Settling down at a new home

The Virgin Lab Fest is ready for its audience

STAGING a popular annual festival of plays that have yet to be tried and tested onstage is hard enough in regular circumstances. It has been all the more difficult given the myriad of uncertainties Philippine theater has faced in recent years.

As the Virgin Labfest (VLF) turns 18 this year, it challenges veteran and upcoming playwrights, directors, and crew alike to adjust to its new home, Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Blackbox Theater), while the iconic CCP structure itself is undergoing a three-year renovation.

Coming from a pandemic that forced VLF’s 2020 and 2021 editions online followed by a victorious physical return to the CCP in 2022, this year’s offerings are determined to keep up to standards.

“We’d like to thank audiences for coming back to see the amazing plays we have in store. I’ve no doubt that you will enjoy the show,” said VLF co-festival director Tess Jamias at the start of the technical dress rehearsals on May 31.

“This will be our first time staging the Virgin Labfest here in our new home, and we’re all very excited,” she said during the open rehearsals.

With this year’s festival themed “Hitik,” which translates to laden or overflowing with fruit or riches, it’s no surprise that the crowd of playwrights, directors, crew members, and close friends granted a preview of the coming shows were noticeably abuzz with excitement before and after rehearsal.

The night saw the curtain open on Set E (the one-act plays are grouped together into sets during the festival), which was titled “Hinog,” to imply the ripeness of the three revisited plays from last year.

After a disclaimer by Ms. Jamias that dress rehearsals mean possible hiccups or delays, the wildly funny yet socially relevant Punks Not Dead by playwright Andrew Bonifacio Clete and director Roobak Valle began, feeding the palpably giddy energy in the theater.

Though the crowd was nearly not as packed as it surely will be during the actual run, the laughs and gasps felt just as sharp. When it ended, some of its cast and crew piled into the audience during intermission, excited to watch the other two performances.

Fermata by playwright Dustin Celestino and director Antonette Go-Yadao continued to feed the crowd’s highly receptive energy as the chill atmosphere of a jazz bar was recreated onstage. With this one, pin-drop silences validated the actors’ heavy exchange of dialogue.

During the intermission before the final play of the night, the hallway outside was filled with conversation as audience members and some cast and crew discussed the various elements that were tweaked over time, like the lighting and the blocking.

The last play began — ‘Nay May Dala Akong Pansit by playwright Juan Ekis and director Karl Jingco — which involved audience interaction to some degree — ending the night with high spirits and positive outlooks on how the rest of this year’s VLF will go.

On the way out of the hall and speaking with artists and theater crew involved in the three productions, Ms. Jamias expressed high hopes for “Hitik.”

“It’s exciting that everyone is doing their best to give the best theater experience,” she said.

VLF 18 will present 12 new plays from both veteran and upcoming playwrights from June 7 to 25 at the CCP Blackbox Theater. Aside from the set of revisited plays seen by ����ý, there will be four sets of new one-act plays — Adulting 101 (Set A), REBELasyon (Set B), Y.O.LO. (Set C), and Muwang (Set D) — and two sets of staged readings.

For tickets and other inquiries, contact the CCP Box Office at [email protected].) — Brontë H. Lacsamana