Twelve new plays and three revisited plays on-stage from June 3 to 28.
Theater fans, are you ready for this year’s Virgin Labfest? The country’s largest festival of untried, untested, and unstaged one-act plays is set to return this June.
Running from June 3 to 28 at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater) in Pasay, VLF 2026 will stage 12 plays from eight “virgin” playwrights and four returning playwrights—under the theme “Hubo’t Hubad.”
The theme seeks to “reveal layers of identity, memory, and vulnerability”—celebrating the “beauty, bravery, and challenges of adulthood.” It “elaborates on the unbridled truths of humanity’s essence after blooming into a passionate community of untold narratives over the last two decades.”
This year’s lineup will also include the restaging of three plays from the previous edition.
VLF 2026 lineup
Set A
- “PASSWORD123, PILIPINAS321” by Anthony Kim Vergara
- Blackteam, an underground cyberspace operation, is disguised as a technical support center. The lead character questions his chosen path as a cybersecurity expert and as a Filipino—with his cousin leading the team’s troubling methods.
- “Human Rights Story of the Year” by Elijah Felice Rosales
- A reporter is about to receive an international award and at her farewell party, a former colleague declares she does not deserve the recognition.
- “Patayin ang mga Surot” by Floyd Scott Tiogangco
- On the last night of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency, while an Oplan Tokhang operation unfolds, tension builds as a couple conducts their own extermination of bedbugs.
Set B
- “Balos” by Neil Arkhe Azcuna
- A wounded fighter stumbles into a small Marawi hospital. Because of his arrival, four medical workers must decide between staying silent to save lives and speaking up to risk everyone’s refuge.
- “Haram” by Alab Usman
- Three queer Muslims struggle to manage faith and love across borders and barriers.
- “Lualhati” by Gab Mactal
- A former nun turned Philosophy professor and the titular character meet again. Their memories of faith and romance emerge on the last night of the wake held at the Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn convent.
Set C
- “Elehiya” by Dustin Celestino
- An impressionistic montage of conversations of fathers and sons that could have taken place but did not.
- “She’s Electric” by Ron Evangelista
- A former womanizer meets the love of his life. However, his friends make a discovery that leads to an insightful discussion on the sexual and philosophical nature of relationships.
- “Betamax” by Faith Ferrer Lacanlale
- A woman begins to see “human pigs” after a minor road accident. As she ascends to madness, the darkness surrounding her family is brought to light.
Set D
- “Footprint” by Jerom Canlas
- A grieving family turns back time with a virtual archive of memories. While they scramble to make sense of a tragedy, their unspoken feelings inflict a much harsher truth.
- “Taksyapo!” by John Lapus
- Set in Tarlac, two strangers uncover an unexpected connection by exchanging tales of love and disappointment within the walls of a rage booth.
- “Buhaghag” by Gerald Manuel
- A young lady is haunted by a long-haired enigma that corners her into choosing between self-preservation and self-destruction.
Set E
- “Polar Coordinates” by Ade Valenzona
- A confused student fails his Math exam. With the fate of his fragile family and strange feelings for his tutor piling on, he struggles to carve his own path.
- “The Late Mr. Real” by Rolin Cadallo Obina
- This takes place in an isolation facility during the COVID-19 pandemic. An estranged couple reexamines the clashing views that led to their marriage’s failure—as a wall separates them.
- “Presidential Suite #2” by Siege Malvar
- A senator is accused of money laundering. While she recovers from a heart attack, her children rally for the best course of action to salvage their reputations.
Other activities
VLF 2026 will feature staged readings from Jose Victor Torres’ “Mga Tatsulok,” M. Manalastas’ “The Devoured,” Dingdong Novenario’s “Manang,” Rafael Jimenez’s “Suor,” Juan Ekis’ “Kasal(anan),” and Jay Fernandez’s “Ang Huli,” as well as the Canada-based National Art Center’s “Prison Dancer.”
In collaboration with the Taiwan International Play Reading (TIPR) Festival, there will also be a reading of Ihot Sinlay Cihek’s “How Romantic: A Guide to Modern Pangcah Life.”
The VLF will also hold its two-week writing fellowship program headed by the award-winning Glenn Sevilla Mas.
“Theater Talks,” a forum series on the creative processes behind theater, will feature Cheng-Han Wu of the TIPR, Jin Yim and Cui Yin Mok of the Asian Producers’ Platform, and Takuya Maehara of the Shizuoka Performing Arts Center.
“Playwrights’ Fair”—hosted by VLF founder and Palanca Hall of Fame inductee Rody Vera, Liza Magtoto, and Mas—will peek into the minds of veteran playwrights. Guest speakers Tanya Lopez, Dessa Quesada-Palm, and Sari Saysay are set to explore the essence of Visayan theater, herstories, and settings in the nation’s current artistic landscape.
Tickets are priced at ₱800 (regular) and ₱1,000 (premium), available via the CCP Box Office and Ticket World. Shows are scheduled at 2 PM matinee and 8 PM gala, while educational components are at 5 PM.
‘Hubo’t Hubad’ seeks to reveal layers of identity, memory, and vulnerability—celebrating the beauty, bravery, and challenges of adulthood.
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