Aiden Gattud

Julia Santiago

WRITTEN BY EALA JULIENNE P. NOLASCO

Theater really isn’t for the weak of heart, but I think that’s how art is in general. In order to create, one must push themselves in order to achieve greatness.

We’ve risen to the occasion, and though the ride has been bumpy, it would not have been possible at all without our batch.

THEATER DOES not happen overnight. Staging a reality expressed through art requires weeks of preparation—from musical rehearsals to blocking, to the most grueling and important process of technical dress rehearsals. Everyone—from actors to the technical staff— works hand in hand for the pre-production and post-production.

Often touted as an unforgiving industry, the theater is an opportunity for both performers and audiences to relive their stories and truths. Julia Santiago (4 AB IS) insists that the aim of theater is improvement in light of mistakes—not perfection—and creating a unique experience for every show.

LEARNING AND UNLEARNING THEATER

A musical enthusiast growing up, Julia planted herself in the theater community the moment she entered high school. Though she had no prior theater experience, she believes that her first on-stage performance brought her to her truest element. Thus, joining the Ateneo Blue Repertory (blueREP) in college was never in question.

That said, she mentions that the silver lining in theater’s demanding schedule was sharing the creative process with her fellow organization members. “Collaboration is truly the heart of theater as only one person does not ever put up shows. We need directors, playwrights, actors, tech, ushers, [and] marketers. The theater is not only what happens on stage, but it is also what it takes to get there,” she says.

With that in mind, Julia spent her first two years in the Ateneo with blueREP. Rehearsing, however, faced challenges as the pandemic brought new challenges. Aside from learning how to become a one-man production team that manages her own lights, set, and costumes, she also found it difficult to learn how to act. She shares, “Prior to the pandemic, I had done ensemble roles, which didn’t require a lot of legwork on my end. I barely knew how to act on stage, what more on-screen?” Despite these challenges, her love for theater urged her to continue, and even join Tanghalang Ateneo (TA). For her, joining TA to perform Filipino plays instead of musicals was like trying something new and going back to her roots simultaneously.

STRINGING REALITIES

According to Julia, the theater is the truest form of storytelling. “The beauty of this art form is its ability to capture the human essence through sharing an intimate experience with an audience,” she says. “I think people enter theater wanting catharsis, but they stay knowing that the craft isn’t just about them.”

She further shares that being in theater humbled her. “I think the longer one does theater, the more one learns about the unglamorous side of things: the politics of it all, the lack of funding, the disregard for the art form in general,” she says.

“I’ve learned to be a better listener. I’ve been taught by directors to source off of your scene partner, to not just draw your emotions from within,” she adds. “This bouncing off of each other, the giving and receiving of energy, the positive and negative action—all of this has made me a better communicator.” While the theater has helped Julia on a personal level, she also remarks that theater as an art form goes beyond oneself; it is a reflection of society through art. She notes the power of theater lies in its capacity to engage sociopolitical issues from politics, sexuality, and more. Following the no-phones policy, audiences gathered in one place and fixated on the stage are engaged in the production completely.

“Theater is made to be consumed and digested, so it’s the perfect place to engage in sociopolitical issues. People are there to listen, so I think it’s important that messages relevant in our society are put at the forefront,” she adds.

RISING TO THE OCCASION

Throughout the pandemic, Julia continued to leverage college theater to ensure the craft continues to exist for the curious, eager, and passionate. She asserts, “Theater really isn’t for the weak of heart, but I think that’s how art is in general. In order to create, one must push themselves in order to achieve greatness.”

Ultimately, theater endured because of the people who stayed to keep the art form alive. Though still a collaboration, pandemic-era theater tested individual performers as they lost the opportunity to rehearse and prepare the stage together. Come the shoot days when each performer is bound by the same four corners of their screens, it is as though they never left the stage at all.

“I’d say that our batch has been responsible for transitioning theater from on-site to online. We’ve risen to the occasion, and though the ride has been bumpy, it would not have been possible at all without our batch,” Julia says.