Glaiza de Castro, Jackie Lou Blanco among stars of Virgin Labfest 2026 plays

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MANILA, Philippines — A number of screen actors will take on the stage for the 2026 edition of Virgin Labfest (VLF), the largest theater festival of untried, untested, and unstaged one-act plays in the Philippines.

Twelve (12) new scripts will run at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez or Blackbox Theater from June 3 to 28 under the co-directorship of Toni Go-Yadao and Marco Viana.

Of those 12 new plays, eight are by "virgin" or first-time playwrights, while six are by "virgin" directors. Six staged readings will also be held during the theater festival.

CCP president Kaye Tinga noted in a press conference on Tuesday, May 19, held at the Blackbox Theater that VLF, now in its 21st year, comes of age but continues to showcase how people build themselves in their own ways.

"A celebration of adulthood, raw energy, and fearless storytelling," the co-directors explained the VLF's "Hubo't Hubad" theme. "This is where the Filipino voice and spirit are laid bare to tell stories without restraint."

CCP vice president Dennis Marasigan — who will appear in a VLF play for the first time making him a "virgin" actor — recalled the festival's history and its rapid growth.

Marasigan described VLF not just as a fiesta but an annual gathering of people in the arts, also calling it a cornerstone of Philippine theater.

"Nasa tamang gulang na ang VLF," Marasigan said as he pointed out four parent-child tandems appearing in this edition, including the mother-daughter pairing of actresses Angel Aquino and Iana Bernardez.

Comedian John "Sweet" Lapus quipped that he was getting "devirginized" this year as a playwright since he has attempted to be part of VLF since a staged reading in 2018, even poking fun at unnamed plays that made the main stage at his expense.

The plays

Angel and Iana both appear in Gab Mactal's "Lualhati," directed by Mara Paulina Marasigan. They star with Banaue Miclat, Bea Garcia-Choy, Sarah Monay, and veteran actress Jackie Lou Blanco, who proudly embraced being a VLF "virgin."

"Lualhati" follows two nuns, one of them now a Philosophy professor, reuniting at a wake as memories resurface and reconciliation is required for past consequences.

Marasigan stars in returning playwright Dustin Celestino's "Elehiya," a collection of monologues or rather conversations between fathers and sons that should have taken place. Ron Capindig directs the play.

The tandem of director Carlos Siguion-Reyna and his son actor Rafa are also part of this play, as well as "virgin" actors John Sanchez and musician Yanni Yuzon.

Another "virgin" actor is CJ Navato opposite Justine Peña in Elijah Felice Rosales' "Human Rights Story of the Year," directed by Nelsito Gomez. The play is set around the coverage of the so-called "war on drugs."

Peña plays a journalist set to travel to New York to receive an international award and pursue a one-year fellowship for her human rights reporting.

At her farewell party she reunites with Navato's Doy, a former colleague now working in a state agency being investigated for anomalous projects. Doy believes she does not deserve the award.

Sweet pairs fellow comedian Mosang and Christian Bables in "Taksyapo!," a Kapampangan expression used to release anger or frustration, which also doubles as rage booth inside a popular Tarlac restaurant.

The Tuxqs Rutaquio-directed play sees a middle-aged gay man connect with the elderly woman who runs the booth.

Glaiza de Castro headlines Ron Evangelista's "She's Electric," directed by filmmaker JP Habac, which also stars Joshua Cabiladas, Aldo Vencilao, Yesh Burce, and Ybes Bagadiong.

Cabiladas' Robert wants his friends to meet his girlfriend (Glaiza), but the trio believes the women they meet are not the type to engage in traditional romance.

"Virgin" playwright Jerom Canlas enlists the help of his brother, actor Elijah Canlas, to star in "Footprint" under the direction of Mikko Angeles.

"A grieving family keeps returning time and again to the traces left by a boy they loved but did not fully understand," goes the play's synopsis. "As they search for answers, each memory reveals a harder truth: the tragedy was not only what they didn't know — but what they felt and left unspoken."

"Footprint" also stars Meryll Soriano, Omar Uddin, Jojo Cayabyab, and singer Pappel.

Rounding out the plays are: