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Meet Charles Yee, the young director of Tanghalang Pilipino’s ‘Nekropolis’

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="via Paw Castillo" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/04/18/20230418-charles-yee-via-paw-castillo.jpg"/><figcaption>CalArts alumnus Charles Yee directs TP’s 36th season ender ‘Nekropolis.’ <em>Paw Castillo</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- Fresh from finishing his Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the California Institute of the Arts (CarArts) as a Fulbright scholar and an Asian Cultural Council grantee, emerging young artist-educator Charles Yee directs Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Nekropolis.”</p><p>The play follows 10 characters who are trying to survive and make sense of their lives in a city where people slumber through the sound of gunshots and screens flicker with one breaking news after another. Amid the chaos, they seek to numb their senses with drugs, sex, or God.</p><p>“Nekropolis” was written by his good friend and long-time collaborator, playwright-director-actor Guelan Varela-Luarca, who calls “Nekropolis” a love letter to his home country.</p><p>“Nekropolis” is the result of collaboration and improvisation sessions involving Varela-Luarca, Yee, stage manager Soc Amon, and the 14 members of Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company.</p><p>As a director, designer and actor, Yee’s works have been presented at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Educational Theater Association, the Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines, as well as in various spaces in Los Angeles, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Vietnam. He works in the Philippines as a professional artist and as faculty of the Fine Arts Department of the Ateneo de Manila University.</p><p>Among his directorial works at the CCP through the Virgin Labfest (VLF) are “Fangirl,” “Ang Sugilanon ng Kabiguan ni Epifania,” “Chipline” and “Rosas.” As designer he recently worked with Repertory Philippines for “Carousel” and Dulaang UP with “Nana Rosa.”</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/07/05/19/theater-review-4-must-watch-plays-in-virgin-labfest-15">Theater review: 4 must-watch plays in Virgin Labfest 15</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/07/06/16/review-4-must-watch-plays-in-virgin-labfest-12">Review: 4 must-watch plays in Virgin Labfest 12</a></li></ul><p>In his directorial note, Yee said they tried to experiment in finding nuances both familiar and unfamiliar, scenes that maybe far but not detached from reality and in the end, find sense and meaning through the safe space that is theater. </p><p>Fresh from the acclaimed “Ang Pag-uusig,” TP Actors Company senior members Marco Viaña, Jonathan Tadioan, Lhorvie Nuevo and Antonette Go-Yadao lead the ensemble composed of TP scholars Aggy Mago, Mark Lorenz, Vince Macapobre, Mitzi Comia, Arjhay Babon, Heart Puyong, Sarah Monay, Edrick Alcontado and Judie Dimayuga. Guest actor is Zoe De Ocampo from Tanghalang Ateneo.</p><p>Dramaturg is Dominique La-Victoria, known for her prize-winning plays that were staged in the VLF like “Ang Bata Sa Drum” and “Chipline.” The rest of the artistic team is composed of choreographer JM Cabling, production designer Tata Tuviera, lighting designer D Cortezano, projection designer Joyce Garcia and sound designer-engineer Arvy Dimaculangan.</p><p>As the final offering for its 36th Season of the resident theater company of the CCP, “Nekropolis” runs for only one weekend, from April 20, Thursday, to April 23 at the CCP Black Box Theater or the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. </p><p>We had an online conversation with Yee and here are excerpts.</p><div><strong>Q: For “Nekropolis,” you were part of the creation of the story itself from day one, together with Soc Amon and the TP Actors Company. Kindly bring us back to day one. </strong></div><p>Yee: “It would honestly be tough to remember the exact starting point of the project. Simply put, the whole thing was a constant evolving process from informal conversations to structured workshops, reading, editing, etc.</p><p>“It is clear however, that Guelan and I had a very clear starting point using Vicente Rafael’s book – ‘The Sovereign Trickster’. After reading Rafael’s essays, Guelan and I crafted a series of games and activities that we could do with Soc Amon and the TP Actor’s Company. It was done around June 11 to June 15, 2022.</p><p>“Before and after each day, Guelan and I would do a check-in. I believe we did a layout or framework of what we wanted to explore. We didn’t yet have an idea on what the play would be. What was clear was there were things we were interested in investigating. Each day, we would lay out what to do, and also share thoughts on what we saw during the activities. Sometimes both of us immediately know there was already a germ of thought, but sometimes there were also experiences that were just weird but still curious that we felt we had to explore further still.</p><p>“From the process, there were simply a ton of materials that Guelan could write with. The company was very generous – we had 18 creative minds in the room exploring the different games we devised. Days One and Two were enough to write a play, but we also knew there were more things that needed to be explored and investigated. That’s how the work evolved.”</p><div><strong>Q: Having finished your MA in Directing from California Institute of the Arts, how would you compare your style of directing now from say, prior to the pandemic? </strong></div><p>Yee: “Graduate school was definitely an expansive experience. My time going through the MFA Directing program at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) was definitely a test of creativity. In the first year alone, I had to direct six different works. You quickly run out of our ‘bag-of-tricks’ as a director and are pushed to explore new ways and methodologies in crafting a performance. </p><p>“We explored what a performance can be, the multiple structures it can take, object work, puppets, film, video, you name it. It was about directing performances in the most expansive way it can mean. It wasn’t simply about working with scripts or text, nor was it simply about blocking, set, or costumes.</p><p>“It allowed me to go back to the core of being an artist. I was able to better hear my voice as a director, and further sharpen senses – of seeing the obvious and the beauty already present, of zeroing in and deepening on a single thought. It cultivated in me a more explorative attitude, and a more honest engagement with myself and the community I am with.”</p><div><strong>Q: How many plays written by Guelan you’ve directed? Including ‘Nekropolis’? </strong></div><p>Yee: “So far, I’ve worked with Guelan’s adaptation of Malou Jacob’s ‘Juan Tamban’ and Edgar Samar’s ‘Ang Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon’. Likewise, we’ve also worked together on an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar.’</p><div><strong>Q: What is it about Guelan&#x27;s works that make them, as they say, unique and spellbinding, almost ahead of their time?</strong></div><p>Yee: “For me, I think one of Guelan’s strengths is his awareness of the world and his unique ability in translating that into a work or text that we can resonate with. He’s able to be poetic, straightforward, even vulgar when needed – he is able to transform language into imagery and rhythm that both the actors and artists, as well the audiences, can resonate with. He is generous both with his dreams and his fears, in his experiences and vulnerabilities. It’s what makes his work have so much appeal, because we’re able to see ourselves in it.”</p><div><strong>Q: After the pandemic lockdowns and since theaters have reopened, is “Nekropolis” your first directorial project of a full-length play for a professional, major theater group? </strong></div><p>Yee: “I did work during the pandemic but it was in graduate school. The last play I directed was a world premiere of Boni Alvarez’s adaptation of ‘Medea’. In it, he transformed the titular character of Medea into Marabella – a Filipino nanny in Los Angeles who got pregnant because of Jason, her white politician boss.”</p><div><strong>Q: How was it working with the TP Actors Company? In ‘Nekropolis’, Tata Nanding Josef is not included in the cast, do you wish someday to direct him in a play?</strong></div><p>Yee: Initially, Tata Nanding was supposed to be part of the cast when we were still in the very early process of imagining the play. Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, it wasn’t able to push through. Definitely interested in being able to work with such a veteran actor!</p><div><strong>Q: In this milieu, why would theater lovers watch ‘Nekropolis’, especially college students? </strong></div><p>Yee: “‘Nekropolis’ is daring to be different. It’s the fruit of the ‘Dulambayanihan’ process – we went through a workshop process to figure out what this work will be about. It contains what we dream and fear. It tries to confront what we’re experiencing. </p><p>“Many times, I think we keep ourselves too much in our own little bubbles and echo chambers. I for one know that I’ve learned how to mute the world around me, make myself numb to things I see, hear, and feel. It’s a way of survival, otherwise, there’d be too much to process. But because of having to ‘survive’ we also tend to lose out on the other things that allow us to ‘live’ and to engage with our world.”</p>

Fresh from finishing his Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the California Institute of the Arts (CarArts) as a Fulbright scholar, emerging young artist-educator Charles Yee directs Tanghalang Pilipino’s 'Nekropolis.'