Sample Speech: "The Legend of Bandung Bondowoso", Apr.10,2008, ACT Club, Henlin, Northgate Alabang, Muntinlupa City
Here’s a speech I thought I wouldn’t be able to deliver as expected. I was hesitant and was even late at the meeting due to the props and editing. But, boy, was I happy I did give it that night. The freshness of the material was made more relevant with our recent trip to Indonesia. I thought the intro was just perfect. I felt I was sharing with the audience a unique cultural experience from world’s biggest archipelago.
I’m so glad I used the Wayang Kulit puppet that my daughter Celeste created as part of a school project (thanx Che!). It created a nice segue from the Jakarta trip onto the story itself. Finding a suitable legend was the challenge. Most were short or had shallow plots and won’t fit the 8 to 10 minute duration. Some didn’t even have dialogues. The version of the Legend of Bandung Bondowoso I chose was just right.
Speech #2 - Interpreting Poetry
Sample Speech: "The Raven", Apr.17,2008, ACT Club, Henlin, Northgate Alabang, Muntinlupa City
I'm not much into poetry although I wrote some simple poems in my elementary school years. While growing up, I once saw on TV a rendition of this poem by the actor Vincent Price and I was spellbound. His voice, more than the images, is still fresh in my mind like it was yesterday.
For this delivery, I sought the assistance of a guest to tap a spoon on a bowl to mimic the tapping of the raven on the window pane. That sound effect gave me positive feedback from the General Evaluator. One guest had this quizzical look in his face as I started with the introduction. He probably expected me to dive right into the poem. But I wasn't distracted because I knew this project well.
Speech #3 - The Monodrama
Sample Speech: "The Green Goblin's Invitation", May.8,2008, ACT Club, Henlin, Northgate Alabang, Muntinlupa City
I was a bit hesitant with this project at first because most examples I’ve seen were characters from bland English and American literature – hmmm, not exactly my liking. I wanted to do a movie character that the audience would be familiar with. The Spiderman’s arch enemy, The Green Goblin from "Spiderman the Movie" was him! His character wasn’t necessarily loved, but boy, did he have stage presence! From the applause from my audience, I’d say, this one’s a real gem of a keeper.
Speech #4 - The Play
Sample Speech: "The Little Prince", Aug.21,2008, ACT Club, Henlin, Northgate Alabang, Muntinlupa City
Gosh, I didn't realize that scripts to many modern plays are copyrighted. And these include "Little Orphan Annie" and "The King and I" which I so wanted to deliver. This set me back a little until I found "The Little Prince". A widely known children's book, I had the evaluator worried when she thought I'd be telling it in a manner that was for kids. But this book's message is so timeless that I think it's the adults that should really learn from it. My hoarse vocal characterization of the fox made my throat a bit sore afterward (cough, cough).
Speech #5 - The Oratorical Speech
Sample Speech: "Ninoy's Undelivered Speech", Sep.18,2008, ACT Club, Henlin, Northgate Alabang, Muntinlupa City
I can't really think of another speech that I'd deliver other than that of Ninoy's. I particularly loved the speech he delivered in the U.S. about a President (Marcos) robbing ("robbing" is supposedly Japanese for "loving") the Filipinos and a First Lady who was robbing them more. Absolutely brilliant! Too bad I couldn't find it, but I found another one by him. I wanted to give the aura of a Ninoy Aquino in the speech and so I fashioned and wore an effective prop to resemble him somewhat. I cut a cardboard frame patterned after Ninoy's signature eyeglasses and attached it to my own. The audience liked it very much.
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