Virgin Labfest at 21

HAVING come of age by staging new works by young playwrights and directors every year since 2005, the Virgin Labfest (VLF), an annual theater festival focused on unpublished, untried, and unstaged one-act plays, is back for its 21^st year in June.

This year’s VLF, initiated by Writer’s Bloc, Tanghalang Pilipino, and Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), will run from June 3 to 28 at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez or CCP Black Box Theater at the CCP Complex in Pasay City.

“This is no longer just a festival for playwrights and directors, but also a chance for theater workers from different groups in the Philippines to meet and come together,” CCP Vice-President and Artistic Director Dennis Marasigan said at the press launch on May 19, describing the vibrant community built around the festival over the years.

With the theme “Hubo’t Hubad” (Completely Naked), this year’s VLF will present 12 one-act plays. As per the theme, this edition aims to “strip down all pretense of innocence while showcasing the bold Filipino voice and spirit.”

“This year’s VLF reflects on the many ways people reveal themselves. It invites audiences to engage with works that expose layers of identity, memory, and vulnerability,” said the CCP in a press release.

Three plays from last year’s festival will be revisited, while six script entries have been developed through staged readings.

THE PLAYS
The plays are grouped into sets which are shown successively. Eight are by first-time playwrights while four are from returning playwrights. Notably, this year many have film and TV stars in their casts.

In Set A, there’s Password123, Pilipinas321, written by Anthony Kim Vergara and directed by Norbs Portales; Human Rights Story of the Year, written by Elijah Felice Rosales and directed by Nelsito Gomez; and Patayin Ang Mga Surot, written by Floyd Scott Tiogangco and directed by Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan.

Set B features Balos, written by Neil Arkhe Azcuna and directed by Cholo Ledesma; Haram, written by Alab Usman and directed by Mark Daniel Dalacat; and Lualhati, written by Gab Mactal and directed by Mara Paulina Marasigan. The later play features TV/film stars Jackie Lou Blanco and mother-and-daughter duo Angel Aquino and Iana Bernardez.

Set C features Elehiya, written by Dustin Celestino and directed by Ron Capinding (another with a star-studded cast with Carlos Siguion-Reyna and son Rafa); She’s Electric, written by Ron Evangelista and directed by JP Habac (starring Glaiza de Castro); and Betamax, written by Faith Ferrer Lacanlale and directed by Sheenly Gener.

Set D’s lineup is composed of Footprint, written by Jerom Canlas and directed by Mikko Angeles (with the writer’s brother, TV star Elijah Canlas, as the lead alongside Meryll Soriano); Taksyapo!, written by John “Sweet” Lapus and directed by Tuxqs Rutaquio (starring comedian Mosang and actor Christian Bables); and Buhaghag, written by Gerald Manuel and directed by Tess Jamias.

The three revisited plays from last year’s VLF make up Set E. These are Ade Valenzona’s Polar Coordinates, directed by Paolo O’Hara; Rolin Cadallo Obina’s The Late Mr. Real, directed by Maynard Manansala; and Siege Malvar’s Presidential Suite #2, directed by Johnnie Moran.

For the featured staged readings, there are three sets.

Set 1 is made up of Jose Victor Torres’ Mga Tatsulok, directed by Zoe de Ocampo, and M. Manalastas’ The Devoured, directed by Monty Uy. Set 2 features Dingdong Novenario’s Manang, directed by Jonathan Tadioan, and Rafael Jimenez’s Suor, directed by Sarah Facuri. Set 3 has Juan Ekis’ Kasal(anan), directed by Gab Pangilinan, and Jay Fernandez’s Ang Huli, directed by BJ Crisostomo.

In addition, a Playwrights’ Fair will be held on June 13, 20, and 27 — all Saturdays — at 5 p.m. Organizers are inviting those who are interested in Filipino playwrights’ insights and the Philippine theater landscape outside of Metro Manila. Hosts include VLF founder Rody Vera, Liza Magtoto, and Glenn Sevilla Mas, with guest speakers like Tanya Lopez, Dessa Quesada-Palm, and Sari Saysay.

VLF BARES ALL
A showcase on June 28 will culminate the Writing Fellowship Program, a two-week mentorship on dramatic writing for the stage headed by Glenn Sevilla Mas.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan International Play Reading Festival (TIPR) will hold a staged reading of Ihot Sinlay Cihek’s How Romantic: A Guide To Modern Pangcah Life on June 10, while the Ottawa, Canada-based National Art Centre will hold a staged reading of Prison Dancer on June 21 and 24.

In addition to these, a forum series on the creative processes behind theater, “Theater Talks,” will take place on June 11, 18, and 25. It will feature TIPR’s Cheng-Han Wu, Asian Producers’ Platform’s Jin Yim and Cui Yin Mok, and Shizuoka Performing Arts Center’s Takuya Maehara.

Festival directors Marco Viaña and Toni Go-Yadao said that bringing regional and global perspectives to the festival can offer new insights for theater enthusiasts and practitioners.

“We really want people to come away from this edition feeling like they gained new insights,” Mr. Viaña said. He also pointed out how this extends to their selection of the plays this year, with topics like human rights and mental health tackled differently from the way they were before.

Mr. Marasigan added that, given the government’s budget cuts affecting the arts and culture industry, they are working hard to maintain the VLF tradition.

“This festival is a centerpiece among our programs. We make sure that there’s a budget for it each year… that it retains its strengths and identity,” he said.

VLF shows will have performances at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., while its educational components are slated at 5 p.m. on the mentioned dates.

VLF tickets are priced at P1,000 for regular seats and P1,200 for premium seats, with festival passes available which are good for five sets, costing P4,000 for regular seats and P4,800 for premium seats. These can all be purchased via TicketWorld, Ticket2Me, and the CCP Box Office.

For more updates on the festival schedule and ticket-selling, visit the official pages of VLF, the CCP, the Tanghalang Pilipino Foundation, Inc., and Writers’ Bloc. — Brontë H. Lacsamana