I was very grateful I got the opportunity to be part of that as a stage manager for 2 seasons in a row (Labfest 3 and 4).
I always found a way to watch at least one set of Labfest plays every year. Until last year, when I was so busy that I couldn't even find the time to even drop by CCP. I got kind of depressed when I didn't get to see any plays last season.
I made up for it this year, and even secured a festival pass to guarantee that I get to watch all of the plays.
Considering I had friends who were involved in the Labfest, I found myself sometimes tagging along with them to rehearsals, or just hanging around CCP. By doing so, I was beginning to miss the flurry of activity all over the place that I used to be a part of.
Anyway, as I had secured a Festival pass, it guaranteed me a seat to all Labfest sets during all of the first week. I was pretty glad that the festival now ran for three weeks instead of the usual two weeks so that they could accommodate more people in the audience.
A whole bunch of us from this past summer's workshop almost always came to watch as a group, and we all had our similar favorites. After watching the day's set of plays, we would chill for a little while longer to talk about what we had seen over dinner. We didn't just watch the featured plays in the Labfest, but we also saw the weekly free staged readings in the Conference room.
I have to say, my favorites in the Labfest this year were Hintayan ng Langit, Si Maria Isabella at ang Guryon ng Mga Tala, and When Sam Met Jo.
I especially liked Hintayan ng Langit because it was simple, no frills, witty, and sincere. Real-life dancing couple Edna Vida and Nonoy Froilan were perfect as two souls waiting to go up to heaven, all the while catching up as ex-lovers before marrying other people. And that ending. Simple, but...kaboom.
Si Maria Isabella at ang Guryon ng Mga Tala was written after the children's story "Kite of Stars." It featured the young talented alumni of PHSA, plus the use of marionettes and shadow puppetry. The story may be a young girl's quest to find things to make a giant kite so she can reach the stars, but beyond the surface reveals love unrequited, even after a 60-year journey.
My goodness, these 2 plays got me in tears that I refused to show.
When Sam Met Jo had a little bit of science fiction to it, as Sam had traveled to the past, exactly during the time that his past self had met fellow scientist Jo to protect themselves from a big accident in the future. It was also witty, with Sam going through Mobius loops just so he can convince Jo of what's to become of them. It was fun to watch, I'll tell you that, but half the time, the use of scientific jargon was a tad forced. Other than that, the play was pretty entertaining.
Anyway, that's my take on 3 of my favorite plays in the Labfest, and I'm glad that two out of three of them made it to next year's Revisted set. Congratulations!
On the last day of the Labfest, the Writing Fellowship showcased the works of its participants that were developed during their two-week workshop, and they got volunteer actors to perform them as staged readings. Patsy, Mark and I had submitted our resumes to volunteers, and they were immediately contacted to perform. I lucked out getting in as well the day before the show, as someone had backed out at the last minute.
So there, on the last Sunday of the Labfest, I was in the freezing Conference room as early as 8 in the morning along with the other chosen volunteer actors, the 10 writers in the fellowship, their mentor Sir Glenn, our director Sir Dennis, and our stage manager Micah. A busy day was ahead of us. We spent the morning reading all the 10 plays out loud so that the writers can hear their work for the first time, and we all shared our comments about each play. I have to say, all the plays were equally brilliant, but I do have my favorites.
After lunch, Sir Dennis started blocking the plays in the order of it was read in the morning. He only announced the actors before each play, so we all waited in anticipation. What was hilarious was that he said that I might get angry because of where he had cast me. I ended up getting the part of Sef, a transgender woman in Maria Paiso's Hanggang Saan? along with Gel, who played my character's ex-girlfriend. I didn't really mind being cast as a transgender woman. It was actually quite an interesting challenge. I was even glad to have good rapport with Gel, even though I had only met her once before. We rehearsed the play on our own a few times while Sir Dennis was still blocking the other plays.
Photo courtesy of Patricia Sy.
After blocking all the plays, we headed up to the MKP to prep up. My gosh, there was already a long line outside the Conference room when we went outside. How in the world will everyone fit?
Changed and prepped up in the MKP, then Sir Dennis joined us for a short company call and prayer, and we were ready to go. My goodness, everything was happening so fast that I didn't even have time to panic or be nervous. Not even when I found out that it was more than just a full house inside the Conference room. The playwrights ended up standing just so people can still sit.
By the time I stepped out onstage, I just went with it. Gel was an awesome co-actor, and I went along with what she offered. It was amazing how even performing a short 10-minute play reading could give me a high. I couldn't even believe it when Sir Dennis had said that our play was one of the audience favorites. Thank you so much!
Photo courtesy of Mars Mercado.
I know I had already said this, but thank you so much to everyone involved in the staged reading. To Maria and the other playwrights, thank you for trusting us with your work. Thank you as well to Sir Glenn for helping them bring out the best in their writing, and to Sir Dennis for guiding us to flesh them out in our own simple way. And of course thank you to Gel, the Ivy to my Sef, for being an awesome scene partner.
I got more than I bargained for upon my return immersion in the Labfest and in CCP this year. Hope to make more out of this in the future.
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