The festival of 'virgins' at CCP
MANILA, Philippines - Now on its sixth year, the Virgin Labfest is a festival of new and exciting plays and playwrights held annually at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), by “virgins” (first-time playwrights), “extra virgins” (first-time writers) and “born-again virgins” (professional writers with new works).
Supported this year by Japan Foundation Manila and the Philippine High School for the Arts, it is a tradition, so to speak, that began in 2005 when Tanghalang Pilipino and Writer’s Bloc were given a venue at the CCP to read their newly-written plays, and later provided the idea of a barebones production — making simple sets and enhancing the work with professional acting.
Tanghalang Pilipino, Writers Bloc and CCP wanted to promote a venue of new works to be visible and attract interest from the public, thus encouraging virgin and veteran writers to improve, elaborate and make better their current, new and future works.
Theater fans look forward to this year’s Virgin Labfest, featuring 14 new works, including guest productions from other countries and the top three most popular productions from last year’s Virgin Labfest. These new works are divided into five sets with interesting titles such as Pariah Paraiso, Pas de Deux, Pecado Mortal, Pink Pestibal and Banyaga Twinbill. An extra set includes the three productions from the previous Virgin Labfest. A seventh set, named Pica Pica, features “Fragments,” the Sipat Lawin Ensemble’s site-specific excerpts of new works by Edna Vida, Melchor Escarcha, Khavn de la Cruz and more.
“Pariah Paraiso” features plays that make one ask questions about humans, humanity and humankind. Productions in this set include Debbie Ann Tan’s Balunbalunan, Bingibingihan, Carlo Pacolor Garcia’s Bakit Wala Nang Nagtatagpo sa Philcoa Oberpas, and Alexis Dorola Yasuda’s Isagani. “Pas de Deux” are one-act short plays with two characters. In this set, one can watch the premiere staging of Ondoy by Remi Velasco, Higit Pa Dito by Allan Lopez and Collector’s Item by Juliene Mendoza. “Pecado Mortal,” roughly translating to “Mortal Sin,” has Isa Borlaza’s Sa Package Counter, U Eliserio, Maynard Manansala and Chuckberry Pascual’s Matyag, and Floy Quintos’ Suor Clara in its line-up. Plays for the gays have their own set, “Pink Pestibal.” Carmi Martin by J. Dennis Teodosio, Huling Habilin ng Sirena by Layeta Bucoy, and A Fist Full of Sand by Arlo de Guzman are the stars of this set.
There are new plays by foreign writers featured in the “Banyaga Twinbill.” Watch out for Japanese Shungiku Uchida as she presents her Sundan Natin si Ever-san, and Indonesian Joned Suryatmoko’s work entitled Threesome. For “Virgin Labfest Revisited,” this set features popular productions from the previous Labfest. Layeta Bucoy’s Doc Resurreccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan, Nicolas Pichay’s Isang Araw sa Karnabal and Sheilfa Alojamiento’s Boy-Gel ang Gelpren ni Mommy. Another first for this year is the “Script-on-Demand,” where the public can purchase a copy of previous Virgin Labfest scripts at P150.
Single-set tickets are sold at P250 each, and patrons can watch two or more sets as well if they buy Festival Passes. The Extra Virgin Pass, available for P1,000, allows one to watch all the sets. The Virgin Pass on the other hand, allows one to watch a total of four sets. Three sets of your choice plus a seat in either “Banyaga Twinbill” or “Virgin Labfest Revisited” go for only P750. The Pure Pass for P500 allows you to watch two sets of your choice plus a seat to “Virgin Labfest Revisited.” Buy two single-set tickets for any set and you also get a 10 percent Eyeball Discount.
Virgin Labfest VI begins tomorrow and will run until July 4. For information, call the CCP Performing Arts Division at 832-1125 loc. 1606-1607, or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.
