Cebuano screenwriter and playwright Jai Shane Cañete helmed “Ayaw Ako Gaabi, Damgo sa Ngitngit” in 2015. | contributed photo
Cebu City, Philippines — A 32-year-old Cebuano screenwriter and playwright wants to strengthen the theater industry in Bantayan Island.
Jai Shane Cañete, one of the delegates in Tampok Festival Congress 2019 in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, hopes that the congress will help revive awareness to bring back theater in public.
“Sprouting of films and creations of so many film festivals somehow antagonized the popularity of theater-plays. And the new generation would settle for entertainment right at their smartphones,” he told Cebu Daily News Digital.
Cañete, a native of Sante Fe, Bantayan Island, is the founder of Teatro de Santa Fe and Lusad Teatro.
Tampok Festival Congress 2019 will be held from February 28 to March 2 with its theme, “Towards a Philippine Academy of Theater Arts.”
The event is organized by the National Commission Culture and the Arts (NCCA) through the Committee on Dramatic Arts (CDA).
The Teatro de Santa Fe focuses on religious play performances of the Roman Catholic Church in the town of Santa Fe while Teatro Lusad is a community theater in the entire Bantayan Island.
Cañete helmed several plays in the island including “Si Hesu-kristo ug ang Krus sa Kalibutan” (2012), “Nagsilaob Nga Kangitngit” (2013), “Kataposang Pag-gaab sa Kasingkasing sa Hudiyo” (2014), “Ayaw Ako Gaabi, Damgo sa Ngitngit” (2015), and “Tulo Ka Maria sa Kalbaryo” (2016).
To continuously promote theater on the island, Cañete plans to create stories that will preserve their culture and tradition.
He also wants to center stories that will give hope, showcase the talents of the islanders and bring certain issues on stage like the environmental problem, abusing political power, and public awareness like the rising of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) cases.
School collaboration is also important in promoting theater industry.
“In that way pud, makita sa new generation unsa ka nice diay na actual nimo makita ang actors in 3D,” he said. /bmjo