I watched the dress and technical rehearsals of six plays from the 19th edition of The Virgin Labfest (VLF), an annual theater festival that features “unpublished, unstaged, untried and untested works.”
This year, the fest will run from 12 to 30 June at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Blackbox Theater) under the theme “Pintog” (“swelling,” in English).
There are 15 one-act plays divided into five sets. Three of the six plays that I have seen were from the previous year — no longer virgin plays — under Set E (“Revisited”) and were tweaked for this year’s audiences.
‘Pagkapit sa Hangin’ (Set C)
The world is still reeling from the effects of Covid-19 and it is quite difficult to watch a rehash of our very recent collective nightmare. Joshua Lim So’s play is set during the Delta wave of 2021, and one can’t help but wonder, why this material?
Plunging viewers into a moral dilemma that strikes a male doctor and two female nurses in a remote, provincial public hospital, the tale is triggering, distressing and offers no redemption, new information, significant insight, or humor.
Maybe 50 years from now, we can revisit the events of this global pandemic — but not this early.
‘Lipstick at Pulbura’ (Set C)
Ara Jenika Vinzon’s two-hander play takes us back to the Japanese occupation. Two female friends — one, a boisterous guerilla fighter and the other a serious worker at a printing press — engage in conversations that range from silly to somber. One girl is about to die, as the prologue states, and we witness her last moments on Earth.
The audience is subjected to strong female personalities who discuss their beliefs and principles. But Vinzon’s words are mild, a little humorous and generally prosaic.
‘The Foxtrot’ (Set C)
A man and a woman, on their last rehearsal together, dance around issues involving their secret desires.
JC Santos plays the young dance instructor to a rich, matronly woman in Chesie Galvez-Cariño’s play about the universal complexities of love, romance and relationships.
As the young DI talks about his upcoming wedding, his client is visibly jealous and heartbroken.
The story begins with a safe and funny banter between the two, until it swells into a crescendo of self-realization, brazen confessions, vulnerability and a sharp examination on why a person who is already in a relationship could still fall in love with someone else.
It also asks audiences who have the same predicament to decide whether to scratch every itch, or to abandon something stable for a new, shiny object.
Never mind that the two actors are not professional dancers — this play boldly touches on uncomfortable, heartbreaking truths.
‘Dominador Gonzales: National Artist’ (Set E)
From playwright Dingdong Novenario, and directed by George de Jesus, Dominador is an angry, frustrated and biting commentary on the theater and film industry.
Laced with sarcasm and cutting remarks, it lures the audience into the impassioned conversations between former gay lovers — the playwright Dominador (Joel Saracho) and the corporate slave Oliver (Bong Cabrera).
Cabrera’s performance is wonderfully volatile. Incensed, with flashing eyes of envy, spite and frustration, he is swelling with ideologies and bitter criticisms against various topics that range from national artists to “coward” plays, to self-published social media critics.
A third character, Edward (a brilliantly natural AJ Sison), adds a layer of intrigue and humor.
‘Room 209’ (Set E)
Penned by Zheg Arban and directed by Delphine Buencamino, Room 209 boasts impressive staging and blocking, with crisp dialogue and clear storytelling. It dives into the painful and ongoing issue of hazing within the Philippine Military Academy.
It first introduces the swelling pride and hope among the cadets, before the cruel reality of the culture and environment within the military academy walls sets in. Riveting and heartbreaking. I shed a tear.
‘Ang Awit ng Dalagang Marmol’ (Set E)
This convoluted crowd-pleaser is a political commentary under the guise of a colorful observation of a theater production under time pressure.
Andrew Estacio’s comedy is designed for the masses. Adrienne Vergara is the main event in this lengthy “play within a play,” which is packed with name-dropping and local theater scene references, slapstick and gags that may hit or miss, depending on your taste.