On the third day of its seven-day show themed as “A Sip of Joy,” international biennale puppet festival Pesta Boneka #7 features the College’s student artist shadowplay performance group Karilyo as they showcase a six-piece shadowplay sketch depicting each member of the group’s take on their sources of happiness during the COVID-19 pandemic through the stillness of their own homes.
Titled as “KislapMata,” a brilliant play on words originally derived from Filipino word Kisapmata (blink of an eye) with Kislap (sparkle) and Mata (eye) hinting at the joy that one feels in moments even found in a time like this, Pesta Boneka described it as “fleeting moments that bring about "a sip of joy" in the midst of uncertainties - the subtleties of living in this pandemic.” The shadowplay was performed by Alissandra Datuin, Pedruel Casilihan, Laarni Fuentes, Salve Dagñalan, Noelle Caliwara, and Payb Biglete, along with Karilyo’s Trainer Teta Tulay.
In a change of setting and shadowplay dynamic, Karilyo and other puppet show groups take on the challenge of bringing this unique piece of art to life during the pandemic, where everyone is restricted to gather together in one place for safety purposes. Despite the self-isolation these artists faced, Karilyo worked on the available resources they have to make this show possible, to still express themselves through artistic means—far from the normal way, but hopefully still as meaningful.
“One can expect the usual passion that Karilyo invests in all its productions. We can say, though, that tonight’s performance is different because it opens us to the international puppetry community. This is a humbling experience for Karilyo, to be given this opportunity, as well as a very important moment for us as a Benildean student artist group representing the Philippines in this festival, sharing what we can during this time of crisis. And so, we really labored to give this performance our best,” Karilyo’s Company Manager Dagñalan, who represented the group as they shared more about KislapMata in an exclusive interview with The Benildean.
According to her, the preparations for the six-piece shadowplay took two weeks for the group to create, most of them being at night as “shadowplay is best performed in that time for sharper shadows,” all of these balanced with their academic and personal house duties.
“The varied living conditions and lack of resources made it difficult for the students to produce, shoot, and edit seamlessly and without interruption. In normal circumstances, these processes could be done in a few face-to-face sessions with our trainer. Despite the adversities and insufficient materials, the collective was able to resolve the technical issues and other concerns through creativity and resourcefulness,” Dagñalan explained when asked about the switch from group performances into collective individual pieces.
Pesta Boneka is a puppet show festival launched in 2008 by Papermoon Puppet Theatre in Yogyakarta, Indonesia that aims to bring together puppeteers and creatives as they tell stories brought to life by puppets “acting as living objects” intimately and warmly to its audience. Moreover, Karilyo, under the Center for Culture and Arts, has been De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s shadowplay group since 2012 with the dream of popularizing shadowplay as an art form. The group has worked with Tanghalang Pilipino and Anino Shadowplay Collective in the past years.
In addition, the whole festival runs from October 5 to October 11. Register through Pesta Boneka’s official website.
