The pandemic has put to a halt live events for almost two years, but now that restrictions have eased and people have shown more willingness to spend time outside their homes, the events and performing arts industries are slowly picking themselves back up.

A number of theater companies have already announced productions that they will be staging in the latter half of the year. To kick things off, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) theater festival, Virgin Labfest (VLF), returns for its 17th edition, now back at the CCP Tanghalang Huseng Batute stage.

With the theme “Hinga,” VLF 17 will stage 12 new “untried, untested, unstaged” one-act plays from June 15 to 26, with shows every 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Unlike previous years, there is no inclusion so far of a “Revisited” set (featuring best works from the past edition).

The schedule of each set is as follows:

Set A: Life is full of surprises / Hala!: Mga dulang sandaling napigil ang hininga
June 16 and 25

“Walang Bago sa Dulang Ito” by Eljay Castro Deldoc, directed by Herbie Go and Tess Jamias
“Mga Balo” by Maki dela Rosa, directed by Adrienne Vergara
“Bituing Marikit” by Bibeth Orteza, directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna

Set B: Life is Strange Fiction / Hindi nga? Weh?!: Kataka-taka Trilogy
June 17 and 26

“Absurdo Events Day” by BJ Crisostomo, directed by Mara Agleham
“Liberation” by Jerry O’Hara, directed by Dennis Marasigan
“‘Nay May Dala Akong Pancit” by Juan Ekis, directed by Karl Alexis Jingco

Set C: School of Life / Hay! Skul!: Mga dulang parang “walang pinag-aralan”?
June 18 and 23

“Unica Hijas” by Mikaela Regis, directed by Pat Valera
“Punks Not Dead” by Andrew Clete, directed by Roobak Valle
“Student’s Handbook” by Anthony Kim Vergara, directed by Erika Estacio

Set D: Life Choices / Hay, Buhay…: Hanggang may ihihinga Trilogy
June 19 and 24

“Fermata” by Dustin Celestino, directed by Guelan Luarca
“Huling Haraya Nina Ischia at Emeteria” by Ryan Machado, directed by Regina De Vera
“Bienvenuta al lido De Venecia” by George Vail Kabristante, directed by Nanding Josef and Antonette Go

Synopses of each play can be found on the CCP website. Regular tickets are available via TicketWorld, while festival passes for premiere and finale weeks can be purchased via Ticket2Me.

Update as of June 4: With tickets to the on-site performances sold out, CCP has also made the festival available for streaming from June 30 to July 10. Tickets available via Ticket2Me.