National Artist for Theater (2001)

(January 3, 1915 December 12, 1980)

Playwright, director, actor, and theater organizer Severino Montano is the forerunner in
institutionalizing legitimate theater in the Philippines. Taking up courses and graduate
degrees abroad, he honed and shared his expertise with his countrymates.

As Dean of Instruction of the Philippine Normal College, Montano organized the Arena
Theater to bring drama to the masses. He trained and directed the new generations of
dramatists including Rolando S. Tinio, Emmanuel Borlaza, Joonee Gamboa, and Behn
Cervantes.

He established a graduate program at the Philippine Normal College for the training of
playwrights, directors, technicians, actors, and designers. He also established the Arena
Theater Playwriting Contest that led to the discovery of Wilfrido Nolledo, Jesus T.
Peralta, and Estrella Alfon.

Among his awards and recognitions are the Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award from the
City of Manila (1968), Presidential Award for Merit in Drama and Theater (1961), and
the Rockefeller Foundation Grant to travel to 98 cities abroad (1950, 1952, 1962, and
1963).

Severino Montano (1915 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte 12 December 1980) is considered as one of the
Titans of Philippine Theater.[by whom?]He was a playwright, director, actor and theater organizer with an
output of one novel, 150 poems and 50 plays in his 65-year lifetime. Through the foundation of the
Arena Theater, Montano institutionalized legitimate theater in the Philippines.
Academically, Montano started his tutelage under a British mentor, Marie Leslie Prising, when he
was thirteen. He studied at the University of the Philippines. She took Montano under her wing and
endowed him with Western literature, the theater and Shakespeare. He was part of the UP Stage
when he studied in the University of the Philippines. Then a scholarship took him to the famous 47
playwriting workshops of George Pierce Baker at Yale University and guided by Broadway names
and international personalities like Komissarjevsky of the famous Moscow Art Theater. He was
conferred a Master of Fine Arts degree in playwriting and production by Yale University.
In 1946, he went to London to become a student of economist Harold Laski of the London School of
Economics. Not long after, he was offered a teaching job at the American University in Washington,
D.C. There, he finished his M.A. in Economic and Ph.D. in management and public administration, at
the same time leading a playwriting-drama program as professor, playwright and play director. In
1950, 1952, 1962 and 1963, The Rockefeller Foundation extended him a world travel grant to visit
cultural and art centers in 98 cities in Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, India, China and Japan.
When he reurned to the Philippines, he already had 16 major plays to his credit. As Dean of
Instruction of the Philippine Normal College, Montano organized the Arena Theater to bring drama
to the masses. He used his own money, about a thousand pesos, to start the Arena Theater, a
theater-in-the-round. Due to the PNC being unable to fund the theater, Montano volunteered his
services to plan for a self-financing national drama program that would serve the grass-roots, the
barrios of the Philippines.
In 1953, the theater opened with three one-act plays and broke all records of all performances in
Philippine theater history.[citation needed] The roving troupe took theater to near and far-flung barrios in 47
provinces across the country. Four of his plays became tour staples: the full-length The Love of
Leonor Rivera and three one-act plays, Parting at Calamba, The Ladies and the
Senador and Sabina. The Arena Theater also began a graduate program for the training of
playwrights, directors, technicians, actors and designers. The program was also extended to include
a four-year undergraduate curriculum.
He trained and directed a new generation of dramatist including Rolando S. Tinio and Behn
Cervantes. The Arena Theater Playwriting Contest also led to the discovery of Wilfrido
Nolledo, Jesus T. Peralta and Estrella Alfon.
His awards include the Kalinangan Award from the city of Manila (1968), the Presidential Award for
Merit in Drama and Theater (1961), the Citizens Committee for Mass Media Award (1967 and 1968),
the Pamulinawen Award (1981), and the National Artist Award (2001). The last two awards were
given posthumously.
His published works include The Love of Leonor Rivera (poetic tragedy in two-parts), My Morning
Star (poetic historical tragedy in three-parts), But Not My Sons Any Longer(poetic tragedy in two-
parts), Gabriela Silang (poetic historical tragedy in three-parts), The Merry Wives of Manila (comedy
of manners in three-parts), Sabina (tragedy), The Ladies and the Senador (satirical comedy)
and Parting at Calamba (historical drama).
He died on December 12, 1980, at the age of 65.

Aims of the Arena Theater[edit]

"What we want to do at the Arena Theater is not to become professionals overnight, but to develop a
professional approach, and grow into professionalism with time, experience and hard work as our
legitimate passport towards that goal. In the meanwhile, we want to develop technicians and train
playwrights, actors, directors, costume designers, lighting technicians and business-minded artists
who will know how to get into production profitably.
At the Arena we also realize the importance that drama plays in personal adjustments. We
understand the psychological value of role playing, and the tremendous influence dramatic art may
have in developing the character of the individual and his relationship to a social group. We aim to
reach other areas of the country through our student teachers who comes from all over the
Philippines to work with us."

Severino Montano's "Sabina": A Review of a

Philippine Tragedy in English
Sabina, the main character of the play, is not of noble birth in the first place. In other words,
the requirement that a tragic hero should be of noble birth was disregarded. She is the only
daughter of a poor family in Kawakan. However, there is a replacement for that
shortcoming, and that is Sabina's disposition in the beginning of the play-she is very happy!
The essence of nobility requirement of the play is to show that the tragic hero is "happy"
with nothing to worry about money and other vanities. In the play, Sabina may not be of
noble birth but she compensates for that in her happiness. This is important for us to see the
fall of the tragic hero, not from nobility to poverty but from happiness to despair. Her great
esteem and faith for her love were very important to consider as a replacement for her lack
of nobility. In the end, we see a sudden change of heart. She almost became insane when she
discovered that Mr. George Price is a married man. Therefore, the downfall of Sabina is not
her death, but her sudden change from her ultimate happiness to her ultimate grief.

Sabina has a tragic flaw indeed that caused her downfall-she was so naive and gullible. A
tragic flaw, or hamartia, is needed for a tragedy to be tragic. The tragic hero should not be
killed nor made suffer by others without his flaw being the reason. If that happens, that
would make the play dull if not stupid. The action in the play should happen due to the hero
and his tragic flaw. And that what happened to Sabina. She was so innocent, believing in
true love. She even chose Mr. George Price over her family and relatives. She believed that
they would be happy and nothing should matter. She even gave herself up to Mr. Price
because of her love, her naivety, her stupidity. When she reached the stage of anagnorisis,
realizing that she could never be married with Mr. Price because he was already married,
making the situation worse by her pregnancy, she killed herself. Was she consistent to her
character? To her tragic flaw? Yes. She killed herself after realizing that she could never be
married with her love, realizing that she disgraced her family, realizing that she has no one
to turn to and realizing that she had a bastard for a son. For a naive tragic heroine like
Sabina, killing herself was indeed properly motivated. She was doomed to make an error in
judgment in killing herself, foreshadowed by everything she did prior to her anagnorisis.

When Sabina realized her irreversible mistake, she was quick to deny it, yet suddenly she
accepted it (or so we were made to think before she shot herself). But, as Aristotle described
it, Sabina never accepted her death with honor: one reason, her death is sudden, although it
is plausible and properly motivated; second; in the Philippine setting, there is nothing
honorable in death. So, we see that this play does not agree with that part of Aristotle's
concept of tragedy.

Before and at the end of the play, we feel pity and fear. There is indeed a Catharsis at the
end of the play. We pity Sabina for what she experienced, and we fear, at the same time, that
we may experience that same grief someday. There is a great probability in the play: a
probability that one may fall in-love and be blinded by that love; and, after all has been said
and done, after one has fought for that love and sacrificed everything, the only thing one
gets is pain. Nobody wants to get hurt, especially if the pain is from the one you truly love.
Sabina was disillusioned indeed. She was like the moths flying around the lamp given by Mr.
George Price. "They never knew they were moths until their wings get burned," as Arturo
Rotor puts it in "Zita." Purgation of emotions can indeed be seen in the play.

The tragic vision in the play seems so difficult to find. It may be the remorse of Sabina.
When she tried to talk to her brother about her problem, it may seem to be the "hope" that
the play shows. Yet, she killed herself so there is nothing "hopeful" and triumphant in that
scene. Then, when she killed herself everyone wept. We also discovered that Mr. George
Price did not really leave her, and he really loved her. We discovered that her family and her
relatives did not really hate her, but were only worried for her. They loved Sabina. They just
did not know how to say or show it properly to a naive girl whose dream is only to find
happiness. The lament of her relatives at her death and their exhibition of their love when
she died, despite her having fought and shouted at them, is the tragic vision in the play. That
is the light that the audience see after the tragic heroine's death. They were not really mad at
her; they were only concerned for her well-being and her honor-the one thing that she was
not able to see.

Tragedy has evolved through the years since Aristotle wrote his Poetics. Many writers have
followed his concepts, but we see now that many writers too have deviate from the
traditional concept of tragedy, especially with the sprouting of new approaches in the study
of literature. However, one cannot deny the fact that Aristotle was the one who first thought
of common criteria in the study of the drama, especially tragedy, which made him very
important in the study of literature.

In Sabina, one sees that a play can be tragic without having to follow strictly the rules
Aristotle conceptualized. However, the play seems so abrupt. Though the dilemma is
plausible and the death of Sabina is properly motivated, the dialogue between Sabina and
Mr. Price seemed to be far-fetched from reality, i.e. his confession of his true civil status. It
could have been more dramatic, more emotional on the part of the man. But, possibly,
Montano was giving way for actors' and directors' interpretation of the dialogue. Generally
speaking, the play is one of the best representatives of Philippine play in English.

Rolando Tinio
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rolando S. Tinio

National Artist of the Philippines

Born March 5, 1937

Philippines

Died July 7, 1997

 Manila, Philippines

Education University of Santo Tomas

State University of Iowa

Occupation Filipino writer and actor

Children Antonio and Victoria

Rolando Santos Tinio (March 5, 1937 July 7, 1997) was

a Filipino poet, dramatist, director, actor, critic, essayist and educator.[1][2][3][4]

Contents

[hide]

1Biography

2Works

o 2.1Poetry collections

o 2.2Translated plays

o 2.3Essay collections

o 2.4Newspaper columns

3Achievements

o 3.1Other achievements of tinio

4References

5Related To

6Footnotes

o 6.1Bibliography

Biography[edit]
Rolando Tinio is a Philippine National Artist for Theater and Literature. He was born in
Gagalangin, Tondo, Manila on March 5, 1937.[5] As a child, Tinio was fond of organizing and directing
his playmates for costumed celebrations. He was an active participant in the Filipino movie industry
and enjoyed working with Philippine celebrities who he himself had admired in his childhood. Tinio
himself became a film actor and scriptwriter. He is often described as a religious, well-behaved and
gifted person. Tinio graduated with honors (a "magna cum laude" achiever) with a degree
in Philosophy from the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas at age 18 in 1955 and an
M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing:Poetry from the State University of Iowa. [1][2][3][5]

In Iowa, Tinio was known as a great writer that used English as the medium of the Filipino writer. He
wrote his poetic collection: Rage and Ritual which won an award from the University of the
Philippines. Bienvenido Lumbera, also an alumnus of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo
Tomas, describes this collection as elegant and with a truly contemporary tone if taken from the
European literary critical view. At this point in time, Tinio believed that only English can hone the
themes that he wanted to communicate in his works. Once, in a conference, an author delivered his
belief in the value of the Tagalog dialect in Creative Writing. In response to this, Tinio published an
article in the scholarly journal Philippine Studies, which contained parts of English poems translated
into Tagalog. The articles purpose was to prove the inadequacy of Tagalog as the writers medium.
(Lumbera)

In the mid-1960s, however, Tinio decided to try writing in Tagalog and the product of this trial was the
collection of poems now called Bagay. Rolando Tinio was the sole inventor of Taglish in Philippine
poetry. Through this, he gave an authentic tone to the poetry of the native middle-class Filipino. In
1972, Tinio wrote another poetry collection: Sitsit sa Kuliglig and this showed the great contrast
between his old and new advocacy. If in Rage and Ritual, portrayals of art and the artist that are not
closely associated with the Filipino lifestyle are communicated, Sitsit sa Kuliglig clearly portrays the
everyday experiences of a Tondo-grown individual now living in Loyola heights. Heaven and earth;
the gap between Tinios works in English and those in Tagalog.(Lumbera)

Tinio was also an actor, director, and a set and costume designer. He served all these roles during
his stay with the Ateneo Experimental Theater. Tinio chooses the plays, designs the stage, directs,
creates the costumes and determines the musical score and other sounds. Productions of the
Ateneo Experimental Theater are completely his vision. In his production of Oedipus Rex, he
replaced the Greek costumes with modern renditions made primarily of metal pipes supposedly to
express the thought of industrial 20th century. (Lumbera)

His work with the Ateneo Experimental Theater expresses the concept of the actor being merely one
of the directors tools in shaping the stage; communicate his vision through all aspects of the
production. The last production of Tinios personal theater company was entitled ?. The production
was performed in a classroom rather than an auditorium and Tinio made the actors mingle freely
with the audience. There is no real meaning in the action and there is no definite storyline. The
meaning is hidden in the intentional actions of the actors and the unexpected reply of the audience
(Lumbera)

He published four seminal books of poems between 1972 and 1993, in which, along with his
longtime friend, Bienvenido Lumbera, helped modernize the traditionally sentimental Filipino style.
He had also worked on his own projects such as the Ateneo Experimental Theater productions and
other serious dramas in Filipino. His contribution to Philippine literature and theater is immense. [1][2]
[3]
His contributions include establishing the Filipino Department of Ateneo de Manila.
Circa 1976, Tinio also wrote the lyrics for the six hymns of the "Misa ng Alay-Kapwa" the music for
which was composed by Fr. Eduardo P. Hontiveros, SJ. (The most popular of these hymns still sung
in Churches throughout the Philippines is "Buksan ang Aming Puso.) These hymns were published
in the now out of print, -Mga Awiting Pansamba-.

Rolando Santos Tinio was directing a musical when he suffered a heart attack in Manila on July 7,
1997. He died on July 8, 1997 at age 60. His wife, theatre and film actress, Ella Luansing had died
some years before. He was survived by his two children, Antonio and Victoria. [1][2][3]

Works[edit]
Poetry collections[edit]

"Sitsit sa Kulilig" (Whistling at Cicadas) or (Shusshing Cicadas) (1972) [1][2][3]

"Dunung-Dunungan" (Pedantry) (1975)[1][2][3]

"Kristal na Uniberso" (Crystal Universe) (1989)

"Trick of Mirrors" (1993)[1][2][3]

"Ang Burgis sa Kanyang Almusal"(1970)

Translated plays[edit]

"Laruang Kristal" (The Glass Menagerie) (1966)[1][2][3]

"Pahimakas sa Isang Ahente" (Death of a Salesman) (1966) [1][2][3]

"Paghihintay Kay Godo" (Waiting for Godot) (1967)

"Miss Julie" (1967)[1][2][3]

"Rama Hari" (Rama, King) (1980)

Essay collections[edit]

"A Matter of Language, Where English Fails" (1990)[1][2][3]

Newspaper columns[edit]

"Touchstones" for Metro Manila (1977)[1][2][3]

"Totally Tinio" for Manila Chronicle (19861987, 1990)[1][2][3]

"In Black and White" for Philippine Daily Globe (19871989) [1][2][3]

Achievements[edit]
Tinio was known for translating Western classics, which includes the works
of Sophocles, Shakespeare, Ibsen, Chekhov, Puccini and Verdi, into Tagalog. He did these
translations in order to advance the Filipino language. He was a prolific poet and writer who helped
establish the Filipino-language drama in the 1970s.[1][2][3][6]

He was made a National Artist of the Philippines for Theater and Literature in 1997.[1][2][3][7]

Other achievements of tinio[edit]

Ten Outstanding Young Men (1967)

Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan, City government of Manila (1967)

Gantimpalang Quezon sa Panitikan (1977)

Gawad CCP Para Sa Sining for Theater (1993)[1][2][3]

Famas Award for 'Sidhi'(1999)

Rolando Tinio, National Artist

This great Filipino poet was a National Artist for Theater and Literature and was in the
first group of inductees into the Palanca Hall of Fame in 1995. A native of Tondo,
Manila, he was born in 1937 and died in 1997.

SHORT BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION IN ENGLISH

Rolando (Santos) Tinio is famous for being a playwright, poet and translator. He was
born in Tondo. Date of birth: March 5, 1997. Died in Manila in on July 7, 1997. Belonged
to the anti-Romantic group of Tagalog poets known as the Bagay (Object) group who
describe things and avoid giving interpretations. The Grandmotherdescribes a senile,
cranky grandmother; this poem gives a glimpse into the ways of a typical Filipino
household at dusk when the Angelus prayer is announced.

TAGALOG TRANSLATION OF BIOGRAPHY

Si Rolando (Santos) Tinio ay kilala bilang mandudula, makata at tagapagsalin Isinilang

siya sa Tondo. Araw ng kapanganakan: Marso 5, 1997. Namatay sa Maynila noong
Hulyo 7, 1997. Nabibilang sa grupong Bagay ng mga anti-Romantikong makatang
Tagalog na naglalarawan ng mga bagay at umiiwas sa pagbibigay ng mga kuru-
kuro. Ang Lola ay naglalarawan ng isang matandang ulyanin at bugnutin; ang tulang ito
ay nagbibigay ng isang sulyap sa mga gawi ng isang pangkaraniwang tahanang Pilipino
sa dapit-hapon sa pagtugtog ng orasyon.

POETRY COLLECTIONS BY ROLANDO TINIO:

Sitsit sa Kulilig (Whistling at Cicadas, 1972); Dunung-Dunungan (Pedantry,

1975); Kristal na Uniberso (Crystal Universe, 1989); Trick of Mirrors (1993)

EXAMPLE OF POETRY TRANSLATION BY ROLANDO TINIO:

National Artist for Theater (1999)

(January 26, 1917 May 12, 2013)

Daisy H. Avellana, is an actor, director and writer. Born in Roxas City, Capiz on January
26, 1917, she elevated legitimate theater and dramatic arts to a new level of excellence
by staging and performing in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino and foreign
plays and by encouraging the establishment of performing groups and the
professionalization of Filipino theater. Together with her husband, National Artist
Lamberto Avellana and other artists, she co-founded the Barangay Theatre Guild in
1939 which paved the way for the popularization of theatre and dramatic arts in the
country, utilizing radio and television.

She starred in plays like Othello (1953), Macbeth in Black (1959), Casa de Bernarda
Alba (1967), Tatarin. She is best remembered for her portrayal of Candida
Marasigan in the stage and film versions of Nick Joaquins Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino. Her directorial credits include Diego Silang (1968), and Walang
Sugat (1971). Among her screenplays were Sakay (1939) and Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino (1955).