The yellow tape with the words Brave New Works can now be seen at the Cultural Center of the Philippines which means that it’s time once again for the edgy works to take center stage. And the edgier side of theater is represented by the Virgin Labfest. The annual festival featuring untried, untested and unstaged plays is now on its 7th year and its tagline for this edition asks the question Nakatakim ka na ba? (trans. Have you had a taste?). From 105 submitted scripts, 10 entries were selected to be staged at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute (CCP Studio Theater). And for the first time, one feature length play will be part of the program while the other 9 are the usual one act plays. There will also be re-staging of selected plays from last year’s edition, staged readings and a book launch. All of this will be happening starting June 29, 2011 and will end on July 10, 2011 .
I admit that I haven’t had a taste of the Virgin Labfest before. The closest that I had in seeing a play was seeing an on site performance at the Little Theater Lobby a year ago. And a couple of times I saw some friends headed over to the Studio Theater and they unsuccessfully tried to convince me to join and watch with them. I had to decline since I was already watching a different show over at the Little Theater which is just a few steps away.
Now it seems that I’m ready for my first taste. And to prepare me for that first time, I had lunch with some of the Virgin Labfest playwrights namely Russell Legaspi, Joey Paras, Floy Quintos, Rae Red and Mixkaela Villalon inside the CCP. Also present during the lunch were the Virgin Labfest organizers headed by Rody Vera and some members of the press. Over the course of the lunch, I was able to learn a lot not just about the plays and the playwrights themselves but also about the process, the arguments, the sacrifices, the tears, the nightmares and the joy that one has to go through while staging a play.
The Valley Mission Care is Russell Legaspi’s first foray in writing a play but he has acted in plays before. He said that his play is about an old man living inside a nursing home still trying to fulfill some of his dreams. I did find it interesting and a bit amusing that a play with a plot centering on fulfilling a dream was spawned when Russell was actually bored. He also said that older men (senior citizens) aren’t usually given lead roles and he wrote the play with that in mind as well. And that the idea of someone who’s expected to be resting and taking life easy during his senior years yet he defies convention and still aims to fulfill his dreams really appealed to Russell.
Joey Paras’ play on the other hand is a comedy entitled Bawal Tumawid, Nakamamatay that translates as Do Not Cross, Deadly. The plot seems simple enough with a woman trying to cross a street in order to arrive at her destination. But the street is EDSA which means that crossing it, jaywalking specifically, will never be simple hence the presence of signs bearing the title of the play. Joey then mentioned that the play is still going through changes because they end up crying in the end during rehearsals even though the play is supposed to be a comedy. And he said that he ended up having a lot of actors in his play as compared to the others with only a few since he thinks that it is more fun that way.
Another entry is Evening at the Opera by Floy Quintos, who is also known by mainstream audiences as a director. His play, focusing on a governor’s wife obsession in staging an opera, is a political commentary on how people use arts and culture as propaganda. The play also addresses the issue of corruption posing questions like how people end up being corrupt and if corruption is passed on from one person to another. He also mentioned that he wrote the dialogue of the play which is in English with specific actors in mind.
Rae Red’s Kawala which I think could translate either as Escape or Release is a slice of life play about an elevator operator and his interaction with the tenants of a condominium as they take the elevator. One of the challenges of her play was the timing to make it really seem like that the action does indeed take place inside the elevator. There is such a limited time inside the elevator from the moment people enter up to the moment that they leave. She also mentioned that the revisions tend to fluster her a bit but she realizes that this is part of the learning process in staging a play.
Streetlight Manifesto by Mixkaela Villalon is a dark comedy wherein a streetlight is the lone witness to the murders by two hit men and also to the investigation of a police officer and a journalist of the said murders. This play was featured in the March 2011 hotINK theater festival organized by the LARK Play Development Center New York
I admit that there were moments during the lunch wherein I found it difficult to grasp what was going on especially when people started referring to plays from previous Virgin Labfest editions. With the exception of Floy Quintos and Joey Paras, the other playwrights present were also virgins in a sense that they’ve never had any plays that were staged before. And it’s this new breed with a different vision, perspective and voice that takes centerstage during this time when the CCP spotlights the Brave New Works.
Capping the lunch, the organizers expressed their hope that the plays staged during the festival will have legs and have a life after Virgin Labfest. They wish that these works will eventually be part of theater literature and be staged by other companies in the future. I do agree with this since I also feel the same with piano/chamber/orchestral music written by Filipino composers. Several good compositions are premiered and never played again which is such a shame. So I do hope that good plays (as well as good music) written by Filipinos will indeed find its way and become part of the standard repertoire by different companies.
List of Plays and the Schedule for Virgin Labfest 7
Venue: Tanghalang Huseng Batute (CCP Studio Theater)
Set A
Kinaumagahan by Rachelle Rodriguez and Wennielyn Fajilan
Requiem by Juan Ekis
Kafatiran by Dingdong Novenario
Set B
Isang Gabi Bago Magbukas ang Portrait of an Artist as Filipino ni Nick Joaquin
by Carlo Pacolor Garcia
Set C
Streetlight Manifesto by Mixkaela Villalon
Kawala by Rae Red
Evening at the Opera by Floy Quintos
Set D
Mga Lobo Tulad ng Buwan by Pat Valera
Bawal Tumawid, Nakamamatay by Joey Paras
The Valley Mission Care by Russell Legaspi
Set E VLF VI Revisited
Ondoy by Remil Velasco
Balunbalunan, Bingibingihan by Debbi Ann Tan
Staged Reading
Venue: Bulwagang Amado Hernandez
Book Launching
Telon: Mga Dula edited by Tim Dacanay
Ang Tatlong Dula by Rody Vera
Fragments, site specific excerpts
Kontrabida, Inc. by Krista Ann Taclan
Beyond Silence by Lito Casaje
For tickets and other inquiries:
832-3704
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