MANILA, Philippines ? Five years ago, playwright Rody Vera conceived the Virgin Labfest as ?a venue for playwrights, directors and actors to bring to life ?untried, untested, unpublished and unstaged? one-act plays.?

This year, it marks its fifth year with the launch of an anthology of 15 plays culled from the past four editions of the festival.

Vera selected and edited the plays for the book in consultation with former Tanghalang Pilipino artistic director Dennis Marasigan.

Playwrights featured include established names such as F. Sionil José, Liza Magtoto, Nicolas Pichay and Floy Quintos, together with a younger generation of playwrights such as Dennis Teodisio, Glenn Mas Sevilla, Layeta Bucoy and Allan Lopez.

The book, which will be launched on June 24, is an apt and logical output for the festival, as the Labfest was created as a way to present the works of the Writers Bloc, an independent organization of established and aspiring playwrights headed by Vera. Plays are done in conjunction with Tanghalang Pilipino, the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

One-act trilogies

As has become tradition, there will be five sets of one-act trilogies where each set deals with a central topic or unifying theme.

This year?s sets have titles that range from intriguing, such as ?It?s Complicated (The Buhul-Buhol Trilogy),? ?Life Is a Trap (Three Plays in Search of Escape),? ?The Family That _______s Together (Tatlong Dulang Walang Diyos);? to wickedly humorous, such as ?School of Life (Mga Dulang Walang Pinag-aralan)? and ?Blood Sports (Trilohiyang Dinuguan ).?

One additional set restages three plays from last year?s fest: Floy Quintos? ?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,? and Job Pagsibigan?s ?Uuwi Na ang Nanay Kong si Darna.?

Aside from the performances, there will be staged readings of works-in-progress, including a musical by Joel Trinidad that will eventually be produced by Repertory Philippines, and devised improvisational comedy sessions by Silly People?s Improv Theater (Spit).

?Also included is a staged reading of Korean-American Lloyd Suh?s ?American Hwangup,? now being staged in New York City by Filipino-American theater group May-Yi Theater. It?s receiving rave reviews,? says Chris Millado, CCP Performing Arts department head.

There will also be Talkback sessions with audiences on the festival?s first week, and a creative playwriting workshop for high-school students to be moderated by Sevilla.

Brave new works

This year, the Virgin Labfest will be held concurrently with the fourth Wifi Body Festival (see story below), an independent contemporary dance festival, and will be preceded by WordJam!, a spoken word festival that opens June 10.

These three events in June are part of CCP?s Brave New Works Festivals, a series that concludes in July with three more events: the 13 Artists Awards and Exhibition, opening on July 9; Musik Underkonstruktion, featuring new compositions for symphonies, opening July 15; and the fifth Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, opening on July 17.

?The festivals are part of CCP?s 40th anniversary and exemplify the CCP mandate of encouraging and showcasing original Filipino works. Through these festivals, CCP ushers in a deluge of provocative new works by poets, playwrights, choreographers, composers, visual artists and independent filmmakers,? says Millado.

?From June to July, audiences can experience groundbreaking productions in poetry-in-performance, modern theater, contemporary dance, new symphonic music, painting, sculpture, installation, multimedia and digital feature film.?

With the Virgin Labfest, Wifi Body Festival and Cinemalaya as three of the more well-known events, having gained ground in the past few years, it is the aim of Millado to cross-pollinate the different audiences for all of the shows included in Brave New Works.

Audiences will have a chance to explore new art forms they may not be familiar with. Artists, on the other hand, are encouraged to work with each other across crafts.

?It?s working. Choreographer Denisa Reyes has staged a play in a previous Virgin Labfest and has turned it into a movie for Cinemalaya. Paul Morales, himself steeped in theater, dance and film, is curating Wifi Body and has done some movement choreography for the music being developed for Musik Underkonstruktion,? says Millado.

Spoken word

Curated by Herminio Beltran Jr., WordJam! has three main performance dates every other Wednesday starting June 10, with Lourd de Veyra?s Radioactive Sago Project.

Oral tradition and balagtasan will be featured on the first night, together with their modern variation: rap poetry.

June 24 features protest poetry, while July 1 presents a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender night of poetry featuring the works of J. Neil Garcia and Aida Santos, among others.

?All performances will be held at Barbaribas Bar, where people can relax after the work day, have a meal with beer, and enjoy the sounds and meanings of the spoken word,? says Millado.
A special performance of poetry for children will be held on July 6 at the CCP Main Theater Lobby.

For tickets and inquiries, call 832-1125 or visit www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.