Virgin Labfest starts Nov. 16

The Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Writer’s Bloc and Tanghalang Pilipino will host this year’s Virgin Labfest on the digital platform. Now in its 16th year, the festival will be streamed from Nov. 24 to Dec. 5, 2021 on the CCP, VLF, and Tanghalang Pilipino Facebook Pages.

Choosing to focus on education, this year’s festival components are “FFF” — Fair, Fellowship and Flashback.

The Fellowship Writing Program will be conducted from Nov. 16 to Dec. 5 under the tutelage of award winning playwright Glenn Sevilla Mas. The Culminating Activity which will be streamed for public viewing on Dec. 5, directed by Dennis Marasigan.

The Playwrights Fair will be held from Nov. 24 to Dec. 5 featuring conversations with playwrights from all over the country. As part of the Fair, the fourth edition of the VLF Anthology and Elemental, a book of plays by women playwrights will be launched.

For 2021, the festival takes on the theme of “Yakap” (Embrace). This year, the festival strives to embrace the artistic community as it struggles to survive the terrible pandemic; to embrace new possibilities and new narratives emboldened by the times; and to embrace the audience with works that have provided comfort and enjoyment in the past.

Established in 2005, the Virgin Labfest is the premier playwrights festival in the country producing untried, untested and unstaged works. It is known for programming and providing support for the development of plays that dare define and defy the times.

For more information, follow VLF on CCP Social Media platforms, or visit www. culturalcenter.gov.ph