From Angel Aquino and Elijah Canlas to Glaiza de Castro and Christian Bables, this year’s Virgin Labfest brings together mainstream stars and respected theater veterans.
Kaye C. Tiñga speaks at the Virgin Labfest XXI press conference.
Kiko Cabuena
CCP
This year’s Virgin Labfest XXI: “Hubo’t Hubad” brings together a mix of veteran theater artists and recognizable film and television actors, highlighting how VLF continues to bridge independent playwriting with mainstream Filipino entertainment.
Among the confirmed cast members are Angel Aquino, Jackie Lou Blanco, and Iana Bernardez (Set B: “Lualhati”); Elijah Canlas and Meryll Soriano (Set D: “Footprint”); Glaiza de Castro (Set C: “Elehiya” and “She’s Electric”); Christian Bables and Mosang (Set D: “Taksyapo!”); Donna Cariaga (Set A: “Patayin ang mga Surot”); CJ Navato (Set A: “Human Rights Story of the Year”); alongside musician-actor Yan Yuzon and theater figures Dennis Marasigan, Carlos Siguion-Reyna, and Rafa Siguion-Reyna (Set C: “Elehiya” and “She’s Electric”).
In her opening remarks during the VLF XXI press conference on 19 May, CCP president Kaye C. Tiñga described this year’s edition as a milestone for the long-running theater festival.
“The Cultural Center of the Philippines is immensely proud to be the home of Virgin Labfest, the country’s premier theater festival of untried, untested, and unstaged one-act plays since 2005,” she said.
Tiñga noted that the festival’s 21st edition reflects both artistic maturity and continued creative risk-taking.
“This year, VLF finally comes of age. Bearing the theme ‘Hubo’t Hubad,’ it brilliantly captures the maturity and artistry expected at twenty-one while continuing to harness the magic of theater and the arts,” she said.
She also emphasized how this year’s productions explore vulnerability and self-revelation, saying that VLF XXI “showcases how people bare and reveal themselves in their own ways.”
Tiñga likewise recognized the playwrights, directors, actors, stage managers, and organizers behind the festival, as well as members of the media covering Philippine theater.
“You are the bridge between the stories expressed onstage and the audiences who are yet to discover them,” she told the press.
She also acknowledged festival directors Toni Go-Yadao and Marco Viaña, along with the artists mounting “the 3 revisited plays and 12 ‘virgin’ scripts from our 8 ‘virgin’ playwrights and 4 returnees.”
Running from 3 to 28 June 2026 at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater), the festival will stage 12 new one-act plays and three revisited works under the theme “Hubo’t Hubad,” which explores vulnerability, identity, memory, and the human condition through raw and fearless storytelling.
