MASKARA Youth Theatre Guild Brings Migration Tales to Stage
Erolle Linus T. Miranda on Monday, February 2, 2009 at 1:28pm
Maskara Theater Guild, Inc. has been carrying out its mission for several years which is to create extraordinary theatre experiences that educate, challenge and inspire young people. With its worthwhile productions and advocacies through theatre education, this has made the guild as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations in the Mindanao Region for the recent TAYO Awards Mindanao Area Finals this year. With its partnerships to several non government organizations, Maskara has been very active with its Theatre Advocacy for the Protection of the Environment (TAPE) Program. Other partnerships flourished, like the National Youth Commission, Ten Accomplished Youth Organization Foundation, Inc., International Organization for Migration, Philippine Educational Theater Association and the Mindulani Network Inc.
Last November 24 to December 5, 2008. Ten (10) Maskara members have been trained by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) at the PETA Theater Center, Eymard Drive, New Manila ,Quezon City, Metro Manila. In preparation for its Davao performances of Karaoke Dreams, the 12-day theatre workshop sponsored by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has provided the participants basic theatre training necessary to produce and stage “Karaoke Dreams”. Topics covered during the workshop include creative drama, dance and movement, songs, music and rhythm; creative writing; visual arts and theatre design.
PETAs Karaoke Dreams is written by Palanca awardee Vince de Jesus and directed by Maribel Legarda, Karaoke Dreams is about three Filipinos who have always wanted to work abroad and finally decide to pursue this dream. This information campaign is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the Philippine Border Management Project funded by the European Commission.
The play’s serious message is designed to encourage Filipinos planning to join the estimated eight million of their compatriots living abroad to migrate legally using authentic passports and genuine visas, and to avoid irregular migration channels operated by people smugglers and human traffickers.
According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, about 3,000 Filipinos leave the country every day to work abroad in locations as diverse as the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, North America and Europe.
The play, which is part of a PBMP information campaign encouraging the use of authentic travel documents, is backed by the Office of Consular Affairs of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs. The main characters dream of going abroad for a better life, but their dreams do not come true. A failed singer becomes a victim of human trafficking and is sold into prostitution. A migrant worker decides to overstay his visa and live as an illegal migrant, always on the run from the authorities. And a third character buys expensive fake travel documents, only to be caught at the airport and have them confiscated.
“The musical portrays real situations and its messages support the efforts of the Philippines government to ensure safe migration for Filipinos,” says the Manila-based IOM Regional Representative for East Asia, Charles Harns.
IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. The organization is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM has commissioned PETA in staging this “informance” (information and performance) advocacy project. PETA on the other hand, founded in 1967, is an organization of creative and critical artist-teacher-cultural workers committed to artistic excellence and a people's culture that casts shackles and fosters both personal fulfillment and social transformations. It roots its foundation in the use of theater that is distinctly Filipino as a tool for social change and development.
Karaoke Dreams the Musicale has been toured in key cities in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and La Union alongside an information carrying the slogan “Ang Pekeng Passport, Problema ang Dulot”. To further spread this advocacy, Davao’s Maskara Youth Theatre Guild will be staging “Karaoke Dreams” on February 2009.
Maskara Theater Guild, Inc. has been carrying out its mission for several years which is to create extraordinary theatre experiences that educate, challenge and inspire young people. With its worthwhile productions and advocacies through theatre education, this has made the guild as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations in the Mindanao Region for the recent TAYO Awards Mindanao Area Finals this year. With its partnerships to several non government organizations, Maskara has been very active with its Theatre Advocacy for the Protection of the Environment (TAPE) Program. Other partnerships flourished, like the National Youth Commission, Ten Accomplished Youth Organization Foundation, Inc., International Organization for Migration, Philippine Educational Theater Association and the Mindulani Network Inc.
Last November 24 to December 5, 2008. Ten (10) Maskara members have been trained by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) at the PETA Theater Center, Eymard Drive, New Manila ,Quezon City, Metro Manila. In preparation for its Davao performances of Karaoke Dreams, the 12-day theatre workshop sponsored by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has provided the participants basic theatre training necessary to produce and stage “Karaoke Dreams”. Topics covered during the workshop include creative drama, dance and movement, songs, music and rhythm; creative writing; visual arts and theatre design.
PETAs Karaoke Dreams is written by Palanca awardee Vince de Jesus and directed by Maribel Legarda, Karaoke Dreams is about three Filipinos who have always wanted to work abroad and finally decide to pursue this dream. This information campaign is implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the Department of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the Philippine Border Management Project funded by the European Commission.
The play’s serious message is designed to encourage Filipinos planning to join the estimated eight million of their compatriots living abroad to migrate legally using authentic passports and genuine visas, and to avoid irregular migration channels operated by people smugglers and human traffickers.
According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency, about 3,000 Filipinos leave the country every day to work abroad in locations as diverse as the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore, North America and Europe.
The play, which is part of a PBMP information campaign encouraging the use of authentic travel documents, is backed by the Office of Consular Affairs of the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs. The main characters dream of going abroad for a better life, but their dreams do not come true. A failed singer becomes a victim of human trafficking and is sold into prostitution. A migrant worker decides to overstay his visa and live as an illegal migrant, always on the run from the authorities. And a third character buys expensive fake travel documents, only to be caught at the airport and have them confiscated.
“The musical portrays real situations and its messages support the efforts of the Philippines government to ensure safe migration for Filipinos,” says the Manila-based IOM Regional Representative for East Asia, Charles Harns.
IOM is the leading inter-governmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners. The organization is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all. It does so by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM has commissioned PETA in staging this “informance” (information and performance) advocacy project. PETA on the other hand, founded in 1967, is an organization of creative and critical artist-teacher-cultural workers committed to artistic excellence and a people's culture that casts shackles and fosters both personal fulfillment and social transformations. It roots its foundation in the use of theater that is distinctly Filipino as a tool for social change and development.
Karaoke Dreams the Musicale has been toured in key cities in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and La Union alongside an information carrying the slogan “Ang Pekeng Passport, Problema ang Dulot”. To further spread this advocacy, Davao’s Maskara Youth Theatre Guild will be staging “Karaoke Dreams” on February 2009.