VLF 2020 KAPIT Lab in the Time of Covid (A Virtual Labfest Edition) SYNOPSES OF THE PLAYS FEATURED WORKS DOGGY By Dustin Celestino Directed by Roobak Valle Cast: Che Ramos Cosio Chrome Cosio Synopsis Jane doesn't like certain sexual positions, especially "Doggy." For Mark, this peculiarity about his fiancée has always been a source of repressed anger. Mark's frustrations surface after a game of "Never Ever Have I Ever," when he learns that Jane was more sexually adventurous with her previous lovers. Playwright Dustin Celestino is a film director, a composer, and a multi-awarded fiction writer, screenwriter, and playwright. He has won first prize in the Carlos Palanca Awards three times for his plays, "Ang Duyan ng Magiting," "Ang Pangahas na si Pepe Rodriguez," and "The Story of This Father." He also received the Special Jury Prize during the Cinema One Originals Film Festival 2019 for his directorial debut film, "Utopia." Director Roobak Valle studied Mathematics in college yet chose a career in the arts. He is an actor, a director, a choreographer, writer and workshop facilitator. He is presently the Resident Director for the Gantimpala Theater Foundation. He rarely hesitates to accept work from other theater companies. Actrors Che Cosio is a former scholar of Tanghalang Pilipino’s Actors Company. Winner Gawad Buhay Best Actress in a Featured Role. Nominee Gawad Urian Best Actress. Actor for stage, tv and films. Wife, mom aand fitness trainer. Chrome Cosio is an Actor for Theater, TV and Film. He is Certified Muay Thai instructor under PMTFP (Professional Muay Thai Federation of The Philippines) and also a Fitness instructor. He is a Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company Alumnus, member from year 2005-2009. He is part of the Virgin Labfest from 2005 until the present. PILOT EPISODE By Floyd Scott Tiogangco Directed by Giancarlo Abrahan Synopsis A young gay man just quit his job through a text message. Now his parents attempt to de-escalate his extreme manic-depressive episode. Playwright Floyd Scott Tiogangco is a queer writer and a visual artist specializing in performance, installation, and conceptual art. They are an alumni of award-winning filmmaker Jun Robles Lana's Cine Panulat Screenwriting Lab and one of the writer-contributors of 'Queer Asia: Decolonising and Reimagining Sexuality and Gender'. Floyd's art and activism earned them a prestigious recognition at the first human rights awards in the country, the Amnesty International Philippines' Ignite Awards for Human Rights. They were awarded as the Most Outstanding Young Human Rights Defender. Floyd is an active member of DAKILA and one of the writers for Manilennials, an IWant Originals Series. Their one act play 'Pilot Episode' was chosen for this year's Virgin Labfest 16, their first attempt in writing for theater. Director Actors DAPITHAPON By Jay Crisostomo IV Directed by Sigmund Roy Pecho Synopsis Dapithapon takes three boys at the end of their High School years and forces them to confront their greatest fears in a single day: flunking out of school, impossible parental expectations, and an unhealthy infatuation with a teacher. They fervently cling to one another, afraid to let go. They try fruitlessly to preserve their friendship before they are forever parted by circumstance. Playwright Jay Crisostomo is a writer and a stage director. He is one of the founding members of the Ikarus Theater Collaborative. He runs an arts and events space in Marikina called DITO: Bahay ng Sining. The last three plays he worked for as a writer were Plastic Trees, Artificial Stars (2019), Manikang Kuneho (A Filipino musical adaptation of the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams- 2019) , and a stage reading of Without the Drama for VLF 15. He currently works in corporate events while still doing theater after hours. Director Sig Pecho is a performance-maker whose works interweave in the cultural ecology of storytelling, theatre, shadowplay, puppetry, education, and community engagement. He is a founding member and the Executive Duwende of KOMUNIDAD X (KX). He is the official Ring Announcer of the Manila Wrestling Federation. He is a junior puppeteer at the UP Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas (UPTMP), and an alumnus-artist of the Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (DUP) and the UP Playwrights Theater (UPPT). He pursues a degree in BA Theatre Arts at the University of the Philippines - Diliman. Sig is a visiting faculty at the Philippine High School for the Arts teaching Technical Theatre and Management. Actors Peewee O’Hara. Gawad Buhay awardee for Apples in the Desert/Mga Mansanas sa Disyerto, (Best Featured Actress for a full length play), a pioneer of Tanghalang Pilipino Foundation, and former Faculty/Chair of English and Speech Dept. and Center for Intensive Language Learning, Trinity University of Asia. Quiel Quiwa is an actor whose performance work revolves around conveying socio-political messages that spark discourse in the community. In his last performance, he was recognized with an honorable mention for Best Actor in Inquirer Lifestyle’s Best of Theater 2019. Khayl Sisom is a performer whose works are best exemplified through his character work of Kolokoy Ghetto batang kalye in Manila Wrestling Federation. He started training in wrestling and has since been active in public performances. Ina Azarcon-Bolivar is a dramaturg and an actor. Her recent works include Nana Rosa (Dulaang UP), Larong Demonyo (VLF XV), and Labor Room (VLF XIV). Jerome Dawis is an AB Multimedia Arts graduate and a scholar of Dulaang Filipino, the resident theatre company of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. His recent theatre productions include Lualhati Bautista’s Desaparasidos (2018) adapted and directed by Guelan Luarca, W. Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet (2019) directed by Anna Valdes-Lim, and Lualhati Bautista’s Dekada ’70 Musical (2020) adapted and directed by Pat Valera. Aside from acting, Jerome also explores writing and crafting performances for the stage and film. PAPAANO TURUAN ANG BABAE HUMAWAK NG BARIL By Daryl Pasion Directed by Erika Estacio Synopsis Returning home from an encounter against the NPA, Oka reunites with his pregnant wife, Liling. The sweet homecoming turns out to be the complete opposite when Liling is confronted with her husband’s impossible request. Playwright Daryl Pasion received his training in creative writing and theater arts under the BA Communication Arts program of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB). He finished MA Linguistics at UP Diliman and has been serving as an assistant professor at the UPLB Department of Humanities since 2012. The play “Papaano Turuan ang Babae Humawak ng Baril” selected for Virgin Labfest 16 is the first play he has ever written. Inclined more to poetry, Daryl started exploring other forms of literature such as playwriting and short story for children in 2019. He recently won the 2019 Romeo Forbes Children’s story writing competition. Director Si Erika Estacio ay tagapamahala ng entablado, dramaturg, tagasalin, mandudula, guro, at direktor pan- teatro. Kabilang sa mga nakalipas niyang produksyon ang “Under My Skin” ng Philippine Educational Theater Association (tagapamahala ng entablado), “The Pope and the Witch” ng Dulaang Sipat Lawin (direktor at tagasalin), “Marisol” ng Tanghalang Ateneo (direktor), Duyan Ka ng Magiting” ng Never Again: Voice of Martial Law (mandudula at direktor), at “Mga Buhay na Apoy” ng Tanghalang Pilipino (dramaturg). Siya rin ay nagtuturo ng kursong Stage and Production Management sa Philippine High School for the Arts. Actors Lhorvie Nuevo started her theater journey with TanghalaNG Pilipino in 2013. She is now one of TP’s Actors Company Senior Member. Nothimg But Dreams, Marawi Musicale and Dinuguan are some of the VLF productions she was part of. Eshei Mesina works as an actor, designer and director for film and theatre. BLACKPINK By Tyron Casumpang Directed by Jethro Tenorio Synopsis Tatay, a staunch ally of the gay community, discovers that his youngest son, Bunso, a stauch fan of Blackpink, was prohibited by his school principal to dance “Kill This Love” in their Family Day talent contest. Infuriated, Tatay rushes to confront the principal but Bunso insists that the only way for him to join the competition is if he finds other male students to dance with him. Rejected by every male student in their school, Bunso persuades his Tatay, Kuya, and Diko to join him and form the all-male group to dance to the tune of Blackpink on Family Day. Playwright Tyron Casumpang is a full-time professor at Ateneo de Manila University, teaching Filipino language and culture to senior high school students. In as much as he loves Philippine cultures, he is also an avid fan of Korean culture. He is a fan of many Korean idols and has attended a couple of fanmeetings both here and in Korea. He listens to K-pop every morning to get him energized before going to class and dances in the comfort room when nobody is around. At night, he watches K-drama before going to sleep. He dreams to write his own K-drama about teachers someday. BLACKPINK (2020) is his second appearance in the Virgin Labfest, after MARAWI MUSICALE (2018). Although he wrote a play inspired by Blackpink, he is actually fonder of Twice. He also submitted this play as final requirement in his MA class on Gender and Sexuality in UP. He prays that his professor will get to watch and give him a good grade. Lastly, he would like to thank Jethro Tenorio, Jerry Respeto, Smile Indias, and Dolly Dulu for reading the first drafts of BLACKPINK, and Dr. Dulce Natividad and all his gender fluid classmates (char) in AS 298 for inspiring him to write a play about gender and sexuality. Director Jethro Tenorio is a full-time Assistant Professor in the Ateneo de Manila University, teaching Filipino literature, language, and pop culture in college.