ALBAY, Philippines – In Bicol, atado refers to a bundle of items, often food sold together in local markets.
The first-ever Virgin Lab Fest (VLF) in Luzon outside Metro Manila also offered an atado, bundling eight plays and letting audiences taste Bicol’s theatrical excellence, while confronting local struggles hidden behind state-masked abuse.
Spanning all six Bicol provinces and featuring multiple local dialects, VLF-Bikol’s four sets — Masapog, Malagtok, Matigsom, and Marugi — use culinary metaphors of flawed cooking to expose the harsh, hard-hitting truths lurking behind each province’s palatable facade.
FULL HOUSE. The makeshift theater house of VLF-Bikol burst at the seams, swelling far beyond capacity as eager audiences from across the region catch the festival’s closing shows. All photos by Reinnard Balonzo/Rappler
Though it took nine years for the show to materialize, VLF-Bikol overall festival director Sari Saysay believes the wait was destiny. For Bicol’s theater community, the festival serves as a bold testament to the persistence and courage required to force conversations off the stage and into the real world.
