July 5, 2022
The Virgin Labfest is an annual festival of "untried, untested, and unstaged" one-act plays by Filipino playwrights that started since 2005. It had always been held at the CCP Tanghalang Huseng Batute, until it was forced to shift online in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out where the selected plays were performed online via Zoom. There were no new plays in 2021, only archived and educational content.
This year, VLF17 went hybrid with the theme "HINGA!", led by two new festival directors, Marco Viana and Tess Jamias. There were live performances at the CCP Tanghalang Huseng Batute from June 16-26, 2022, which were fully sold out even before opening day. In addition, there are now ongoing high definition recordings of the live performances streamed online at Ticket2Me which started last June 30 and runs up to July 10, 2022.
Because of schedule conflicts, I could not go to CCP to watch live stagings. Instead I bought an Online Festival Pass to be able to watch them anyway at home. A festival pass ticket cost P825 (P750 + P75 service fee). The links to all 4 sets were emailed to me a day before the date of my ticket. That day, I can access the plays for 48 hours, beginning 10 am. Each set lasts about 2-1/2 hours each, so be ready to spend 10 hours to watch.
Unlike the archived contest we watched last year which had poor video and audio quality as they were not really meant for commercial release, these new recordings were very clear, and used different cameras so the action was captured from several angles. Of course, this had an advantage of being able to rewind -- to rewatch memorable scenes, or to review lines you did not get the first time. Like before, there were four sets, with three plays in each set.
SET A: LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES
Ma. Cecilia dela Rosa's "Mga Balo" (directed by Adrienne Vergara) told the story of playwright (Alon Segarra) who was writing a play about Widow 1 (Pau Benitez) who lost her husband Benjie in a drug raid and Widow 2 (Skyzx Labastilla) who lost her husband Amboy in a military encounter. This meta play tackled the play writing process in an interesting manner, and was able to send a strong message against wanton extrajudicial killings. 3/5
Bibeth Orteza's "Bituing Marikit" (directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna) told the story of three brothers Peping (JV Ibesate), Bok (Earle Figuarcion) and Butching (Joshua Tayco) who got back together with their father Allan (Gie Onida) because their mother passed away. Peping revealed a scandalous secret he knew about their mother, and confronted his father about it, as they all argue whether she should still have a wake or not. 2/5
Eljay Castro Deldoc's "Walang Bago sa Dulang Ito” (directed by J. William Hubert Sigmund Go and Tess Jamias) was about a female graduate student (Claudia Enriquez) who had been sexual abused while she was doing her studies on millipedes. The disturbing story was told with four other actresses (Marj Lorico, Wenah Nagales, Kath Castillo and Ji-ann Lachica) playing the various people in the life of the girl her professor demeaningly called Hija. 3/5
SET B: LIFE IS STRANGE FICTION
Jerry O'Hara's "Liberation" (directed by Dennis Marasigan) was about three Japanese soldiers arguing among themselves on what was the final day of World War 2 -- strict officer Danki (Bong Cabrera), sex maniac Haruto (Chrome Cosio) and young conflicted private Jiro (Karlo Erfe). The concept of this play of focusing on the behavior and ethics of enemy soldiers was very interesting. Haruto's intolerably vulgar language will get on your nerves. 3/5
BJ Crisostomo's “Absurdo: Events Day” (directed by Mara Agleham) was about a couple of disgruntled project coordinators, Alyssa (Charm Aranton) and Rain (Io Balanon), ranting about the crazy difficulties of their job as they prepare for a yearend concert. The chatterbox Gen Z lingo used throughout this play seemed to be a big hit for the young audience, even if it rendered the first 50% of the play unintelligible for a Boomer like me. 2/5
Juan Ekis' "Nay, May Dala Akong Pansit" (directed by Karl Alexis Jingco) was about Kuya (Lian Silverio) and Bunso (Manok Nella-Bagadiong) trying to prevent their mother's death by NOT giving her pansit for her birthday. Silverio and Nella-Bagadiong were totally committed to their very exhausting roles of siblings caught in a perpetual loop. Mia Bolanos was hilarious as the repeatedly dying Nanay. Tommy Alejandrino played all the other side characters. 4/5
SET C: SCHOOL OF LIFE
Anthony Kim Vergara's "Student's Handbook" (directed by Erika Estacio) was about the disciplinary meeting Fr. Oks (Jojo Cayabyab) called to reprimand students who had violated rules in their student handbook, namely Benjamin (Jerom Canlas), Claire (Marynor Madamesila), Pepito (Gabo Tolentino), Rick (Earvin Estioco). This angry play boldly tackled student activism, and even managed to throw shade against Covid-deniers. 2/5
Mikaela Regis' “Unica Hijas” (directed by Pat Valera) was about two senior high school girls -- Nikki (Joy delos Santos) and Mitch (Ash Nicanor) -- who were caught kissing and were trying to come to grips with their sexuality, their parents and their school. The winsome and very realistic portrayals of Nicanor and especially delos Santos make this play sweet and engaging, despite the sensitive LGBTQ topic that it tackles. 3/5
Andrew Bonifacio Clete's "Punks Not Dead" (directed by Roobak Valle) was about a stressful afternoon for teacher Apple (Martha Comia) who was confronted by a concerned mother Bireng (Mosang) and a paranoid policeman Artur (Paulo Cabanero). This hysterical play began by ribbing about faulty questions in school modules. Later it took a darker turn to suspected drug dealing, leading all the way up to a gasp-inducing ending. 3/5
SET D: LIFE CHOICES
George Vail Kabrisante's "Bienvenuta Al Lido de Venezia" (directed by Nanding Josef and Antonette Go) was about a middle-aged domestic helper in Venice named Viola (Tex Ordonez de Leon) being interviewed by a researcher Charice (Lhorvie Nuevo) about her ordeal with the border patrols and her current life with partner Maximo (Jonathan Tadioan). Ordonez-de Leon dominates this dark play with her passionate monologues and opera singing. 3/5
Dustin Celestino's "Fermata" (directed by Guelan Luarca) was about Ben (Xander Soriano) being wracked with guilt from sordid rumors about his deceased father sexually abusing his male students. Basti Artadi was riveting as Alex, a former student of Ben's dad who had long repressed the trauma, now being dug up again by his friend. The title refers to an indefinite prolongation of a musical note, a metaphor for the lingering effects of sexual abuse. 4/5
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