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History of Iloilo Theater

Theater itself isnt a physical structure that houses the events. It refers to the presence of 

activities that can attract audience and involves the committee to portray the meaning and substance to

the activity which must be performed before an audience.

Before the theater became popular, there has been some kind of theatrical activity among

Ilonggos even during World War II. The performing groups from Manila have brought the vaudeville type

of shows consisting of songs and skits in the big theaters of Iloilo City. The theaters of Iloilo City that

exist in the past are Cine eagle that alter turned into Traders Royal Bank and the Cine Palace the defunct

regent and alter renovated. Local amateurs actors performed zarzuelas interspersed with songs and

dances on improvised open air-stages during town fiestas in the 50s even into the 60s.

During the American occupation, theater was the form of entertainment to reckon with, the

repository of the Ilonggos ideals and aspirations and disseminator of his culture. During the heyday of 

Ilonggotheater, dramatic literature in Hiligaynon was commonly performed. Ilonggos never stopped

using their own language to express their joys, sorrow, ideals, and aspirations in dramatic form.

Traditional drama includes the zarzuela, the non-musical prose drama and the comedia or moro-

moro written during the late Spanish regime and the Pre-war decade of the American occupation. The

Ilonggo zarzuela was the native foster daughter of the Spanish zarzuela which was brought over from

Spain by Dario Cespedes and his zarzuela troupe in 1878.

The students if the schools in I loilo naturally followed the lead of their more advanced

colleagues in Manila. In the late 1950s, the schools in Iloilo were industriously using drama as means of 

promoting poise, self expressiveness, and the agility to use English language correctly with the proper

enunciation.

The last of schools involved in theater productions are Assumption Convent, Colegio del Sagrado

Corazon de Jesus, University of San Agustin, the St. Pauls School of Nursing, jaroSeminary, the U.P. in

the Visayas, West Visayas State University, Central Philippine University, De Paul College, Iloilo Provincial

School, And the Iloilo School of Arts and Trade.

In the late 60s a group of faculty of the schools in Iloilo and the civic minded members of Iloilo

City community formed the Iloilo Drama Association (IDA) headed by Fr. Perez. of the University of San

Agustin. It aimed primarily at promoting drama as a tool of construction and self-expression with the

added objective of bringing drama consciousness to various sectors of the community. IDA is no longer

in existence but before its demise, it had lost its former prestige because many of the school heads and

community leaders who used to be active participants in its activities had become either old or bogged

down by the official duties.

Theater then was entertainment, an escape from reality, a venue for self expression and

popularity. Most of the productions were interpretations of western theaters such that it took directors

who had better grasp of the Western technique and culture to be able to present plays like these

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performed in the UPIC Little Theater or St. Annes Hall or the Marian Hall or the Rose Memorial Hall or

the USA auditorium. In the 1972, we did away with the competitions, instead there was The Theater in

Its Many Faces which aimed to make people aware or the different theater forms. It was also held free

so that more people could come to the theater.

The Ilonggotheater as it exist today attempts to interact intimately with the audiences it seeksto secure. The different constituents of Ilonggo theatre, whether traditional folk forms of college

productions, using new forms and techniques, are manifestations of a form of social consciousness or

conscienzation that is even now going on. In the attempt to bridge the gap between Ilonggo audiences

lie the foundation of a viable living Ilonggo theater, one that could become the what the zarzuela was to

Iloilo back in the early decades of the century. More importantly, theater must be able to express the

sentiments, aspirations, biases and social responses of people interacting within the regional context.

Regional theater in the Philippines is a possible source of understanding for the eventual identification

of the Filipino national character. While in the search for our national theater, the regional theater may

serves as laboratory, the search for regional character may lead to the formation of our national

character, one of that may stand up to the vicissitudes that have visited us as a people these past.