Seeing a man make actors do a bit of cardiovascular exercises while singing to the play’s opening song is just an impressive sight. Impressive because as a spectator, you get to see a fragment of what the whole production goes through to produce a musical play. Months and months of practice leading on to a night of spectacle.
Meeting Director Jaime Del Mundo in person and having an interview with him is indeed a pleasure. Behind the modulated voice and intimidating persona lies a man who is learnt and full of wisdom. An elder in the professional world who mentors a younger generation just fulfills the promise of an existential existence.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Mr. Del Mundo started out in an early age in the theatre world. As early as 13 years old, he traces memories of his bus commute to Vito Cruz and a short walk leading to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). This was a routine for him to watch the 10 am show every month. He said that from a very young age, he has already been fascinated with the spectacle of plays and admitted that in high school, he already participated in acting and directing roles.
His break in the professional world didn’t come too far away. At age 17, he auditioned in a theatre play of the Repertory Philippines called Shadow Box in the 1978. “I was lucky because they were looking for a 13-year-old kid…”
He continued working in the theatre industry while studying in the University of the Philippines, taking up Theatre Arts but later shifted to Broadcast Communications (which by the way was not the primary training ground for his well-modulated voice, but rather, he said that he got it from his years in theatre).
As a young artist and a fresh face in the industry, he said that he looked up to Rolando Tinio as his pillar of inspiration. “He had a theatre company in the CCP called, ‘Teatrong Pilipino’.
“Well there was a wonderful director, named ‘Rolando Tinio’; and he had a theatre company in the CCP called, ‘Teatro Pilipino’.” Teatro Pilipino performed classical plays like Shakespeare in Tagalog (now known as Filipino). He considered this as a means to get educated.
TARDINESS AND RUDENESS AS PET PEEVES
When asked what his greatest pet peeves are among production members, he quickly responded, “Lateness from professionals to non-professionals.”
“I always say that the only thing that makes me angry is rudeness. So, lateness is a form of rudeness. Not being prepared is a form of rudeness to your co-actors. Making noise, talking during rehearsal, is a form of rudeness to your co-actors.”
“I’m very jealous of what I call the company because I think that the company should give you 100% because you give 100% back… So, if they don’t give their full attention, they are being rude to each other, they are not being rude to me,” he elaborated.
For those reasons, it has been his principle not to be rude to anyone, in ways when he doesn’t give his 100% in the tasks that are needed in the workplace.
SMALL ACTIONS CAN GO A LONG WAY
“The workshop, it is a microcosm of what the world can be.” A promise that is made is a promise to be kept.
He emphasized that even though the rehearsals are painstaking and the entire preparation is tiring, there is a promise that must be kept to the audience. He talked about how the ticket that the audience buy is out of a promise that they will have a good time during the show.
He then expounded and grounded his point on selflessness and mindfulness. He said that if people were willing to sacrifice for the others, the world would be a better place.
This thought drives him to become the best educator he can be to the cast that he is training for the My Man Dan. He wants them to take the discipline and learnings beyond January 18 and hopefully apply it to better enrich their lives.
DISCIPLINE, A KEY TO A MORE FULFILLED LIFE
“When you come to think of it what is great about discipline?” he posted.
He explains that the narrative that discipline is good has existed since time immemorial. However, people never got the saturate the nitty-gritty behind this conception.
Mr. Del Mundo ended the agony of this failed enforcement of discipline. “Discipline leads to being efficient and being efficient leads to time management, and time management is a door for you to appreciate life.”
He said that this can allow a person to just slow things down, segment time and even leave time to “smell the roses and have a good time.”
If you are wondering how he has gotten to where he is right now, having a successful 41-year career in theatre is because he managed to practice discipline well. The road was not smooth for the reputable director to practice this type of discipline.
In his early years, he taught in a school which he dreaded because of having to wake up so early in the morning to get to exercise and leave the house, just in time for an 8 am class. Later on, he realized that something wasn’t right and instinctively changed his routine.
“Then I thought about it, that is a problem, what can one do about it?” This was his response to the situation at hand.
He illustrated his solution as, “The problem is that I’m waking up to something I don’t want to do. So, what happens if I wake up to something I want to do?” He then changed his routine and woke up an hour earlier to treat himself to one hour of just doing what he wants to do.
This, aside from his experience, is a known fact among other self-help articles, that it changes one’s outlook in life. This paved the way to him even setting the bar higher and waking up at 4 am without an alarm clock. This is still relevant, even up to date.
Currently, he uses that 2-hour vacuum to just enjoy listening to classical music and reading books.
“The important thing to me was to get up on the right side of the bed instead of the wrong side of the bed, and that changed the outlook. Discipline is a means to a better end.”
DIREK DEL MUNDO PASSING THE BATON TO A YOUNGER GENERATION
“It’s important to leave something behind. It is important to set the bar higher for the next generation to be better,” Direk Jaime said.
He thinks that development is a progress that has to transcend one generation to the other. It is just a continuous trance of people relentlessly setting the standard higher and higher.
Concluding his point, he said, “…the son always has to outshine the father, that is the greatest gift a son can give his dad.”
WHY THEATRE?
Mr. Del Mundo was not shy to admit that the dilemma in the current theatre scene is that there are more actors than audience. However, having been in the business for so long, he thinks that there is an inherent benefit that the watcher gets from everything that is happening on stage.
In the whole stage performance, he says that the audience instantly gets to participate in the imagination process. Think of plays like Peter Pan. There is a comparatively different experience when watching it in theatre compared to seeing it in the movies. In theatre, one has to let go of the fact that Peter Pan flying just means a bunch of wires lifting him off the ground, but rather enjoys the scene of him flying and performing his act.
There is a make-believe factor that people have to immerse themselves into, ignoring certain details, to better understand the story told.
Mr. Del Mundo, throughout our conversation, proved to be a very simple and low-profile personality in spite of the reputation and accolades he has garnered in life. His demeanor and conduct, during the rehearsals, show that he is worthy of the title of a mentor. He is continually cheering his mentees to strive better and the greater good in this life outside the curtains and glamor of theatre.
Story by Patrick Gabriel Lo
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