Out Where A Country Begins

I remember when I was growing up in my home province, Quezon, I used to read a column in one of the Sunday magazines entitled, "Out Where A Country Begins." I recall I feasted on it with its detailed account of what went on in towns and villages as observed by the columnist. I do not now recall the name of the columnist, but I recall my fascination with his account. I have lived most of my days in rural areas, and I must say, the columnist was seeing things I was only faintly aware of because probably I was so used to the sight and smell and sounds of the local scene that I just ignored them.

These thoughts came to mind last night as I watched a not-too-ordinary activity here in our barangay in Bohol. Multi-awarded musical director, Gardy Labad, who has chosen to settle in a nearby village which is home to his mother and clan in Baclayon, Bohol, came here to do auditions for his Teatro Bol-anon.

He has formed what he calls cultural collectives in Maribojoc and Anda and he is willing to do it in his hometown, too, upon invitation from my family and a neighbor, Dr. Pomie Buot. I saw one presentation of the group in Maribojoc and was amazed at how Gardy transformed ordinary folks, the "istambays" among them, into a 22-member cast of a play based on the town's famous landmark, Punta Cruz.

To date, this theater group has done a total of 30 presentations, including one in Manila. Now it is in Dumaguete City in response to another invitation. I can just imagine the boost to the self-esteem of the young people in the cast. Without this engagement with the cultural collective, they would just be idling away precious time in drinking sprees and other vices too tempting to resist if the day's priorities are vague.

Only 5 came to the audition last night, two sisters, two brothers and one relative of the two sisters with ages ranging from 21 to 10. Each one showed their talents in singing, dancing and acting based on instructions from Gardy. The veteran musical director that he is, Gardy gave pointers to each one of them. Samples: do not imitate other singers, just be yourself; open your mouth wider when you sing, etc. The participants obliged and showed Gardy had mined truly some gems of talent from each one of them.

A crowd of 7 women came, some are relatives of these would-be actors and actresses, and they were all witnesses to the start of a new phenomenon in their village. They said they would invite other young people to join the next audition. Meanwhile, Gardy assigned the five participants to gather stories about fisherfolks since Laya is a fishing village. He says all the would-be actors and actresses will participate in the writing of a play based on the actual life in the village.

The session lasted from 9 to 11 pm. I went to bed convinced this is truly where a country should begin, in villages such as this which is not only in dire need of basic services, but of a boost to their spirit in knowing there is in their midst artistic gems to be mined. ###