By Brontë H. Lacsamana, Reporter
Theater Review
Virgin Lab Fest: “Manibalang”
Minating ni Mariah ang Manto ng Mommy ni Mama Mary by Eljay Castro Deldoc
Unang Araw by Ivan Villacorta Gentolizo
Presidential Suite #2 by Siege Malvar
THE VIRGIN Lab Fest (VLF) is once again featuring “untried and untested” one-act plays onstage. For its 20th year, the festival highlighted narratives that speak volumes of the Filipino experience.
This year’s theme is “Hinog,” meaning “ripe,” indicating the ripe fruits of the playwrights’ labor. For the month of June, the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Blackbox Theater) welcomed both new and regular festivalgoers curious to see this milestone year’s offerings.
One of the sets was titled “Manibalang,” a word that translates to “nearly ripe,” and the three plays within it all depicted situations nearing their inevitable ends. Most effectively, the three reflected how power plays — in various aspects like religion, politics, and family — drive these circumstances to their conclusions.
Minating ni Mariah ang Manto ng Mommy ni Mama Mary by playwright Eljay Castro Deldoc and director Dexter M. Santos makes a strong first impression, following reformed trans con artist Mariah who is seeking redemption by joining the annual Lenten exhibit.
When she is accused of stealing an antique veil for her display, the audience gradually witnesses the heart-wrenching disconnect between Mariah’s intention to stay true to her faith, and the hypocrisy and discrimination against her by the local priest and devotees.
Mr. Deldoc, the playwright, told BusinessWorld that the work is meant to portray and criticize “the pageantry, principles, and politics of the deep, storied tradition and industry of worship” here in the Philippines. The play utilizes the garish ornamental qualities of relic worship to convey the different forms of devotion, pure and two-faced, that have a hand in Mariah’s fate.
“Dahil core memory ito ng pagiging Katoliko, matagal ko nang gustong makasulat ng dula na tungkol sa mga santo o sa pag-aalaga ng mga banal na imahen (Because it’s a core memory as a Catholic, I’ve always wanted to write a play about saints and our devotion to holy images),” he said.
Following the whirlwind tragedy of the first play was the heightened, deadly tension of Unang Araw by playwright Ivan Villacorta Gentolizo and director Cholo Ledesma. This one is set in the far reaches of Mindanao, where four hitmen are on a road trip covering up their bloody tracks.
It centers on the on-ground reality of state-sponsored killings, echoing the time of former President Rodrigo Duterte’s mayorship in Davao, though the play does not name him explicitly.
“I actually wrote this before the whole trial at the ICC (International Criminal Court). It was all coincidental,” Mr. Gentolizo said. “Aside from reminding people what happened, so that they don’t forget, these kinds of works amplify the call for justice, to make sure that someone takes accountability.”
Though minimalistic in treatment, set in a prop car onstage where the actors sit in, converse, and move around with their firearms, its thick tension and call to action really stay with the viewer.
Finally, Presidential Suite #2 by playwright Siege Malvar and director Johnnie Moran topped off the set with a scandalous story. It centers on the three children of a dying senator accused of corruption, and how they deal with their family’s slipping hold on political power.
Compared to the other two plays, this one delivers the most laughs since it is a satire, yet the reality it paints is just as bleak. The political dynasty at the heart of it is held up by the three actors playing the Zaragoza siblings — a politician, an influencer, and a priest.
Akin to political family sitcoms that have found popularity in prestige TV series and telenovela shows in recent years, this play reflects Mr. Malvar’s strong grasp of how this trope can be seen in the Philippine context.
It also concludes aptly how VLF 20’s Set B, “Manibalang,” paints the clearest picture of the ailments keeping the country from reaching its full ripeness, held back by seemingly eternal problems. The flow from one play to the next kept the audience engaged, be it in the realities of Filipino-style religion, politics, or family power plays.
Aside from this set of plays seen by BusinessWorld, nine other new one-act plays from both veteran and upcoming playwrights are being staged until June 29 at the CCP Blackbox Theater. Shows are held at 2 and 8 p.m.
For more information, contact the CCP Box Office or visit the social media accounts of the CCP, Tanghalang Pilipino, The Writers’ Bloc, and Virgin Labfest.
