2009 Virgin Labfest Plays (This June at the Cultural Center of the Philippines)

The Virgin Labfest is a venue for playwrights, directors and actors to bring to life 'untried, untested, unpublished and unstaged' one act plays. The festival is sponsored by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Tanghalang Filipino, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and The Writers Bloc, Inc. SET A School of Life (Mga Dulang Walang Pinag-aralan) June 23: 3pm, 8pm July 4: 8pm July 5: 3pm MPC ni Job Pagsibigan, to be mounted by the Dulaang Sipat Lawin Humdrum pupil Felix Bakat is already the brightest student in the sub- standard Mababang Paaralan ng Caniogan or MPC. He and his two other friends, Erwin & Didai, had the misfortune of being the only three students to report to their class one stormy school day. Their teacher, the terrifying Miss Magnaye, prepares them for her teaching demo which she and her students are scheduled to present before their visiting school superintendent, Mr. Catacutan. On the day of the teaching demo, Erwin & Didai plan to steal from Miss Magnaye’s stock of canned goods; a business the teacher keeps to augment what she earns from the profession she herself despises. But just when Mr. Catacutan is already enjoying the teaching demo, Erwin and Didai are found out. Miss Magnaye points to Felix as the one behind the conspiracy. How the children are eventually cleared of the mischief is no small help from the school’s legendary ghost, Pilita and the violent storm that ties Pilita’s fate to that of Miss Magnaye. Ang Huling Lektyur ni Misis Reyes ni Tim Dacanay, director Hazel Gutierrez A high school music teacher at the crossroads of life decides to retire. She faces her class for one last session and improvises a lecture on a topic she considers most important for her audience: sex. Pandaraya ni Oggie Arcenas, director Roli Inocencio Isadora, a student who is about to graduate summa cum laude from a prestigious university is accused of cheating during an examination. The accuser is Amor, an underachieving student, and the campus slut. The two face-off before the Student Disciplinary Tribunal which is hearing the cheating case. As the hearing unfolds, secrets are revealed, and a jaded society’s value system takes the spotlight. SET B It's Complicated (The Buhul-Buhol Trilogy) June 24: 3pm, 8pm July 3: 8pm July 4: 3pm Salise ni J. Dennis Teodosio, director: Roobak Valle A laptop was stolen. In a desperate attempt to retrieve it, a soap opera writer discovers a life story that's stranger and juicier than the teleseryes he's been writing. Ang Mamanugangin ni Rez ni Clarissa Estuar, director: Paolo O'Hara Enter Pinay’s world, which for most of the day is compressed into a small bag/shoe repair stall she manages at a mall. Here, even simple dreams seem out of reach, and simple Pinay constantly just fades into the background. She makes one last ditch effort for something she truly wants, or rather someone she truly wants only to question why she set her aspirations on that one man, of all people. So Sangibo A Ranon Na Piyatay O Satiman A Tadman ni Rogelio Braga, director Riki Benedicto Written by a Filipino playwright as an ars poetica to a Bangsa Moro freedom fighter Abdul Rahman Macapaar is a story of love, lost and remembrance. Stella, a hooker from the university belt during the Martial Law years remembers the 1971 Tacub Massacre in Kauswagan, Lanao del Norte, Abdul Rahman who longs for a Ranao he left to pursue a dream in Manila, and Aling Ella a spinster who remembers a lost love that haunts her like a ghost. So Sanggibo a Ranon na Piyatay o Satiman a Tadman is both a story of how ordinary people struggle for love, self-respect, freedom and maratabat amid a nation that harbors a dark past and an invitation to a journey in one of the sordid histories of Filipino Nationalism against the Bangsa Moro people. SET C Blood Sports (Trilohiyang Dinuguan ) June 25: 3pm, 8pm July 3, 3pm July 5: 8pm Kitchen Medea ni Kiyokazu Yamamoto, director: Yoshida Toshihisa Doc Resurrecion: Gagamutin ang Bayan ni Layeta Bucoy, director: Tuxqs Rutaquio With the desire to introduce positive changes to his community, Doc Resureccion ran for Mayor. Unfortunately, his cousin, Boy Pogi Resureccion ran as a nuisance candidate challenging Doc Resureccion' s chances. Bearing gifts and promises of a better future, he tries persuading his cousin to withdraw his candidacy only to find out that the community he so wanted to help desires a different path for itself. Asawa/Kabit ni George de Jesus III, director George de Jesus III Two middle-aged women, Via and Vanessa, confront each other about the man they both loved for more than 25 years. Through a scathing conversation, resentments and regrets surface like land mines forcing both women to evaluate the immutable choices they made in the name of love, the unbearable burden of hope, and the contentiousness of believing in a man's fidelity. SET D The Family That _______s Together (Tatlong Dulang Walang Diyos) June 25: 3pm, 8pm July 3, 3pm July 5: 8pm Boy-Girl ang Gelpren ni Mommy ni Sheilfa Alojamiento, director Carlo Garcia Two kids, caught in adult infidelity games, took time off away from their errant father's house and spend a vacation one summer in their divorced mother's place in another city and get to know her and her girlfriend. Maliw ni Reuel Molina Aguila, director Edna Vida How does one close a chapter still to be written? Five years after the forced-disappearanc e of her eldest daughter, a mother confronts this question. The play is set after her family celebrates her eldest daughter’s 30th birthday. Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White ni George Vail Kabristante; director: Paul Santiago This is a document of the times when club entertainers in Japan used to pick yen from the walls of clubs to be remitted to their families back home for saving or for squandering. It zeroes in on former entertainers husband and wife Jay-Ar and Leizl and their dream to go back to Japan which has become an impossibility, given that the Japanese government has absolutely made it difficult now for anyone to work there as club entertainer. Hinting at Chekovian absurdities & humor , the characters continue dreaming and role-playing to relive the good old days. In laughing at themselves and acting “up” and “out” the dark humors and their memorable past in Japan, these two characters find their plight less painful to bear. SET E Life is a Trap (Three Plays in Search of Escape) June 27: 3pm, 8pm June 30: 8pm July 1: 3pm Isang Araw sa Peryahan ni Nicolas B. Pichay, director: Chris Millado Zaldy and Toni, two friends whose family members have been the victims of forced disappearances, amble along a jologs Peryahan. They grope in the dark shadow of a world weighed by uncertainties and fear. Engaged in the ritual of forgetting, the two friends' undefined relationship adds a nagging ambiguity in their lives making it difficult for them to define a future. Hope, for them can be a tricky sleight of hand; a slow and treacherous rickity ride to hell. Paigan ni Liza Magtoto, director: Sigrid Bernardo Fagen ("Paigan"), an Afro-American soldier who deserted his camp to fight side-by-side with the Filipino revolutionaries, is wanted by the Americans for the price of $600-- a hefty sum at the time. Desperate for money, Pedring captures Fagen and is set to behead him when Tacio, a former comrade, and the Filipina wife of the captive beseech him. The play explores a possible scenario posed by historical essays on the true-to-life story of the guerilla fighter who defected to our side during the Filipino-American War. Hate Restaurants ni David Finnigan, director: Victor Villareal Hate Restaurants is a command. Hate restaurants. Hate them. This play follows the trials and tribulations of a small pancake restaurant during the biggest breakfast of the year. Head chef and restauranteur Louise is incapacitated after an unfortunate encounter with a giant rat, leaving waiters Louise and Billy and mild-mannered kitchen-hand Toby to handle a booking of 70 businessmen who are suspiciously picky in their requirements The Virgin Labfest 4 Revisited set of three plays include June 28: 3pm, 8pm July 1: 8pm July 2: 3pm Floy Quintos's Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna Rogelio Braga's Ang Bayot, Ang Meranao at ang Habal-Habal sa Isang Nakababagot na Paghihintay sa Kanto ng Lanao del Norte. Job Pagsibigan's Uuwi na ang Nanay kong si Darna STAGED READINGS Tim Dacanay's adaptation of Harold Pinter's Betrayal: Kataksilan Joshua Lim so's adaptation of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi: Noong Minsan May Nanungkulan sa San Lazaro Joel Trinidad's musicale: Breakups and Breakdowns SPIT will also come up with an improvisational devised piece. Anthology includes 15 plays. I selected and edited the plays for the volume, in consultation with former TP Artistic Dir Dennis Marasigan. The anthology will be launched on June 23, 2009, the opening day of the Labfest. The anthology contains: Year 1: Rite of Passage by Glenn Mas Geegee at Waterina by J. Dennis Teodosio Year 2: Ang Unang Aswang by Rody Vera The Palanca in my Mind by Job Pagsibigan Tres Ataques de Corazon (The angina Monologues) by Nicolas Pichay Hubad by Liza Magtoto and Rody Vera Year 3: Mga Obra ni Maestra by Njel de Mesa Three sisters: Isang Noh by Yoji Sakate Teroristang Labandera by Debbie Ann Tan Ellas Inosentes by Layeta Bucoy Year 4: Pamantasang Hirang by Tim Dacanay Dong-Ao by F. Sionil Jose Masaganang Ekonomiya by Allan Lopez Ang Bayot, Ang Meranao at ang Habal-Habal sa Isang Nakababagot na Paghihintay sa Kanto ng Lanao del Norte by Rogelio Braga Ang Kalungkutan ng mga Reyna by Floy Quintos For details on the Virgin Labfest, call 8321125 loc. 1600 or 8323661. Nikki Torres at 8321125 loc. 1607 or 832-2314 or email http://us.mc519.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=drama_ccp@yahoo.com.