Dramatis Personal: Mark Ghosn.

Mark Ghosn is the Creative Director of TAP (Theater in Alternative Platforms), which is a theater group based in the South Metro. With the recent success of Ampalaya Monologues, TAP's most recent tie-up with Black Table Productions, I sat down one afternoon with the event's writer for a little casual tête-à-tête.

When did you start acting?

College days. It was 2005 when I joined my first theater org, Dulaang Perpetual. I was in first year college.

Why did you decide to join?

Well, since bata pa ako, mahilig na talaga umarte. I remember when I was a kid, sa labas ng bedroom namin, may poster na nakalagay doon. Drawing ako ng poster, tapos yung mga cousins ko would sit in front of the bed, and then they watch me perform on top of it. And then nung college na, when there was an opening for members for that organization, I joined. And then sabi kasi nila na walang audition. Feeling ko kung may audition yun, hindi ako nakasali, kasi sobrang mahiyain ako, sobrang introvert, kaya nakasali ako. And then tuluy-tuloy na from there, dun na nawala yung mga inhibitions ko.

What were your previous theater experiences?

Sa college, kasi every semester, merong production yun eh. So dun talaga kami nahasa. And iba-iba yung mga moderators namin per year, so we were able to work with them. Actually all of them were from Tanghalang Pilipino. Miss Cats Racsag, Chris Gozum, tapos si Sir Mcdo Bolanos, Sir JK [Anicoche] from Sipat Lawin Ensemble. And then after college, kinuha kami ng Sipat Lawin for Battalia Royale. Dun na nagstart. Akala ko kasi after college, tapos na, diba? Pero pwede pa pala siya i-extend.  So after nun, Battalia Royale, and then dun na nagkaroon ng TAP. So we decided to form our group, which is TAP nga.

So tell me about TAP (Theater in Alternative Platforms).

Ang mga members ng TAP ay mga alumni ng Dulaang Perpetual. We decided to form the group because after college, napapansin ko na ang daming mga talented na artists, especially from the south, na hindi nabibigyan ng venue to showcase their talents. So sabi ko, if we can't make it sa mga ibang theater org, why don't we create our own, diba? And ang galing lang kasi natupad siya after 3 years. Well, it took 3 years, actually, to actually build the group, the organization, the name, who we are, and all that. And this year is our first year for TAP. And we started with the Karnabal festival, mainly because our mentor is Sir JK. So yun yung first naming sabak. And then nag-open na yung doors for other theater festivals for us to join, and yun nga, we already had our first co-production. Yung TAP is mainly for the alumni of Dulaang Perpetual but at the same time, to showcase the talents of different artists from the south as well.

Showcase the talents of artists from the south... So is that the objective of TAP?

Yes, that's the objective of TAP, and also because we want to create new works na iba sa usual na nakikita. Siguro kasi because our main influence is Sipat Lawin, so it's like that pero different in a way that mas relatable yung mga gusto naming ipalabas.

Do you have a specific target audience for TAP? The south lang talaga or do you plan to branch out?

Right now, we're focusing dito sa south, and our target is yung mga young professionals like us, and the millenials as well. And that's why most of the stories that we want to showcase are those that reflect kung ano ba yung current status or issues na pinagdadaanan natin in our 20s, sa mga ganitong mga panahon ng teknolohiya and modernization. And nakakatuwa nga kasi mas involved na tayo ngayon, especially with social media, mas nagiging involved na tayo ngayon sa mga social issues na nangyayari sa atin. So target market namin is primarily south-based na mga young professionals, or people in their 20s. But, eventually sa plano ng TAP, of course, we're planning to showcase yung talent ng south sa iba pang mga lugar sa Philippines, and around the world. Why not?

So what were TAP's past productions? You mentioned the Karnabal festival.

Karnabal festival... so that was an original piece that I wrote, which was entitled Mga Multo ni Mang Roque. It was experimental. What we did was sinara namin yung 2^nd floor ng Puppet Museum, at lahat ng mga possible light entries, tinakpan namin, so it was a very dark performance area. Ang gamit lang ng mga tao nun na light was this one flashlight na pinagpapasa-pasahan ng mga tao. So it was about a horror house that was about to close na. And yung mga multo na nandun represent yung mga iba't ibang celebrities na nalaos na. And then parang nag-aagawan sila doon sa iisang ilaw, na ang may hawak o may control is yung audience. Audience ang may hawak ng flashlight at pinagpapasa-pasahan nila. Sila ang mamimili kung sino ang gusto nilang ilawan, kung gusto nga ba nilang itutok yun kung kanino man o hindi. So in the end, the message of the show was that we, as performers, hindi natin kontrolado kung ano yung gusto ng mga tao. Kahit gaano ka kagaling, at the end of the day, it’s them who controls kung ano yung gusto nila panoorin. I think it has a lot to do with TAP as well, because it took a while for us to find a venue for someone to watch us.

Your most recent event this past August, the Ampalaya Monologues, how did you come up with the idea for that?

Ampalaya Monologues... 3 years ago, we were thinking of our first production. We're going to be a company that will be different from all the rest, however, we don't have a venue, we cannot afford to actually have an actual show in a theater or you know, like a big production. So I thought of coming up of with monologues. All you need is a mic, minimal lang yung set, and a good script. So 3 years of writing different monologues, and coming up with different stories and inspiration for that. So that’s how Ampalaya Monologues happened.

Ampalaya Monologues were, obviously, monologues about bitterness. How did you get the inspiration for that? Meron bang mga personal issues or you take from what you observe sa paligid?

To be honest, I never really had an actual or official relationship in my life. Hindi pa ako nagkakaroon ng totoong relationship talaga. (laughs) Ang masasabi ko lang, I was always that friend na laging nilalapitan kapag may mga heart problems yung mga friends ko, the shoulder to cry on. So dun sa 7 monologues na yun, ang akin lang is yung "Sa Pagitan ng Tayo Ba at Hindi Na." Yun yung hugot ko personally. And of course, the "Hanash ng Soloista." Always the best friend, never the bida. And then the other 5, yung mga iba na yun, they came from my friends, stories of my friends, people I know. And ang sarap lang kasi din sa pakiramdam na you create a piece of art from other people's heartaches, and they get to watch it, let’s say 2 or 3 years from now, pag OK na sila, and they get to watch it and say, wow, whatever they want to feel about it. Hindi lang nasayang yung heartache nila, may na-produce kang art from it.

So any possibilities of a repeat performance?

Yes, we're bringing it sa iba ibang lugar. This October, there’s another one. And another in December. The best of Ampalaya Monologues, hopefully, February, sa araw natin (laughs), Singles Awareness day. And then after that, madami pa. I'm planning to have an Ampalaya Monologues Love Wins Edition, to celebrate yung LGBT month. So all the monologues will be about LGBTs. I'm planning na lahat ng ticket sales from that event will go to a specific LGBT foundation. And then ang dami ko pang naiisip. I want to create pieces for women empowerment, using Ampalaya Monologues for that. I also want one for domestic violence, may mga piyesa na rin akong ginawa for that. So it's not just for "hugot". I want it to become more than that. I want it to serve as a way for change, and for informing people about the things that are going on in our society. And I think that’s what TAP is all about. I'm excited for that.

Other than your shows and events, do you do other things such as workshops, etc?

Right now, we are focusing on Ampalaya Monologues and then yung mga theater festivals na kasali kami. And then next year, madami na rin kasing kumakausap for workshops, so hopefully mag-start na rin yun. The thing about TAP is that we all have our day jobs. So lahat ng members meron mga professional work other than TAP. So yun yung first challenge namin ngayon, to balance that. But our motto namin is "Love what you do, and do what you love." So we love our day jobs, but we are also doing what we love, which is theatre. So hopefully that motto will keep us together.

So you mentioned that you guys have day jobs. Is that how you support your passion for theatre? And how do you balance that?

Naba-balance ko ba? (laughs) It's very important that you also love your day job. It should not be just something that you do just for that sake of it. I’m a BPO process trainer, and I love teaching. It's the same as performing, but in a different way. You stand in front of people, and then play a certain character, which is the trainer, and then you read out your script which is the process that you're teaching them. Which is saulado mo na kasi ilang beses mo nang ginagawa. So madali na lang yung day job ko, kasi kumbaga mahal ko rin naman siya. I also enjoy doing it. And that's why siguro naba-balance ko rin, and also because very supportive yung mga katrabaho ko, especially my boss, he understands na dapat may balance between your work and your life. So yun, sobrang nakaktulong talaga yung ganun.

Other than your training from your college orgs, and with Sipat Lawin and TAP, from where else did you train for theater?

My most recent training, and one of the most challenging as well, was the Rehearsal and Performance Techniques training that we had with Sir Dennis Marasigan last summer for Tanghalang Pilipino. I think that was super challenging. It was 5 times a week. So very challenging, you know how Sir Dennis is naman. He has his own way of teaching you and testing you. Pero after that, after the show, ang dami mong bagong alam. And the good thing about Sir Dennis is that hindi lang siya sa pang workshop nagtuturo. Even kapag magkasama lang kayo, you’re hanging out, over dinner, he always has stories to tell, and you always learn something new from him. He's very generous when it comes to teaching you, and to share yung mga natututunan niya sa buhay niya. And ayun, he’s really a very good mentor, and I'm learning a lot from him. And I'm hoping to learn more from him pa talaga.

With what you’ve been doing lately, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

So right now, aside from TAP, I'm also part of a production company, which is Black Table Productions. Yun naman, we produce different events for different types of artists. Poetry, like yung nga, TAP. We are the ones responsible for the production of Ampalaya Monologues. We have other events na hindi kasali yung TAP naman. So ang daming going on with me right now, which I'm very very happy about. But in the future I would like to build an empire (laughs). I would like to focus on that, on the production company, and hoping that TAP will be very stable na to a point wherein we don't need to do our day jobs anymore, and we can just rely on it. Or even if we have to do our day jobs, our priority will have to be TAP already. I think TAP will be my legacy here. Even if hindi man siya sumikat or what, but sa mga tao na mga nakasali sa TAP, sa bawat individual na nakatrabaho namin during productions and all, I hope that, yun yung purpose ko with TAP, for once in their life, may nagbigay sa kanila ng chance na mag-perform. Makita ko lang silang nabigyan ng chance na mag-perform because of TAP, OK na ako dun, masaya na ako.

What’s the best advice you had ever received?

Hindi siya advice, more on lesson. Si Cats [Racsag] ang nagsabi na galing kay Stanislavki, na you have to be a thinking actor. Kasi it changed how I looked at acting and tumaas yung respeto ko sa industriya nung na-realize ko yun totoong trabaho na ginagawa ng isang tunay na actor.

What’s the best advice you can give?

Even if kahit hindi mo sabihin, ipakita mo lang na sinusuportahan mo sila for what they’re doing, and what makes them happy, then sige. So kung meron man akong isang advice, never give up until you make it. And even if you don't, at least you didn’t give up.

*Photos courtesy of Mark Ghosn and Mars Mercado.