Sunday, July 14, 2013

The Virgin Labfest 9 Experience Part 2


Since I missed last year’s Virgin Labfest, I really wanted to see Set E that features plays from the previous labfest. This gave me an opportunity to have a glimpse of what were the notable productions that got a lot of buzz from last year’s crop. Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed with what I saw since I didn’t find the plays from Set E that exceptional. It made me wonder about the rest of the plays that was presented last year. I also had a setback when I was on my way to the Cultural Center of the Philippines to watch Set B. A sudden heavy downpour resulted in such heavy traffic that I arrived late (a rarity) and completely missed the first play of the set Owel. Lastly, my schedule didn’t permit me to watch Set C, so I missed a total of four plays (Owel, Pamamanhikan, Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady and Ambong Abo) in this edition of the Virgin Labfest.

Set E

Ang Unang Regla ni John
by Em Mendez

The performance that I watched was marked by the absence of cast member Joshua Deocareza prompting director George de Jesus to step in and play the actor’s role as one of the burly and brawny brothers in the play. He had a script in tow and I think that most of the comic timing was lost along the way. The play is basically about John (Bobby John Pimentel) who dreads the sprouting of hair in various body parts that goes along with entering puberty. John is left to bear the brunt of his brothers’ (Paul Jake Paule and Deocareza/de Jesus) incessant teasing and the expectations of his widower father (Julienne Mendoza) who want him to continue his barbershop business. Then one night, John dreams about a woman (Adrienne Vergara) who is supposed to be the desire of everyman. But to that woman’s disbelief, John desires to be that woman who is all smooth and hairless. And when John wakes up, he has officially entered puberty and along with it, his greatest fear. The way he resolved this dilemma was unsatisfying for my taste. Yes, the end result was what the title suggested but it didn’t mean a lot for me. I wasn’t able to see any inner growth in the character of John to go along with the physical change that he has experienced in the story.

Pagsubli
by Aizel Cabilan

This short play is about a chance meeting between a young woman (Che Ramos) who is waiting for her bus to arrive and a native old, man (Dante Balois) who just happens to be there at the same waiting shed. The woman has just finished her unsuccessful search in that province for the father that she has never met. They engage in a conversation, connect through obscure songs, and tell each other the circumstances that brought them at the same place. And soon enough, I already figured it out that the old man that she was talking to was her father. And when he started talking about his daughter whom he longs to return, I knew that my guess was right. But all too quickly, the bus arrives, the woman leaves and his realization comes a bit too late. The overall material was very short but the actors’ subtle, intimate and very believable acting was the high point in this play. I am not sure if the play would’ve succeeded if it added more to it.

Mga Kuneho
by Guelan Luarca


This had the most intriguing premise in the whole set: five men (Roeder Camañag, Paul Jake Paule, Marco Viaña, Fitz Bitana and Chrome Cosio) who were hired to move a body bag from one room to another find themselves locked inside with the only way out is by killing the right person among the five of them. Violent, gory and not for the squeamish (feces, anyone?), this play kept the audience at the edge of their seats. As the body count piles up, I wonder who will be the last one standing and if he does indeed get out. But this story of an unknown entity forcing people to kill each other until one is left alive felt too much like Battle Royale for me. But for others, they probably felt that this was like The Hunger Games but I haven’t read nor watched this so I can’t tell. Too bad that I didn’t care too much about the characters in the play so even though I was curious to find out who would be the one left standing, I wasn’t really affected by the other deaths.

Set B

Chipline
by Dominique La Victoria

I was very interested in this play because it had the distinction of being the first ever Virgin Labfest play to be entirely in Cebuano. I did wonder how the director would handle the material for it to be accessible for those who do not understand the language. The story focuses on three children (Jewel Tomolin, J.P. Gedang and Lovern Calucay) who are facing the loss of their playground for a new zipline park will be built on it. They react differently towards this news with one feeling optimistic that there will be job opportunities for him in this soon to be built establishment. A stubborn one doesn’t want to lose their playground and doesn’t care about the zipline. He ignores the “No Trespassing” sign and if I’m not mistaken, he gets trapped in the end when the heavy machinery begins constructing. This play was hard to understand because I don’t speak Cebuano. I had to rely on the actor’s performance and the few words that I could grasp to know what was going on.

Isang Daan
by Liza Magtoto


This comedy started out with a lot of promise but it ended flat for me. Ting (Jelson Bay) a balikbayan brings his daughter to a street named after one of his ancestor who was a Katipunero. But his Fil-Am daughter doesn’t show the slightest interest in the street. The father’s frustration by his daughter’s lack of interest is compounded by a highway construction spearheaded by the mayor that will completely wipe out the street. I was really interested to see how this conflict will be resolved but the end result was a downer since it felt forced for me. And the audio towards the end, that sealed the fate of everyone was so distorted that I wasn’t able to understand what was being said. I had to ask Jelson Bay afterwards what it meant for me to know what happened to everybody towards the end. There were also a few jokes that I think dates this play. The not so subtle jabs aimed at Senator Nancy Binay will be stale a few months from now. And the planking bit felt so 2011 already. Jelson Bay’s performance was the play’s high point. I heard that he wasn’t able to make it at an earlier show and director Ed Lacson had to step in for him. It’s hard to imagine anyone else but Jelson in that role and I wonder if Ed was able to pull it off effectively. Jelson is joined in the play by Joelle Marie Therese Yuvienco, Mila Rose Romero, Karnina Haniel, Mario Mendoza Jr., Jean Judith Javier, Noel Taylo, Kiki Baento and Adrienne Vergara

Jelson Bay

Two of the plays from Sets E and B featured some liquids spewing and I witnessed that a few audience members who sat right in front were unlucky to have their clothes spilled by whatever those liquids were. One guy was laughing heartily during the earlier moments of Unang Regla, but when what was supposed to be vomit got into his jeans, he no longer laughed like he did during the remainder of the play as he was busy wiping his jeans. The same also goes for Isang Daan when the supposed to be oil spill reached a couple of audience members seated on the front row. Spewing liquids seem like a neat trick on stage but it could make for uncomfortable moments for unfortunate members of the audience. And I saw how much of a hassle it was wiping the stuff and worrying if it would stain their clothing. I do hope that future productions will be more conscious about their audience and not go overboard with these effects.

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