Strained human connections: VLF strikes a chord

THE VIRGIN LABFEST (VLF) is back once more to feature untried and untested one-act plays onstage. For its 21^st year, the festival lays bare the things that people leave unsaid.

This year’s theme is “Hubo’t Hubad,” meaning “completely naked,” referencing VLF’s maturation along with its community of theater practitioners and theatergoers. At the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Blackbox Theater), new plays will offer unique takes on human encounters this year.

“I hope people remember the plays they’ve seen and the experience of being part of the festival,” said Marco Viaña — the co-festival director alongside Toni Go-Yadao — before the open dress rehearsals on May 29.

For Ms. Go-Yadao, they aim for VLF to be “a space to see things from a different perspective.”

SET C: ‘BALAT KALABAW’
The curtain opened that night on Set C (the plays are grouped into five different sets). Titled “Balat Kalabaw,” an idiom that translates to thick-skinned or shameless, audiences were noticeably reeling from the revelations of characters onstage.

What follows is an overview of what to expect from this set.

Elehiya by playwright Dustin Celestino and director Ron Capinding might be the strongest start to a VLF set in recent memory, centered on five men and their collection of monologues.

Billed as “an impressionistic montage of conversations of fathers and sons that could have taken place but did not,” its depiction of the unspoken feelings that men never talk about can easily strike a chord with male audiences.

The capable cast also does justice to the heartfelt material, with Yan Yuzon as a narrator that anchors the whole piece. Dennis N. Marasigan and John Sanchez play the first father-son pair while Carlos Siguion-Reyna and Rafa Siguion-Reyna are the second (and real-life) father-son pair.

In a previous interview with BusinessWorld, Mr. Celestino said that his works “place so much autonomy and responsibility on performers,” as they are dialogue-heavy. Elehiya is no different, allowing the actors to be both intense and humorous.

Betamax by playwright Faith Ferrer Lacanlale and director Sheenly Gener follows it up with a set of three siblings in conflict.

One of them is a woman who begins to see certain people as “human pigs” after a minor road accident. The older sister responds with concern while the younger brother, also turning into a pig himself, dismisses her completely, and the three later uncover the truth behind the absurd transformations.

“I’m a new writer so this is a huge opportunity for me. I’m a virgin to theater production in general, and every step of the way is a wonder,” Ms. Lacanlale said at a press conference over a week before the rehearsals.

As the youngest playwright in this year’s VLF, she delivers on a promising concept, showing skill as a storyteller worth polishing for future works. The actors playing the three siblings — Jam Binay, Jorrybell Agoto, and Sean Inocencio — are also worth the price of admission.

Finally, She’s Electric by playwright Ron Evangelista and director JP Habac bring us into Black Mirror territory, tackling a possible future shaped by technological advancement. It centers on a former womanizer who introduces the love of his life to his friends, who quickly discover that she is a human-like, state-of-the-art android.

Like the other two plays, this one presents insights on the nature of human relationships, but through a futuristic lens. The group of friends’ repetitive yet entertaining inquiry into the sexual, romantic, and philosophical core of the unlikely partnership unfolds.

“It’s very personal to me because it was brought upon by a wave of loneliness,” said Mr. Evangelista in a video introduction posted on the festival’s page. “I was experiencing some personal stuff and then I listened to my favorite band, Oasis.”

Their song, “She’s Electric,” partly inspired the play, which also drew from various experiences and conversations he and his friends had regarding love.

The cast is stacked, with Joshua Cabiladas as the lead alongside film and TV actress Glaiza De Castro in her memorable first theater role as the android girlfriend.

VLF 21’s Set C, “Balat Kalabaw,” has a lot going for it, with intriguing narratives, strong casts, and a heightened energy that carries from one play to the next. Whether it’s toxic masculinity, the spread of misogyny, or an epidemic of loneliness, it’s a set that visualizes the very forces that strain human connections.

Aside from a set of revisited plays, 12 new one-act plays by both veteran and upcoming playwrights are being staged until June 28 at the CCP Blackbox Theater, CCP Complex, Pasay City. Shows are set at 2 and 8 p.m.

For more information, contact the CCP Box Office or visit the social media accounts of the CCP, Tanghalang Pilipino, The Writers’ Bloc, and Virgin Labfest. — Brontë H. Lacsamana