Miraculously, he got us tickets. I burst into Palma Hall on the U.P. Diliman campus at exactly 1p.m., just as the matinee of the sold-out Sugatán was about to start. Professor Alfredo B. Diaz—also known as Sir Fred, or if you’re a friend or colleague, Fred—stood in the dim hallway, seconds away from texting me about handing my ticket to the ushers. I laughed in relief at seeing his familiar flat cap. We gave each other a quick hug before ducking into the student thesis show, a queer adaptation of the sarsuwela Walang Sugat by Severino Reyes.
If you’ve attended theater in Iloilo, you’ve likely seen Fred, if not as an audience member, then as a director, actor, writer, scholar, and always an ardent supporter of thelocal art scene. Our chance meeting in Quezon City only reminded me more of how we had met earlier that summer, when I first arrived in Iloilo to see the city’s theater,experience Ilonggo culture plays, and immerse myself in Hiligaynon language.
Fred was the first theater artist I met in the city. “Tastament,” a series of short plays produced and performed by the UPV Living Room Theatre became the first theatrical performance I saw outside of Metro Manila and a precursor to the 11th Iloilo Theater Festival. As a faculty member of Humanities and Communication at UP Visayas, he also shapes programming at the UPV Cinematheque, consults Iloilo City government employees with public speaking and communication workshops, and shares knowledge on a range of topics, from sarswelas to Shakespeare.
After congratulating the students of Sugatán, we walked to the Art Circle Café, a charming restaurant on campus that doubles as an art gallery. Amidst the bright contemporary paintings and over crispy adobo and pork chop, calamansi tart and coffee, we discussed his take on writing, directing, and teaching theater.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How did you get started in theater?
When I entered college there were only two theater groups. They are very distinct from each other. Teatro Amakan is local, it’s satirical, it’s funny, and the other one, TAGUPC, is for the English majors class. They stage classic plays, like Man of La Mancha. In college I was invited to join [Teatro Amakan], but because I was surprisingly introverted, I joined the latter – the Theater Arts Guild UPC (UP College Iloilo).
But before that, my father, who died in 2000, was a fan of radio drama. He would turn it on, and we would just hear it, listen to it. When I look back, I think that was one of my inspirations. I love to hear people.
When I did my PhD in Creative Writing, I chose playwriting and drama because I want to hear people speak. I joined a theater group, and when I was doing my PhD in Creative Writing, my teachers were playwrights, but one of them was also a stage director – Anton Juan. And he encouraged us – or demanded – that our written plays should be staged. For me, that was a good thing, because back in high school and college, I already had a background in theater. And you know what? The other classmates dropped out of the course because they thought, this is just a playwriting class, why are you asking us to direct?
Because I love doing theater, and I already felt in my heart that I would be doing theater for a long period of time, I felt I should gather up experience for my resume. I always followed Anton Juan because eventually, our classmates dropped out of the course, and he would tell me – I’m doing this play, doing that play – and eventually he directed me in his own play. That’s how it started.
What kind of plays do you like to direct, and what’s your directing philosophy?
I mentor and advise three theater groups in UP. There’s a junior theater arts club, which I’ve been an adviser of since I entered in 1996. These high school students write, despite their busy schedules. Number two, I have the Living Room Theatre, a more intimate theater group. Then there’s the UPV alumni community theater. The high school group is academic, writing, editing; Living Room Theatre is more monologues and philosophical, and then I also do sarsuwela, which is big – there’s big props and budget and acting.
My philosophy in directing is read the script, memorize the script, and then on the first day, because I’m a lit teacher, I give the actors a lit exam. What do you think is underlying this? How would you say this line? How is your character related to this character, and not necessarily biologically? Are they friends? How will you interpret the end game? So it’s a question and answer for two days. And then we collaborate.
Be faithful to the text. The actor might think, I might be wrong, or my interpretation might just be one interpretation, but just be consistent. As long as panindigan mo. For example, if it’s a serious play, then you, the actor, are so comedic. I won’t interrupt you, I’ll see if you can follow it through.
I would only enter the scene if it’s technically wrong or the actor cannot be heard. As a director, visuals, lights, and designs, are not as important as the fact that I should hear you. Then, if we have the budget, and if the play calls for it, then grab some props.
What’s your teaching philosophy?
Discipline, coming on time, integrity. When you say yes, you say yes. Don’t say “I’ll see,” but you cannot really decide. So discipline, integrity, and truth. And if you cannot understand, ask me. Or research, or take your time. Sometimes during rehearsal, I will joke, “Someone here is not truthful.”
What do you like to write about? Who are your influences?
I love Tennessee Williams. I have read most of the plays of Tennessee Williams because they’re psychological, emotional, sentimental – memory plays. I love doing memory plays. We sit down there and talk about our parents, like I would ask you – can you recall the last time you spoke with your mother about your children? Or can you remember the color of your mother’s dress yesterday?
So Tennessee Williams, I love him, and I love family affairs. And I love monologues. My PhD in creative writing was turned into a play by Anton Juan. I had to look for an actor who wasn’t trained academically. I got the idea from call centers. It’s a 40-minute play. But while she’s saying her lines, she’s dressing up, so by the time she’s done dressing up, she’s done with the monologue, and the audience knows she’s dressing for her husband’s wake and funeral, when in the beginning they thought she was talking about her dog. I was very happy when Anton Juan staged it.
Most of my plays for the Living Room Theatre, we don’t face each other. Sometimes they look in a direction without looking at each other, or it’s very minimal direction, because sometimes we are just formulating something simple like saying “Good morning,” but we are not excited to listen to the answer.
I love banter, but I also love silences when someone smokes and then someone there is looking at the actor. I’m not as good as a writer as I am a director. Sometimes I could imagine the words already, but because they’re not dialogue, you have to write it in parentheses. I really write about groups, like political satires.
How has theater in Iloilo changed?
The art scene is at its most active. But for theater, it’s active because there’s an Iloilo theater festival. And schools now are regularly staging productions. Some of these universities have asked me to do workshops for them. So because of directors and theater festivals, the theater scene in Iloilo is becoming more vibrant. Before, we had classics and school-based [shows]. We had the Iloilo Drama Association. Because University of San Augustine is very blessed, because it is the arm of the university – it receives a subsidy, it has its own space, it can ask for funds. Whereas West Visayas State University may not have that, but it has a degree program and cultural education. The Cultural Center of the Philippines also has a yearly festival and every year they choose Iloilo as one of the venues. So it’s interesting, it’s alive.
What’s your advice for folks who want to get into theater?
Read literature. If you have the time, the energy, read aloud. Understand what you’re reading, believe in it, and spend time with people who share the same passion. Do not think yet of budget. Do not think yet of space. Do not think yet of embarrassment. Do not think of anything negative, because your positive vibes, so to speak, will already be 51% of your problem.
And of course, watch plays. Watch them to appreciate them. Sometimes I find it corny when directors or actors watch plays and then go, “Hmm, should I adapt it?” They’re critiquing already.
And I wish that students would also be sent to workshops outside, and also send them to more theater – if not really theater, then I wish for more plays, playwriting, and literature classes be held. Because I believe that one of the best trainings for theater actors is for them to really be literature lovers.
