Virgin Labfest 2015: Set D

For the longest time I've been itching to get a chance to see the latest iteration of Virgin Labfest, where each year, several plays are given their day in the spotlight. Some of the plays manage to achieve greater success, even in different genres like film.  

Finally the stars of free time managed to align and I finally got the chance to try this out. The plays are staged in five sets with three short plays each. This particular one is Set D:

The first thing I sensed from Talo ang Walang Alam was that it seems to be part of a longer play; the opening scene feels like it begins in medias res. Looking at the synopsis of the play in the festival program, this seems to be the case, as several characters mentioned in the synopsis are not present in the actual play, but then again, the synopsis might have been based on an earlier version of the script. Whatever the case may bem the end result is a play that, while finely acted and directed, doesn't really have much of a point, except "being poor really sucks."

Plays probably couldn't get more timely than An Expected, given the recent US Supreme Court ruling on same sex marriage. Then again, many of the trials experienced by the two protagonists in this play are universal regardless of who is in the relationship. One fateful night, Victor and Jake stop by an amusement park for a while to talk, where they slowly begin airing their dirty laundry. You find out (thanks to great dialogue and delivery by both actors) that there are simmering feelings of inadequacy and uncertainty between the two men. A bit of magic (?) helps them along thanks to a flamboyantly gay fairy who provides most of the comic relief in an otherwise serious play. The ending is open to interpretation, but I'd like to believe that magic does exist, somewhere, somehow.

Set D ends with Si Maria Isabella at ang Guryon ng Mga Tala, based on a short story by Dean Alfar. Vaguely set in what seems to be the Philippines' past colonial days, it's basically a story of love. In this case it is love like stars, enduring for long centuries, seemingly untouched by time. But, this play asks, is it always a good thing for love to burn so brightly for so long? The blinding light of love tends to cast shadows, and within those shadows may lie something else. The play settles into its rhythms very early on, and its words come out as lyrics to a sad love song. Astute viewers will no doubt guess the outcome of the story from very early on, but one cannot help get affected by its raw emotion anyway. Effective usage of lighting and 'special effects' really helps the story along, especially in its final moments. This play met with a standing ovation at the end, and it was well deserved.

That's the end of Set D. I've tickets for at least one more set, so watch out for that in the coming week.