SanAg7 Part 2 of 2 - Review Day

SanAg7's Wonderful Cover... My Favorite Cover Artwork in the Series so far

There was no better day to read a wonderful folio. The day was just perfect to get cozy and dig into a good anthology. The weather was great. Not too hot and not to cold, and there were no pending engagements to snatch me away from reading. Plus, there were these wonderful and delicious companions while reading...

In a writer's life, some sun must shine!

And of course, what else should be there to complete everything but coffee... So, with these in tow, I settled in my fave spot and read away.

Beautiful Artwork/Tattoo Design

To understand why I am ecstatic about SanAg Folio, read the previous post. This edition of the Folio features a beautiful artwork by Ervin M. Rondez Jr., a self taught artist from Hamtic Antique. It features the mythical Sarimanok/Adarna bird with wings outstretched, and seemingly protecting a young maiden covered in the traditional 'pintados' tattoo with sprouting foliage. Though the cover may just be black and white, this is perfectly and tastefully done so as to highlight the wonderful artwork. When I checked on the bio of the artist, it says that his ultimate ambition is to become a tattoo artist. I would gladly let him do my next tattoo should I become ready for it. I can only hope to have captured properly the beautiful cover design.

My Manding - Glenn Sevilla Mas... Medyo Crush ko pa naman sana dahil chubby, kaso tiyahin ko sya kasi 'kapatid sya ng literary mother ko na Si John Iremil Teodoro eh, incestuous naman yun noh... Tsk tsk tsk... sayang! Hehehehe

This issue is but a 'Press Filler' as Mr. Jigger Latoza has said, but it contains to full length and very powerful works. The first one is a full length play entitled Games People Play by Glenn Sevilla Mas. This play won 2nd prize in the 2007 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, and was presented in a stage reading during Tanghalang Pilipino's 2001 Virgin Labfest in the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolebntino at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The play beautifully tackles childhood, friendship, sexuality and sexual awakening, dysfunctional/absent parents and the cruelty of life, especially to children. The narrative is rich and artistically told through the motiff of fairy tales and children's games. As I was reading through the play, I imagine myself playing one of the characters, as this is an 'actor's play.' There are only three characters in the play, Julio, Luna and Diego, but they are very challenging roles, as the three characters themselves alternately play other 'characters' such as the parents of the charcaters and their younger selves. There arae even parts where a male character, julio for example, plays Luna's Neurotically Religious Mother. It excites the stage actor in me, and the story line is rich and very textured, but perfectly contratsed to a very minimalist set with only lights and minimal props relying on effective 'area acting' to get the play thorugh, in an actual production. Glenn Mas delivers yet another powerful play with this one. Syempre pa, I am proud of the author, as he is my literary mother John Iremil Teodoro's 'sister'; hence, he is my aunt, and Manding Glenn delivers yet another proof as to why he has Nine Palancas a Ford Foundation Scholarship for his MFA in Playwritting, and three books of plays. Glenn, after all is another outstanding and powerhouse literary gem of Western Visayas.

Half the book done, half the box too... Weeee

The second manuscript is a scrrenplay entitled Hula: Higit Pa Sa Mga Tala by Lorenzo Fuentes Templonuevo. The author uses the mottif of astorlogy, particularly the Zodiac Signs in his screenplay. The whole screenplay has an 'indie' feel to it, very cinematographic story telling, and a nice ending to bring everything to an 'agreeable' conclussion. Although there is an 'indie' feel to the story, the whole thing has 'pop' elements in it, and tackles later on in the story the dilemma between working abroad as opposed to volunteering for humanitarian work in the war torn fields of Mindanao. The former being the more 'zodiacal' choice, while the latter runs cintrary to what is predicted for the character, as inferred from and dictated by her birth charts. Although the story becomes a bit 'formulaic' and predictable at some point, maybe that's just me.

All in all, the book is a wonderfull read, and not only for the purpose of reading per se, but would also be helpful for me as a writer if and when I would decide to give play writting or scrrenplay writting a shot.

Another 'press' of Java... My personal French Coffee Press fro Starbucks - given by a friend for my birthday a long time ago.

P.S: Should you be interested in getting a copy of this issue of SanAg or any other issue for that matter, as well as titles from Libro Agustino, and titles by Mother John Iremil Teodoro, leave me a message and I will be more than willing to make arrangements for you on how you can buy them. I am not an official 'agent' of any of the above named persons and entities, but for the sake of Literature and spreading Hiligaynon/Western Visayan Literature, I would be more than happy to help you get your copies. Spread the word.

Glenn Sevilla Mas' Photo Copied from:

http://www.geocities.com/phil_writers/mas_glenn