Dulaang UP (1976-2006): Theatre in the Academe in the Philippine Setting

Cortez, Alexander (2006) Dulaang UP (1976-2006): Theatre in the Academe in the Philippine Setting. Doctoral thesis, University of the Philippines, Diliman.

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Abstract

Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipnas (DUP), in its 30 years, has provided excellent theatre training in the University of the Philippines–Diliman campus. Within these thirty years are 30 memorable seasons that presented diverse topics, themes and genres primarily to train future theatre practitioners as well as provide good educational theatre entertainment to the public. However, although DUP has successfully finished its first 30 years and begins anew, hardly any study has focused on it as a theatre group and its contribution to Philippine theatre. The researcher, as a founding member and its managing director for thirteen years, felt a great need to initiate what may become a major body of work on DUP and its many facets. It was with this great desire that he focused his study on DUP so that whatever is produced from this endeavor becomes a germinating text from which other studies shall come that will deepen, clarify, or discover other DUP-related topics. Moreover, this paper attempted to discover DUP’s evolution from a simple theatre group to its present status as well as document its contribution to Philippine theatre and theatre training. The researcher perused through numerous texts such as DUP files, DUP production books, production notes, production programs, press releases and reviews, books on theatre, published interviews, personal communications and online materials. He personally interviewed several DUP personages. The research is a significant one since only one research has been done on theatre in UP and barely on DUP. using the historico-descriptive and participant-observer methods the researcher presented his findings using a systematic approach starting from the pre-DUP era and the factors that led to its founding to the management of DUP. Chapter I contains the background from which the study originated. It presents the problem that the researcher sought to answer and outlines the objectives that the researcher has set. It discusses his research methodology and reviews all related and pertinent data and sources utilized to proceed with his research. Chapter II narrates the development of theatre in the Philippine academic setting. It traces academic theatre from the colonial period and continues to discuss the different theatre groups in the academe. More importantly, it documents the theatres in such academic bodies as Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), Silliman University (SU), Philippine Normal University (PNU), Mindanao State University (MSU) and the University of the Philippines (UP). Chapter III recounts the evolutionary process that DUP underwent in 30 years from the initial movement by founder Tony Mabesa to the present DUP set-up. It documents DUP pre-history and its historical development as well as presents a general survey of DUP’s seasons of plays grouping these according to language, genre and directors. The chapter also enumerates the plays brought on tour and the awards and festivals participated in by DUP. Related theatre groups of DUP like the UP Playwrights Theatre which presents original plays by Filipino playwrights, the defunct Theatre Arts Company which became to be the professional counterpart of DUP, the Creative Thesis Productions and UP Dulaang Laboratoryo were also discussed. Chapter IV focuses on the different directors who have influenced DUP in its 30 years. It presents a short biographical discussion of each director, and then proceeds to his directorial style. It is hoped that through this chapter, a clearer understanding can be gained concerning the undercurrent that moved DUP forward—its directors. Chapter V makes a general survey of DUP’s 30 seasons of plays and productions. It is a discussion of the plays that DUP through its directors has chosen to present and its own value in the growing consciousness of the theatre-going public. It sketches out the plays according to theatre periods from the Classical to the Contemporary with the inclusion of Asian and, more importantly, Filipino original plays. Using the interpretive view, the researcher purposefully included biographical notes on the playwright as a means of background to the play. Chapter VI discusses the theatre curriculum used by DUP. it is primarily based on the approved curriculum of the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts. The discussion proceeds from the historical presentation of the theatre curriculum during the early days of the then Department of Speech and Drama to the present department with a name that is so telling of its own development. Chapter VII focuses on the management of DUP, both artistic and commercial/financial. It utilizes different data on the plays presented by DUP as well as the standard operating procedures that DUP follows in its organizational structure. Chapter VIII summarizes the whole study and from which the researcher drew his conclusions and recommendations for DUP. It is a valuable resource for other theatre graduate students in their future research projects. Overall, this paper documents three aspects on DUP: (1) its historical development; (2) its productions and plays, including the influence of the directors; and (3) its management, both artistic and commercial. Further studies on DUP are necessary and highly recommended by this researcher to flesh out the many facets of DUP and enrich our knowledge about DUP so that it may continue to develop, evolve, and contribute.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Dulaang UP, theatre, theatre criticism, theatre history
Depositing User: Repo Admin
Date Deposited: 12 May 2017 14:59
Last Modified: 26 Aug 2017 04:07
URI: http://philippineperformance-repository.upd.edu.ph/id/eprint/576

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