May 03, 2018

Virgin LabFest 14: Silip

Fate doesn’t always open its doors for you. Sometimes, you have to knock to open doors that lead to opportunities, and Virgin LabFest is one such door.

IMAGE Virgin LabFest Facebook page

New doors are opening for aspiring playwrights and theatergoers! Virgin LabFest, the annual festival for unstaged, untried, untested, and unpublished works which gained recognition at Palanca Awards for its ‘virgin’ playwrights, has already released the titles of this year’s plays that will be performed on June 27 – July 15, 2018. In the 14th year of Virgin Labfest, they are already accepting applicants for the Writing Fellowship Program, a two-week program practicing dramatic writing for the stage which will be held on July 3 – 15.

Brought to you by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Writer’s Bloc, Inc., and Tanghalang Pilipino, 12 fresh works, 3 favorite plays from last year’s festival, staged readings and works from the Virgin Labfest writing fellowship workshop will be featured.

The plays are grouped into 5 sets with 3 plays each. Sets A-D are the 12 new featured works while Set E will be composed of the revisited plays from last year. Below is the schedule for each set of plays.

Here are the plays in each set, which will run at 3 pm and 8 pm:

SET A (June 27, July 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 15)

MGA EKSENA SA BUHAY NG KONTRABIDA (Playwright: Dustin Celestino / Director: Roobak Valle)
MGA BATA SA SELDA 43 (Playwright: Rolin Migyuel Obina / Director: Ian Segarra)
ANG INYONG MGA ANAK: SI HAROLD AT SI NAPOLEON (Playwright: Anthony Kim Vergara / Director: Ricardo Magno)

SET B (June 28, July 1, 6, 7, 11, 12, 15)

ANG MGA PROPESYUNAL (Playwright: Sari Saysay / Director: Carlitos Siguion-Reyna)
ROSAS (Playwright: J. Dennis Teodosio / Director: Charles Yee)
EDGAR ALLAN HEMINGWAY (Playwright: Carlo Vergara / Director: George de Jesus III)

SET C (June 29, July 1, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13)

LABOR ROOM (Playwright: Ma. Cecilia dela Rosa / Director: José Estrella)
ENSAYO (Playwright: Juan Ekis / Director: Erick Villanueva dela Cruz)
TULAD NG DATI (Playwright: JV Ibesate / Director: Olive Nieto)

SET D (June 30, July 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 14)

AMOY PULBOS ANG MGA ALABOK SA ILALIM NG RILES NG TREN (Playwright: Lino Balmes / Director: Tess Jamias)
MARAWI MUSICALE (Playwright: Tyron Casumpang / Director: Ariel Yonzon)
RIVER LETHE (Playwright: Allan Lopez / Director: Chris Martinez)

SET E (REVISITED, June 29, 30, July 1, 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15)

BIRDCAGE (Playwright: Rick Patriarca / Director: Ian Segarra)
SINCERITY BIKERS’ CLUB (Playwright: Adrian Ho / Director: Jenny Jamora)
PILIPINAS KONG MAHAL WITH ALL THE OVERCOAT (Playwright: Eljay Castro Deldoc / Director: Roobak Valle)

Audiences are recommended to have age 13 years old and above. Tickets are priced Php 400 for bleachers and Php 600 for premium. For tickets, you may call the CCP Box Office (02-832-3704, 9 am to 5 pm, Tuesday to Sunday only), go to any Ticketworld outlet, or log on to TicketWorld.com.ph. Students have 50% discount for its first week. Grab your tickets now!

For interested applicants of Virgin Labfest 14 Writing Fellowship Program, you can visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph, email ccp.artist.training@gmail.com, or call 832-1125 local 1605. Requirements are only until 11:59 pm on May 18, 2018. The announcement of accepted applicants will be on June 8, 2018. Registration is at Php 1,200.

Written by Vinnise Marcelo, Philippine Primer intern
Sources: Cultural Center of the Philippines, TicketWorld, Theater Fans Manila

Google Map: