From Stage to Streets: The Challenging Art of Street Theater

By: Marmeelyn Sinocruz, William Ong and Glenielle Nanglihan

Performance as we know it has always been defined by the four walls that contains it.
Convention dictates that the best and the grandest of shows be held in the glitziest of
stages. But theater, like all forms of art, is all-encompassing. It transcends the
bourgeois. And it always finds its way to the places people less expect it to be—like the
streets.

The unpredictability of the streets is enough to make any man worth his salt daunted.
But with their spontaneity, talent, and sheer will, this plucky group of performers is more
than a match for the task. The Lasallian dives into the life of Street Theater performers
Marcus Basilio, Bunny Cadag, Aldy Cadupay and Quiel Quiwa.

Intimacy in the Streets

The cacophony of voices and sounds in the streets we walk on blends into the back of
our minds, a steady monotonous noise as we go about our day. Street theater,
however, is a different kind of voice. It screams amidst the fray. It assaults the senses
on all fronts, bathed in the unforgiving sunlight or pelted by dreary rain. It couldn’t be
further away from the comforts of air conditioned auditoriums.

When asked how he would define Street Theater, PUP Polyrepertory coach and long-
time theater performer Bunny Cadag simply says, “Ang street theatre ay mga
pagtatanghal sa kalsada or pagtatanghal sa mga pampublikong lugar.” (Street Theater
is the performance on the streets or in public places). He adds, “..inspired o nakakalap
namin sa mga kwento sa paligid namin.” (…inspired by the stories we get from our
surroundings).

Poised and dressed in black, Aldy fondly recalls, “Kung paano manganak ang isang tao
sa totoong buhay, ganoon din namin siya ipapakita sa [mga] tao.” (In street theater,
when we show a woman giving birth, we depict it as close to reality as possible). Reality
is the rock upon which they have built their street performances; getting inspiration from
marginalized communities for their tales, creating characters that resonate with the
common people, and performing with little to no lights, sounds, or spectacle. The street
strips them bare.

A staple of Polytechnic University of the Philippines’ Sining Lahi Polyrepertory, Aldy is

no stranger to the tempestuous nature of street theater. He described the never-ending
changes during street play runs: “Marami kang kalaban: una sa lahat space, ang
weather, ‘yung tao bang ‘papakitaan niyo ng performance, makakarelate? Magiging
interesado ba sila? Kasi kalye eto eh. (You have so many enemies: first of all, space,
the weather, will the people watching you be able to relate? Will they be interested?
Because these are the streets). Last minute changes are not unheard of, each run
different from the last. The fast pace leaves them bare in more ways than one; pushing
them to new heights by revealing more of themselves to the world despite the constant
risk that the audience will not even pay attention. In some instances, people just pass
by them. Nevertheless, they rise to the occasion every time.

Aldy is a proud member of the LBTQIA+ community, and he has found himself within
the pieces he performs. Most memorable was Divine, which highlighted the
discrimination that the LGBTQIA+ community faces daily. He played a gay character
who comes to terms with his inner power while combatting oppression. According to
him, the raw vulnerability that street theater demands from its performers liberates
them. The thrill he feels in inhabiting this character is unlike any other; for it gives him
empowerment and fortitude for himself and for the people around him. If only the
electricity he wields be the same for the members of LBGTQIA+ community. But for
Aldy, it is more than a wish; it is an ongoing fight. And he marches headlong into the
battle--bare for the world to see in every performances he does in the public sphere.

An unforgettable shift

When asked how he stumbled upon theater in general, Aldy recalls that it stemmed
from the fact that he wanted to perform, “Alam niyo na mga beki-beki sa high school
mahilig mag-perform.” (You know those gays in high school, they love performing).

Their love of performing may have prompted them to easily answer the call of the stage,
but theater in the streets was another matter entirely. For some thespians like beloved
coach of the PUP Polyrepertory, Bunny, it took them years before venturing out of the
auditorium. He started in theater in 2008, but it wasn’t until seven years later that he
finally began performaning art pieces in public. Although, the person who performs in
the street isn’t exactly Bunny—but Vera Maningning.

As Vera, he is faceless, covered in white lace cloths. He was with the University of the
Philippines’ Repertory Company at the time, and in a hub in Maginhawa he stood for 24
hours straight, singing songs. No sleeping, no eating, and no stopping. But for Bunny,
Vera is more than just an empowering persona—she is his offering. His performance is
a reaction to Ferdinand Marcos’ burial at Libingan ng mga Bayani two years ago.
“Parang sinabi ko na ito lang ang mai-aalay ko, 24 hours of my life – of Vera
Maningning’s existence para sa libong namatay at hindi itinanghal na bayani,
samantalang ang isang diktador ay itinanghal na bayani. So ito lang ang maiaalay ko
para sa inyo, kung hindi pa ito sapat ay gagawin ko ang lahat para maalala ko ang
inyong mga kaluluwa.” (I said, this is the only thing I can offer- 24 hours of my life- of
Vera Maningning’s existence, for the thousands who were killed and never hailed as
heroes, while one dictator was proclaimed as one. So this is the one thing I can offer for
them, and if it is not enough, I will do what I can to remember your souls.)

Quiel Quiwa, who hails from Ateneo ENTABLADO, shares the same incident two years
ago as a turning point of his street theater experience. He fondly recalls how he was
then a freshman student with no experience of sudden street theater performance
preparation. Quiel shares his learnings from the event—"[...] naging hamon…na higit
pang palalimin yung diskurso sa mga isyung panlipunan. Di sapat na alam mo lang ung
nangyayari. Kailangang naiintindihan mo talaga sa iba’t ibang konteksto.” (Doing street
theater became a challenge as we had to find a way to deepen the discourse of social
issues. Knowing the issue is not enough. You also have to understand the different
contexts).

These performers are no stranger to using street theater as a platform to showcase

social issues. After all, it does break down the barriers of social class. They had
experienced performing street plays about the SAF 44, Filipina OFWs who were
executed for being drug mules, and more recently, the extra-judicial killings (EJK) under
the Duterte regime.

Marcus Belisario, another member of PUP Polyrepertory, vividly remembers one

instance where he witnessed the profound impact of street theater on people. It was
during a wailing performance. “Ako ‘yung nakatayo doon,” he said. “Habang nagw-wail
yung ibang mga performers, nirerecite ko yung accounts ng mga EJK victims: ‘yung
pangalan, tapos kung anong oras sila namatay at kung paano sila namatay.” (I was
standing, and while the other performers were wailing, I was reciting the accounts of
the EJK victims: their names, the hour of their deaths, and how they died.)

He recalls that most of the watchers were taking pictures and videos which is why one
person stood out to him that day. The onlooker knelt down on his spot in the crowd,
moved and grieving as well—and this onlooker was not even a Filipino; it was a
Colombian exchange student. And it was something that surprised him greatly.

A Challenge for an Advantage

Street theater aims to be out of the ordinary, away from the predictability of the stage,
conveying their messages out to the world instead of just inviting the world to listen in a
limited space. Bringing the stage into a whole new environment does entail numerous
challenges, however.

With conventional theater, the seats are open to like-minded viewers who are intrigued
by the performance, but bringing the theater to the masses would expose the performers
to a more mixed audience. Aldy confessed that there are those who do not see much
meaning in their art, or are open to the messages they voice out. “Pero kapag science
related ang mga kurso, minsan talagang “Ano ‘yan?” minsan tinatawanan pa kami,
dinadaan-daanan lang. Challenging siya, mas mahirap i-caught ang attention nila. Iba-
iba ang mindset, iba-iba ang lebel ng pagtanggap” (Whenever it involves students from
science course, sometimes they question “What is that?”, sometimes they laugh at us.
It’s challenging, it’s harder to capture their mindset. With different mindsets come different
levels of understandings), he sighs.
Quiel maintained the same idea. “Hindi controlled ang environment. Posibleng hindi
willing makinig ang audience sa napuntahan niya.” (The environment isn’t controlled. It’s
possible that the audience we perform to aren’t willing to listen), Quiel mentions, adding
that performing in campus narrows down the kind of audience. Understanding the more
specific social class in campus, it becomes much simpler to pick the right method to
convey their messages to the audience.

This does not deter the performers from acting, however, as Quiel continues mentioning
that how street theater further highlights the social aspect, challenging the performer to
relate with the ever changing audiences. “...pagdating sa streets, iba-ibang tao talaga yan
at wala kang choice kundi magresearch, o mas mabuti pa nga na makipagdiyalogo sa
iba’t ibang sektor. Sa mga grupong hindi madalas mapakinggan ng lipunan.” (...when it
comes to the streets, the people we perform to are quite diverse, to the point that we have
no choice but research, or having a dialogue with different sectors would be better) Quiel
acknowledged.

Marcus provides another view on the challenge, mentioning the opportunity to perform
infront of an audience that relates to you more than in a conventional theater. “Compared
doon (sa conventional theater), sobrang on a personal level [ang street theater], makikita
mo kung sino yung may pakialam, sino yung sumasabit, or kung sino yung passive
talaga.” (Compared to conventional theater, [street theater] really conveys things on a
personal level, you can see who cares, who is hooked, and who are truly passive.) he
revealed, with eyes glowing in excitement. “...pagka nasa conventional, lahat sila ay
nakaupo at hindi mo alam kung ano ang iniisip nila, kung ano yung reaction nila dahil
madilim rin.” (With the conventional form, everyone is sitting down and you can’t decipher
what they’re thinking, or their reactions due to the theater being dark) Marcus
emphasized, showing his preference to street theater due to the transparency of the
audience that conventional theater cannot quite capture.

In the eyes of the performer

As each of them had experienced bringing the performance to the streets to impact
people, it was simply hard to deny that these practices have also impacted them. And it
seems as if none of them is stopping anytime soon. As Aldy puts it, the challenges they
face are not reasons to stop, “...the more na iniignore kami ng mga tao, the more kami
mas nagiging eager. ‘Di kami nagpapasikat, ginagawa namin kasi merong nangyayari
and kailangan mong makinig.” (The more the people ignore us, the more eagerness we
feel. We are not here to show-off, we’re doing this because there are things happening
and you need to listen). For Quiel, people should really be open for the experience,
“Maging bukas sa experience, irespeto ang pagtatanghal, at higit sa lahat, magtanong.
Kilalanin pa ang isyung tinatalakay ng pagtatanghal” (Be open to the experience, respect
the performance, and most of all, ask. Know the issue being tackled in the performance).

With a decade of theater performances under his belt, Bunny puts an emphasis on the
impact of Street Theater on the performers in terms of social discourse, “[...] ang mga
kwento ay nanggagaling mismo sa kanilang sarili at kung saan sila nanggagaling… ang
lakas kasi ng motivation nila, ‘bakit natin to kailangang gawin?’. So lumalaki rin sila bilang
tao… sobrang sarap nilang makita na nag-grow at nagiging progressive in this social
scheme.” (...the stories are from them at where they came from… And they have strong
determination, “why do we have to do this?”. So they are also growing as a person. It is
nice to see them grow and become progressive in this social scheme). But as Marcus
puts it simply, the theater is not just for the performers, but for the rest of the society as
well. Asked how he sees Street Theater, Marcus answers, “Sobrang powerful niya for
me…” (It is extremely powerful for me). “It’s a common ground for everyone, artist and
non-artist to communicate and to interact…”, he adds. But most importantly, he says it is
a safe space “na hindi dito masusukat yung economic capacity mo." (where economic
capacity is not measured). And that becomes the beauty of a Street Theater—within
reach for everyone to see without any barriers.