Guelan Varela-Luarca discusses theater’s growing popularity, playwrights’ unique storytelling, and the superior acting in live performances.
The man of the hour in theater, Guelan Varela-Luarca, is doing three plays simultaneously: “3 Upuan” by Scene Change and Arete, “Sintang Dalisay” by Tanghalang Ateneo and Arete and “Kisapmata” by Tanghalang Pilipino. This seems to be his norm as long as he is in Manila. He is set to fly to Hong Kong to get married and work for a couple of years, but he plans to participate in some productions when his schedule allows.
In 2024, he was inducted into the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards Hall of Fame after winning the top prize five times in the Full-Length Play category. He also ventured into film writing, contributing to Pepe Diokno’s short film “Lumang Tugtugin,” which was exhibited at the Manila Film Festival in June of last year.
The film received positive reviews, with Guelan’s work praised for demonstrating the value of screenwriting beyond spoken dialog, effectively using tension-inducing visual motifs, and positioning the ending as a loaded cycle ready to either break or loop back to the start.
We caught Guelan in the midst of preparations for his book launch, slated for this Sunday, February 23 — the closing day of what critics are calling the best play of 2024, “3 Upuan.”
We asked him to candidly answer five questions about the three worlds he has explored: theater, film, and literature. True to his genius, here are Guelan’s quick but valuable insights on the most pressing matters concerning our arts and industries.
Why is it that people are spending more for theater, concerts and live events instead of watching movies in the cinemas now? What accounts for the high interest and support for theater instead films in movie houses?
Guelan Luarca: There’s a hodgepodge of reasons, I’m sure, and this is just my personal guess, so take it with a grain of salt — but I can identify X reasons.
a) This is a rebound reaction to the extreme isolation and lack of community that we all felt during the three or so years of the pandemic. On the one hand, we miss community, and in the theater, the performers are part of the community, unlike in film where the actors aren’t in the here and now. On the other, a lot of people were exposed to theater during the pandemic when almost all the local and international theater companies released recordings of their shows to the public, like “Huling El Bimbo.” I think doing so created a whole new market of people eager for this kind of entertainment, and so when the theaters started opening again and the theater companies went on their “revenge” theater comebacks, those people who fell in love with theater during COVID were super eager to come back.
b) Playwrights. I’m not saying this to self-aggrandize. Playwrights write differently. I hope film producers start looking at our playwrights. Playwrights can tell stories in such unique ways, unique vantage points. I might be wrong, but I’m willing to bet that playwrights and their handle of language, their ear for dialogue, their sharpness and wit are supplying our audience’s need for hard-hitting truths, for entertainment that can articulate their nascent feelings about a world that seemed to have gone a few shades darker, for social problems that more than ever have become super close to home. I really think that a deeply traumatized society turns to theater for clarity and comfort.
And lastly,
c) Theater actors. Or actors from film or TV that have proven that they can pull-off the rigors of theater. I think it’s smart that TV networks like ABS-CBN are beginning to see how great a teacher theater is for actors. And a greater number of people have begun to see the difference between great acting and so-so acting and bad acting, especially as we have grown to be more aggressive, rabid consumers of programs and films and series during the pandemic. Anyone who’s seen a straight play recently can tell how much better acting is on stage than in TV or film. Anyone who’s seen a musical recently can only wonder at the tremendous talent and dedication and tirelessness of our actors.
How do you make watching plays interesting, and watching non-musical plays despite the popularity of musicals?
I have no idea! Maybe because I refuse to admit that it’s my job to make my plays interesting. If I think about how to make my plays interesting, I’ll be paralyzed. So I ‘d rather focus on craft and technique, on applying stuff I learned through the years from Ricky Lee and Ricky Abad and Glenn Mas and Ron Capinding and my teachers in New York about story structure, about directing actors, about making images, and poignant, powerful moments. If that interests the public, then thank God. If not, well sorry, that’s the only way I know how to do it now.
What can people expect from your book launch?
A reading of some excerpts from the plays by super duper talented actors! There’s also the announcement about the new theater company that I co-founded with six of the best people currently working in Manila theater! And our season! And some of the actors we’ll be working with!
Describe your “3 Upuan” experience. With its recent sold-out run, can people expect an extension?
Yes! We’ll be announcing our rerun soon!
“3 Upuan” is such a trip! None of us knew just how much people would resonate with it, because it started out as such a small, personal project. To witness how some audience members have a sense of ownership on the play, how they’ve allowed the play to become a vessel for their own grief — that’s testament to the three lovely actors, and to the capacity of theater to kind of process our deep, stormy feelings as people.
What have been the best takeaways and feedback that you have received from those who have seen “3 Upuan” – and why?
I’m most moved by two kinds of extreme reactions to the play — first are by those viewers who were so moved by the play that when they write about it on social media, they’ve become such poetic, philosophical writers. There are also some reviews written by critics that are so literary. It’s lovely to see how one’s work has inspired others to express themselves so creatively. Especially when they cease to write about the play, but more a witnessing and confession about their own lives. And the second extreme reaction — is the silence. I’m not always present during shows coz I’m at rehearsals for my next production, but when I’m there and I see some audience members who just sit staring at the now-empty stage, or just walking almost half-dazed — that silence to me is precious. When friends in the theater come to me after the show and just squeeze my hand, sometimes even bragging that they cried, or that they were touched — I like that inarticulateness as much as I like those who are able to articulate their reactions to the play.
Milflores Publishing and Team Niel will hold the book launch of “Natal/National: Three Plays” by Guelan Varela-Luarca at the Joselito and Olivia Campos Interactive Teaching Laboratory in Arete at the Ateneo de Manila University this February 23. The book launch begins at 4:30 p.m. and ends just before the final showing of “3 Upuan” starring Jojit Lorenzo, JC Santos, and Martha Comia, and directed by the playwright and book author himself, Guelan Varela-Luarca. Apart from “3 Upuan,” the book also contains two award-winning plays: “Dogsblood” (Carlos Memorial Awards – First Prize, Full Length Play, 2023) and “Corridors” (Carlos Memorial Awards – First Prize, Full Length Play, 2024).
