean, Benilde President Br. Dennis “BroDen” Magbanua FSC expressed how proud he is of the student-artists, saying “It really just shows that we are an international school when it comes to producing students who can compete internationally.”
Benedicto also shared OCA is currently conceptualizing a huge production wherein all student-artist groups will perform for the first time. Furthermore, DF has several invitations from European countries such as Georgia, Lithuania, London, and Poland, but as of this writing, the organization currently has no plans or announcements regarding any of them.
Photo from Dulaang Filipino‘s Facebook page
