I looked forward to this year’s iteration of the Virgin Labfest (VLF) as a reward for finishing my first year in law school. I deemed it would be nice to watch untried, untested and unstaged 30 to 45-minute theatrical productions, following my experience with last year’s season. Extra special, too, that the VLF marked its 20th year (year XX), with the theme “Hinog.”

Just like last year, VLFXX has five sets consisting of three plays. Set E, dubbed “Panghimagas,” showcased the revisited plays from VLF19: “Identité,” “Pagkapit sa Hangin,” and “Sa Babaeng Lahat” (read the reviews here). Marco Viaña and Tess Jamias are the festival’s artistic co-directors, though Jamias said this will be her last one. As usual, the set descriptions below were from Jamias’s dramaturgical notes.

Warning: Spoilers ahead!

Set A: Bubot

Growing pains. Plays featuring young individuals who embark on a journey of self-exploration, in search of their respective places in the world.

Ang Bata kag ang Ilaga

Playwright: Lian Carlo Suelan

Director: Siglo

This is the first VLF play I watched that is written in Bisaya. The story revolved around the world of Isaac, an orphan staying in St. Jerome’s Home for Children. In this puppet theater production, Isaac, presumably a child in his formative years, reckoned with the loss of his parents. No less than Dr. Amihan Bonifacio-Ramolete was one of the puppeteers. Indeed a unique production (it used an overhead projector to create a zoetrope-like shadow play), telling us that loving and caring need not be taught–it is inherent in all of us.

Keywords: child care centers, formative years, child’s rights

⭐⭐⭐

Takbo, Batang Tondo

Playwright: Yoj

Director: Chic San Agustin-De Guzman

“Takbo, Batang Tondo” was rehearsing in the lobby when I claimed my festival pass in the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez. That aside, the production told me that there’s nothing at stake in a child’s play. Here, they tried an action-packed bahay-bahayan (think of “Ang Probinsyano”/“Batang Quiapo” and bahay-bahayan crossed). What if a toy gets lost? What if the characters don’t match up? It’s fine. You can do it all over again, without hard feelings. Children should feel no pressure to replicate the “adult” world.

Keywords: children’s play, social class, poverty stereotypes

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Polar Coordinates

Playwright: Ade Valenzona

Director: Paolo O’Hara

I studied and used the polar coordinate system during my undergraduate years, but the play gave it a new signification. Instead of an x and y, you just have the pole as the reference point. Much like our lives, with us at the center. Igo, a confused grade 10 student, minded so much how to navigate his life. The play touched on the themes of adolescence–the risqué and tears of it all. All weaved nicely, without falling into the trap of a stereotypical teenager-realizes-he-is-queer plot. All plotted smoothly. All well done.

Keywords: senior high school curriculum, marital infidelity, coming out

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Set B: Manibalang

Verge of ripeness. Stories of individuals at the cusp of adulthood, traversing immense changes in their lives.

Minating ni Mariah ang Manto ng Mommy ni Mama Mary

Playwright: Eljay Castro Deldoc

Director: Dexter M. Santos

Mariah, an ex-scammer, is a queer camarero who has been scammed by a putative callboy. The play uncovers an open secret inside the Catholic community: money is power. Yet here’s the problem: we deliberately exclude the likes of Mariah when we put premium over money than faith. No one should be excluded from joining religious ceremonies on the basis of financial standing! Surely, we’re not going back to the abuses of the pre-Reformation age. Nevertheless, the entire story remains a niche one for Catholics. We can say the same thing for others.

Keywords: queer Catholics, donations, indulgences

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Unang Araw

Playwright: Ivan Gentolizo

Director: Cholo Ledesma

Why do we give voice to the killers? Then, I remembered one of Duterte’s henchmen, Edgar Matobato. He told everything, even going to the International Criminal Court to tell the story of Duterte’s killing machine. Perhaps this production was too mellow. I don’t think a hired killer would change hearts that quickly. But it’s intriguing, at best, to imagine how the killings happen, who pulls the trigger. The play placed faces on the enemy, but not with the goal of making them more human. The production just made the deaths more agitating, as it should be.

Keywords: systematic and state-sponsored killings, private armies, War on Drugs

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Presidential Suite #2

Playwright: Siege Malvar

Director: Johnnie Moran

The play takes us inside the dynamics of a political family. We see how the levers of power and private entities (e.g., a parish) are used to perpetuate a family’s political influence and money. What if the matriarch suddenly ends up on the verge of dying? The scions take charge, of course. To hell with family–kanya-kanya na ‘to. It made me remember the farce of political infighting among family members. Do not believe them. Presidential Suite #2 tells us that so long as the surname remains the same, the public will never win.

Keywords: data science, legislative inquiry, money laundering

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Set C: Kinalburo

Forced maturity. When one skips a growth phase, how does one cope with difficult life situations?

Mga Magindara sa Siyudad

Playwright: Chris Joseph Junio

Director: Riki Benedicto

First of the “Bicol plays.” Poverty stunts development. Children are forced to face the hard realities of the world despite their tender age. The same goes for Maureen and Maylene. They are young, but we don’t really know a lot about them, except that they are singers in a roving carnival. They just want to earn so Maureen can have her hair rebonded and Maylene can buy a wheelchair. They just wanted to go back home to Bicol, and probably rent a small apartment in Naga. How to achieve those longings is the conflict. The production leaves us hanging–perhaps, for good. We root for the two of them to finally liberate themselves.

Keywords: exploitation, poverty, persons with disabilities

⭐⭐⭐

The Late Mister Real

Playwright: Rolin Migyuel Obina

Director: Maynard Manansala

We are taken back during the COVID-19 pandemic. For some reason, Boyet and Raquel (a separated? divorced? annulled? couple) find themselves just separated by a wall in a quarantine facility. There began a night of taking stock of what happened in their marriage–the good and all (mostly) the ugly ones. The play tries to tell us that money is everything, cheating is justified, and familial ambitions are optional. And this happened while a wall separated the two, but we can see everything. Boyet was hopeful, and Raquel wanted to chart a new path. In the end, Raquel became formerly Mrs. Real. And Boyet, well, he became the late Mr. Real.

Keywords: men’s mental health, custody battle, psychological incapacity

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Ang Problema sa Trolley

Playwright: Harvey Rebaya Sallador

Director: Adrienne Vergara

The play is a literal take on the trolley problem. You find out that a person has sexually assaulted someone. Do you take the chance to push them off the bridge and kill them? Whether that is a trolly problem dilemma is up to the audience to tell. But the play forces us to confront the issue of capital punishment. Will killing the perpetrator really give meaningful justice to the offended party? Or are we just exacting retribution? The answer will depend on who you ask–as the play tells us.

Keywords: killings, impunity, morality

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Set D: May Asim Pa

Growing old. Growing gold. Glowing up. Characters in the autumn of their lives, invite the audience members to reflect on the rewards of a life well lived.

Anniversary

Playwright: Nelsito Gomez

Director: Sarah Facuri

Grief strikes us at the most vulnerable points of our life. The play gave an unfiltered view of how ugly grief may be, especially when a loved one leaves so suddenly. The production was unafraid to tell us what grief can do to a person who tries to make sense of what happened while going through the stages of mourning. Veteran actor Bibeth Orteza’s portrayal of a lola, widowed queer tied everything up, giving us a fresh (more mature?) perspective on how to think about life and death, in general.

Keywords: Goodridge v. Department of Health (Mass. 2003), stages of grief, Shakespeare

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Don’t Meow for me, Catriona

Playwright: Ryan Machado

Director: Toni Go-Yadao

Another “Bicol play.” This was the much-anticipated theatrical debut of Angelica Panganiban, who portrayed the character of a single, tired daughter (already in her 40’s) who was still looking after her mom. The play tackled a heavy topic. Caregiver stress–we know it’s there, but we don’t often acknowledge it. It entails sacrifices; putting off dreams and plans, kasi, si Mama muna. The pitfall of the production is its monotony. Apart from the occasional cat meows (did it make sense?), it was a begrudgingly deep, but shy, conversation between a mother and a child. I expected a more concrete showing of the characters’ interactions, rather than mere recollections while waiting for a bus to Albay.

Keywords: provincial bus, migration, elderly care

⭐⭐

Mommy G

Playwright: Jobert Grey Landeza

Director: Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan

The last of the “Bicol plays.” “Mommy G” forces us to confront the practical meaning of “grooming.” The play tries to tell us that the concept of grooming is inherently misogynistic. The double standard is palpable: why is it more easily acceptable when a senior man marries a very young woman? Why can’t Mommy G love? She has lived a life well lived, raised her children well–everything expected of a traditional housewife. Unfortunately, societal norms and even outdated laws try to limit whom we love, when we love, until when we can love, and how we love. But love is love! Mommy G liberated herself from those false limits. I left the play convinced. See also “Foxtrot” (play, VLF 19) and “The Idea of You” (movie, 2024).

Keywords: age of consent, traditional family values, false dilemma

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Update (June 29, 2025): “Polar Coordinates,” “Presidential Suite #2,” and “The Late Mister Real” will be revisited for VLF21.

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