Virgin Labfest 2017 is back this month with biggest anthology

FOR over a decade, the Virgin Labfest of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has served as the experimental ground or laboratory—thus its name—of Filipino playwrights. Through the out-of-the-box festival, they are able to showcase their “unpublished, unstaged, untested and untried works.”

This month, Virgin Labfest returns with its biggest anthology yet—something that will surely excite and delight its niche fanbase.

CCP shares this press release to theater-loving Pinoys:

The CCP Virgin Labfest launches its third and the biggest anthology, titled "Mga Piling Dula mula sa Virgin Labfest 2013-2016 Ikatlong Antolohiya,” on July 6, 2017 at the CCP’s Silangan Hall at 6pm.

The plays selected for this volume were chosen from 48 that were staged in the 9th to 11th editions of the Virgin Labfest, the annual theater festival that aims to provide a venue for the emerging and established Filipino playwrights to present their unpublished, unstaged, untested and untried works to the theater-going public.

Edited by veteran playwright Rody Vera, the third anthology features 19 plays by playwrights Herlyn Alegre, Alexandra May Cardoso, Ma. Cecilia de la Rosa, Eljay Castro Deldoc, Jerome Ignacio, J-Mee (Marie) Katanyag, Dominique Beatrice T. La Victoria, Reya May Laplana, Maynard Manansala, Liza Magtoto, Bernadette Neri, Dingdong Novenario, Raymund Reyes, Juan Miguel Severo, Kevin Tabora, Guelan Varela-Luarca, and Carlo Vergara.

This latest anthology, the third in the series, celebrates the rich harvest of unbridled creativity and undiscovered talents in the VLF over the years. A tri-project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, its resident theater company Tanghalang Pilipino and playwright group The Writer’s Bloc Inc., this year's theater festival is dedicated to National Artists Daisy Avellana and Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero who had contributed greatly to Philippine theater.

National Artist Avellana elevated legitimate theater and dramatic arts to a new level of excellence by staging and performing in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino and foreign plays. She also encouraged the establishment of performing groups and the professionalization of Filipino theater. Meanwhile, National Artist Ma. Guerrero pioneered the concept of theater campus tour and allowed students and audiences to experience the basic grammar of staging and acting in familiar and friendly ways through his plays that humorously reflect the behavior of the Filipino.

The VLF fans will have a chance to meet and greet the playwrights during the launch. The latest anthology book, as well as Unang Tagpo and Virgin Labfest Anthologies 1 and 2, will be sold at discounted prices.

For more details, call at 551-5959, 0919-3175708, or email ccpintertextualdivision@gmail.com.