Friday, April 16, 2021, 17:30 EET (GMT +02:00)
Philippines
Director: Tara Jamora Oppen and Sabrina Basilio / Philippines
Actor: Cerasela Iosifescu
Episode: Day 1. Story 1
about the Director
Tara Jamora Oppen
Tara Jamora Oppen’s craft is dedicated to making a way for the voiceless to be heard. Through storytelling, she seeks to provide an avenue for those whose ideas are often overlooked and allow people to gain insight from perspectives they may have never previously encountered.
Tara Jamora Oppen graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Ateneo De Manila University in 2020 with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. She was also awarded the Program Award as the best in the theatre arts program for that year.
During her time in the university, she was part of various theatre organizations, including Tanghalang Ateneo and the Ateneo Blue Repertory. Tara directed Antigone vs. the People of the Philippines (2019), an adaptation of Sophocles’ Antigone cited in the Philippine Daily Inquirer as one of the ‘Best of Theatre in 2019’ under the ‘Best Adaptations’ category.
Tara was also an assistant director in various productions, working alongside many directors in the industry. This includes Alpha, Kappa, Omega (AKO) [2019] alongside Guelan Luarca, Fluid by Floy Quintos directed by Missy Maramara and many more. Both Missy Maramara and Guelan Luarca were, and still are, very important mentors in Tara’s artistic journey.
Currently, Tara is a part-time high school teacher for acting. She is also a freelance director and actor. She is presently working on various online productions and on developing carious organizations aimed at theatre for community development.
Using the theatre as a place for discourse brings her a sense of appreciation for humanity and a hope that all people may one day be able to reach true understanding if they continue to remain open to the thoughts and beliefs of those most different from them.
about the Director
Sabrina Basilio
Sabrina Basilio is a Filipina playwright, dramaturg, and activist. She holds a Creative Writing degree from Ateneo de Manila University and a Loyola Schools Award for the Arts in Theater. She is currently training to be a proponent of applied arts for education and development in the Philippines.
about the actor
Cerasela Iosifescu
Cerasela Iosifescu graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Bucharest, Prof. Sanda Manu, in 1991, and shortly after that, she became an actress at the C. Nottara Theatre in Bucharest. In 2002 she joined the Craiova National Theatre where she made her debut as Catarina in The Taming of the Shrew by W. Shakespeare, directed by Mircea Cornişteanu.
Throughout her career, Cerasela has built her characters meticulously and intelligently, thus winning the audiences’ admiration and the critics’ appreciation for her roles masterly performed both in comedies and in tragedies.
What propels me, and helps me not lose myself, is dissatisfaction – this is the motto of Cerasela Iosifescu, an actress who has shined in very high-caliber roles at the Craiova National Theatre, such as Olivia in The Twelfth Night or What You will by W. Shakespeare and Mariana in Measure for Measure by W. Shakespeare directed by Silviu Purcărete, Medea in Medea by Euripides, Arkadina in The Seagull by A.P. Cehov, Lora in Obsessions by Claudiu Sfirschi-Lăudat and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet by W. Shakespeare, directed by Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, Lady Macbeth in Apocalypse After Shakespeare directed by Janusz Wiśniewski, Jessie in night, mother! by Marsha Norman, Zoe in A Lost Letter by I.L. Caragiale and Veta in A Stormy Night by I.L.Caragiale directed by Mircea Cornişteanu, Natalia Ivanovna in Three Sisters by A. P. Cehov, directed by Andreas Pantzis etc.
Her performances were awarded within national festivals such as TVR International Prize / 2005, I.D.Sirbu Prize for Acting of ”Mozaicul” magazine for the part of Medea in Euripides’ tragedy / 2006, Prize for Best Actress (Veta in A Stormy Night) at FestCo / 2012, Prize for Best Actress in “Two Love Stories” after A.P. Cehov, Projects Theatre Festival, Câmpina / 2012, Prize for Best Actress – International Short Theatre Festival, Oradea / 2012.
Sometimes I feel like I need to thank Providence for having encountered Shakespeare, Caragiale, Molière, Euripides, Gogol or Chekhov who have invented my multiple faces, my torment, my joy, and my fears – in one word, all the states that give you expressivity and make you be remarkable.
