Out of the fringe
The rains last Sept. 7 flooded some areas in the city, and I didn’t quite make it to the opening spiel of Karl Alexis Jingco, founder of Eksena PH and the festival director for the Shorts & Briefs test show at Shylo Cafe in Pasig.
This year’s Shorts & Briefs festival (SNB fest) is on its 11th run and features a collection of six 10-minute plays. The test show for this is a vital part of the process, explained to me later on by Jingco, then at his spiel in the beginning, to remind the audience that everyone involved in the SNB fest are first-timers.
The actors, the director, and the writer are all non-professionals in their roles for the festival, which is why one must sit back, relax, and enjoy the heart and bravery of these young artists as they create something completely new.
No experience needed
This story is at the heart of the SNB fest, according to Jingco. “When I was a student, I joined all the auditions, but I never got picked because I had no experience,” he shares. So what did he do? He created a festival to give him the experience he needed.
He started the SNB fest 11 years ago, producing and performing in plays on school grounds or small spaces. “We just wanted to make plays, even if we weren’t experienced.” Even during the pandemic, he worked online, but it wasn’t until the pandemic ended that they had built their following and began to market their shows more aggressively.
“In doing the festival… it was just fun seeing people na katulad ko rin na wala masyadong experience, pero sobrang excited sila mag-create ng play,” he shares. “This is the beauty of creation. It should be scary. It should be exciting. It should be experimental and it should be continuous development. It can’t be perfect at the start.”
This became the DNA of the festival. At the end of every SNB fest, there’d be a call for writers to send in their plays. Jingco—with the help of one of his mentors, renowned actor Rolly Inocencio—would go over the plays (sometimes reaching 200 submissions), scale it down to 17, and then down to 12. And then, they’d go over the applications for directors. Once the six directors have been chosen, the directors would decide which of the 12 plays would be performed.
For the writers, directors, and even actors, Jingco insists that no one should be a professional in their roles. He sees the festival as a chance to let newcomers perform in front of an audience, find their footing, and gain experience.
So while the SNB fest will officially begin on Sept. 20 (and run until the first week of October), the test show last Sept. 7 is crucial, as it gives actors and directors a chance to see the reactions of a live audience to the material. It also gives the actors a chance to work around their nerves and fine-tune their performance, and it gives the directors and writers a chance to refine the piece before the festival begins.
Bolder and more mature than ever
The 11th Shorts & Briefs festival showcases more mature and adult themes, all of which explore stories surrounding sex and reproductive health.
Performances include:
- “Sh*t” by Jeremi Flores, directed by Phillip Bracero Palmos, starring Philip Macabantad and Quiel Campo
- “The Red Hotel” by Aeriel Madriaga, directed by Rye Capulong, starring Khaye Paje and Warden Malaya
- “Josefino at ang Estatwa” by Francis Panes, directed by Ingrid Joyce, starring Rozel Basilio and Josefino
- “Warla Arena” by Tanghalin G. Tapat, directed by Tom Navarro, starring Salmo Nella, Kriszan Manipon, and JB
- “Raklamasyon Headquarters” by Lewor Sotis, directed by Mark Norman Baquiren, starring Monique Louise Maglaqui, Jonnel Empinado, and Sidrey Omar A. Apita
- “Ang Babae at ang Mangga” by John Custer, directed by Tads Obach-Acosta, starring Mika O’ Hara and Cullen Landicho.
Many of the works could still use refining and some of the performances need room for improvement, but the joy and eagerness is palpable. A standout of this set is Flores’ “Sh*t”, directed by Phillip Bracero Palmos—more popularly known as Phi Palmos. He makes the cut, despite being an amazing theater veteran, by being a first-time director. Plus, his direction is the most mature, which allows the actors to really play the scene and lets the brilliant script of Flores really come to the forefront.
The other pleasant surprise is Custer’s “Ang Babae at ang Mangga.” The script is deceptive but packs a punch, while Obach-Acosta’s direction is inventive and playful. He just needs his two actors to be more aware of working with their limited space, so that it can be a really strong piece.
On finding found spaces
In the 11th year of the festival, Jingco was surprised to see the success of his passion project. Last year, the SNB fest was able to secure a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and was able to tap the Cultural Center of the Philippines as their venue. What’s more, the submissions for plays and applications for directors had grown immensely.
“So for the 11th year, I wanted to go back to found spaces because yan ang root ng Short & Briefs,” he shares. “I’ve been going to different regions to do and teach theater at sa totoo lang, walang proper space or theater na malala sa regions. I would do theater in basketball courts, [or sa] maliit na classroom. So that’s my style. Even in Manila, we are happy that we are commercializing the festival, but still using found spaces.”
The festival is now on the radar of sponsors, to the point that this year’s festival has a partnership with Hues and Cues, who provided the lights. They also provided classes for the plays and a session for the audience so that they could stage their own SNB festival—all for free.
Jingco is now a professional theater actor for Tanghalang Pilipino, but he always returns to his passion project. Even after receiving a grant to study abroad for a year, the SNB fest can continue without him as the framework since the machinery is already laid out and established.
In the past few years, which has seen the growth of the theater industry in the country, it’s exciting to see that smaller, fringe groups have found an audience and can sustain a festival like this—one that gives new players a chance to test their skills and live out their theater dreams.
