Girls Who Love Girls, Incest and Waiting For Death to Come

Well, those basically were the themes of the plays for Set D in this year's Virgin LabFest. Though the material was heavy, there were funny moments in each of those plays - and the playwrights' ability to weave humor into those subjects is quite amazing.

By the way, one of the playwrights, Reya Laplana is only 16 years old! Incredible! I was more concerned with Madonna and pop music when I was her age. She, on the other hand, wrote a delicate piece about girls who love other girls. You could really see from the wordings alone that a young person wrote it. It was simple, sweet, pure and a bit naive. Because if I had to write about girls who love girls, it would turn out to be a hybrid between a Martin Scorsese and a Quentin Tarantino movie! Middle-aged adults are really jaded that way!

Incidentally, Sa Lilim, the name of Reya's play was directed by Jenny Jamora - who I saw in Cock earlier this year! Small world!! I think her company is coming out with more interesting plays later this year so better to keep tabs with it - Em Malinis!

The playwright of Betang, Joanna Katanyag, is also young! Their imaginations are so active. If you loved your lolas, you will love Betang! I guess it's the playwright's bittersweet ode to one of her lolas.

Bago Ilibing by Maynard Manansala and U2 Eliserio is funny on the surface but it really deals with a disgusting topic. I talked to one of the actresses after the play and she herself was dismayed about the reality of incest here in the Philippines, which made me a bit sad. Now, with more and more families fragmented by OFWs and parents having relationships outside their own marriages, the likelihood of incest increases, especially if there are daughters in the house. Hayyy, where's GABRIELA when you need them!

Another Day With the Playwrights of CCP's Virgin LabFest

Another strong set of one act plays was presented today in Set C of the Virgin Labfest at the CCP. The material presented in each play was really pretty interesting and fresh and since the venue is so intimate, you feel that you are a bit involved in the whole process.

It's very hard to pick favorites for this batch but the first play Mapagbirong Haplos by Kevin Tabora was the one that touched me emotionally since the central figure was a father. I like the way the back story unfolded with the audience wondering why the daughter was so hostile to the father in the first place. Like all the plays here, it was well-acted and the information given to the audience was enough to sustain their interest towards the end.

The second play, Last Ten Minutes by Joy Icayan was just as interesting considering that the first scene was a sex scene! The play would surely connect to anyone who has drifted through life looking for intimacy - especially now that the Internet has taken casual sex to a whole new level - making it even easier for women to has as many partners as the men. The play was written and directed by women and the other main character is a woman who in the eyes of society, is acting sexually like a man - a very naughty premise.

Ang Goldfish ni Prof. Dimaandal by Eljay Deldoc belongs to the comedy set which I think has drawn audiences to the Virgin Labfest. Every year, there are several plays here which are so riotous and so out and out funny that it's such a joy to watch! This play could be easily transported to a sitcom medium, with enough wacky characters to fill up the TV screen. Like any good comedy, the play exaggerates the absurd things sane and professional people would do when faced with a simple dilemma. The absurdity of it all just builds and builds until everything boils up into a stupendous climax!