ALIW AWARDS have taken notice of a small theatre production done at the Baguio City Jail.
Directed by Angelo Aurelio, the "Anatomy of an Octopus Woman" presented by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology of the Baguio women’s jail dormitory has earned five nominations in this year’s awards.
Aliw Awards is presented by the Aliw Awards Foundation, Inc. established by the renowned Philippine journalist Alice Reyes in recognition for achievements in the entertainment industry and is a recognized pioneer in recognizing excellence in theatre, opera, and dance, live vocal and instrumental shows. The first awards show was held in 1977.
The jail play staged on Independence Day in June was nominated for Best New Concept Production, Best Performance (New Concept)-Hiromi Meguro, Best Performance (New Concept)-Benjan Natividad, Best Performance by an Ensemble -Jail Inmates of BJMP Women's Jail, and Best Director (New Concept).
Awards night will be held in Manila on December 19.
Aurelio mentored and made women from the jail “stage ready” in 18 days with four hours practice each day. The play presented in a makeshift stage at the women’s jail library in a two day performance with a running time of an hour and a half.
The story of the play is simple, relaying the stories of woe each of the detained ladies have gone through in life which have meted them a stint in the women’s facility.
Despite the simplicity of it all, the colors and layers of the play will unfold before you, taking you into the lives of these women, peppered by symbolism and theatrics, the story will take you to the highs and lows of the real stories of the women.
The play is the first theatrical presentation of the facility and has become part of developmental services the institution is doing for the ladies who are detained in the jail.
There were 25 ladies who were part of the cast taken from the existing 116 detained in the jail at the moment, with a bulk of them waiting for promulgation for drug related cases.
A re-run for the play will also be staged at the same venue.