Actor in waiting

MANILA, Philippines - The parents of actor-visual artist Crispin (Pen) Medina were both from Pampanga but he was born and raised in a tough neighborhood in R. Papa St., Manila. The residents were, as they say, informal settlers, and the houses stood wall to wall. There were gunfights, knife fights, killings, and raids by the police.

Some of the toughies were Pen’s neighbors and occasional drinking mates. One time they were drinking in an esquinita where students from the University Belt would pass by, and one of them collared a passing student and relieved him of his watch. After that incident, Pen decided to avoid the petty thief.

The exposure to violence served him in good stead during the martial law years, when he designed and distributed subversive handouts, and joined student rallies against the dictatorship. One such march was violently dispersed by the Metrocom; the youths ran for their lives and some were killed.

Pen muses, “Kailangan siguro mag-research ako kung ano talaga ang nangyari doon.”

A Fine Arts dropout from the University of Santo Tomas, Pen was earning a living by drawing and designing and had no thought of becoming an actor. But one fine day his father Eliceo asked him to bring his design to an acting workshop in Quezon City being directed by the noted actor Joonee Gamboa.

It was a community theater group, and the play to be presented at the Mother Cabrini School was Rolando Tinio’s Ang Katwiran Ay Katwiran. As he watched the auditions, Pen felt kaya ko ito and so when Gamboa asked if he was auditioning, he said yes. He was given two parts to play, the kásamá and the señorito. The auditions over, Gamboa told the young actors to come back the following weekend, and stressed discipline.

Pen, however, did not appear until two weekends later. And the workshop director immediately squared off with him.

“O bakit wala ka?”

“Sir, may inaasikaso.”

“A ganun. Nakuha kita sa isang play (it was a twinbill). Ikaw ang señorito.”

“Ay salamat, Direk.”

“Pero pinalitan na kita! Kasi hindi ka dumating, hindi puwede dito ang ganun. Kung hindi mo kaya disiplina, hindi ka puwede dito.”

But Gamboa did not give up altogether on the crestfallen Pen and assigned him to the backstage crew, asking him to choose from lighting, sound, set design. Pen chose the latter because this was his field.

The other play to be presented was Paul Dumol’s classic Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio, about a gaggle of beggars trying a peer for some real or imagined wrong. As luck would have it, and in classic fashion, one actor disagreed with the play’s director and walked out. Pen became the last-minute substitute.

He was very nervous, sometimes forgot his lines and, as agreed upon, would signal to a fellow actor to cover up for him. Somehow he got away with it; the play was a success, and thus began his not-too-auspicious debut on the stage.

Pen later appeared in the landmark musical of Jerry Dadap, Andres Bonifacio: Ang Dakilang Anak Pawis where he caught the eye of director Tony Espejo, who made him a mainstay of Bulwagang Gantimpala, then the resident drama company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Here, Pen bloomed as an actor.

The TV and the movies beckoned. He appeared in Ishmael Bernal’s Himala (where he had to make love to one of the followers of the visionary, played by Nora Aunor, in a pigpen!), and was directed by other master directors like Lino Brocka, Marilou Diaz Abaya, Peque Gallaga and Raymond Red.

His movie roles, however, were all supporting and could not compare with his accomplishments on stage. Today, he is still waiting for the right movie role, but this is no problem as he is busy with acting workshops for children and adults.

Pen is also full of plans — like establishing a non-traditional school for children — which he hopes to work on after he becomes a senior citizen on Aug. 27. “Life begins at 60,” the silver-haired actor-artist beams.