Glaiza de Castro to debut as theater actress in CCP's Virgin Labfest

Glaiza de Castro is finally fulfilling her dream of doing theater as she takes the lead character in one of 18 new one-act plays for the upcoming Virgin Fabfest (VLF).

Now on its 21st year, VLF is an annual festival of “untried, untested and unstaged” one-act plays organized and funded by the CCP, Tanghalang Pilipino and the group of veteran and budding playwrights called The Writers’ Bloc.

This year, it will take place at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ 300-seat Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez, or the CCP Black Box Theater, the whole month of June

Glaiza will play Rose, the lead character in Ron Evangelista's “She’s Electric,” to be directed by filmmaker-theater director JP Habac.

“I decided to join VLF for the first time because as an actress, I’ve been wanting to try theater,” Glaiza told GMA News Online.

According to the Kapuso actress, she's attempted to act in theater several times, auditioning for plays "pero hindi talaga tumutugma yung schedule."

"Either meron akong series or so many other obligations to fulfill. Alam natin na kapag pumasok ka sa theater, maraming rehearsals ang required for that. ‘Di ko ma commit sarili ko for rehearsals. So, naisip ko, baka ‘di pa time. Then last year, na excite uli ako na i-try,” Glaiza said.

She estimates the first time she's ever watched VLF was a decade or so ago. "I was fascinated, naging interested ako upon discovering there was this kind of theater na pwedeng three different stories in one show," she said, adding she constantly watches plays whenever her schedule permits, and every time, there is always the desire to act on stage.

“Yung pakiramdam na ang saya, na gusto kong i-try ito. So, nag-accumulate yong passion over the years, waiting na dumating yung tamang time for me to act. Parang, subukan lang,” she said.

“As an actress, I feel I should try other areas of my craft and sa industry, maliit lang naman yung industy natin,” Glaiza continued.

“When I see friends who acted in it, I see to it na we talked about theater, kung ano ‘yung ginagawa nila. Andun parati yung feeling na ‘it’s something new to me and am excited to do it.”

“Like when I watched Ate Iza (Calzado) do it, nai-ignite passion ko uli to try,” she said.

Calzado returned acting for theater in December, 2024 for Sandbox Collective’s “Tiny Beautiful Things.”

In 2025, her good friend, fellow TV and movie actress Angelica Panganiban made her theater debut on VLF's "Don't Meow for Me, Catriona," written by Ryan Machado and directed by Toni Go-Yadao.

“I was happy and excited for her kasi ‘yun ‘yung comeback nya after not acting for a few years because she focused on her family. Parang first time niya bumalik sa acting tapos VLF pa,” Glaiza said.

This year, it's finally Glaiza's turn.

“Early this year, nagkita kami ni Sir Dennis (Marasigan) sa Rotterdam and he’s been inviting me for some plays, yung dating dati pa.”

Marasigan is CCP’s vice president and artistic director who has been acting, directing, doing lighting design and everything in between for VLF since its inception in 2005.

So, when Glaiza was invited to audition for the role of Rose, she was excited even if she had not read the script.

“It was something different. I love the title pa lang. ‘She’s Electric’ reminded me of the (same-titled) song by Oasis,” De Castro said, laughing.

“Then when I read the script, I really laughed a lot. Eventually, I got the part,” she added.

Based on the synopsis, Rose is the girlfriend of Robert (Joshua Cabiladas), who is described “a womanizer who has long avoided the ills of romance.”

Robert meets Rose and thinks she’s the one he can be faithful to for a long time. He introduces Rose to his friends named Andrew (Aldo Vencilao), Stacy (Yesh Burce) and Borgs (Ybes Bagadiong) over dinner at his house but the encounter leads “to a hilarious but insightful inquiry into the sexual, romantic and philosophical nature of their partnership”.

Since Glaiza is a popular film-and-TV actress who can easily pull in the crowd, she wasn’t readily handpicked for the role.

“We invited actors to read for the roles, kasama si Glaiza sa mga actors na na-invite namin para mag-read sa role ni Rose. All of our cast member were invited to audition,” JP Habac told GMA News Online.

The two had worked together before, on GMA's 2013 romance-anthology series "Wagas."

“I was assistant director in one episode. That was a long time ago,” Habad said.

But it’s different on the live stage. For him, it’s like working with De Castro for the first time again. We asked him how De Castro was during rehearsals, specifically her adjustments from camera to theater and Habac said, there really wasn't much adjustment for Glaiza.

“Gets niya agad material. Naging madali rin ang adjustment nya dahil ang laki ng tulong ng co-actors niya na matagal-tagal na rin sa teatro,” he said.

“She’s Electric” is part of Set C: Balat Kalabaw, alongside two other plays, Dustin Celestino’s “Elehiya,” directed by Ron Capinding, and Faith Ferrer Lacanlale’s “Betamax,” directed by Sheenly Gener.

Other film-and-TV actresses who are part of this year’s VLF include Jackie Lou Blanco, Elijah Canlas, Meryll Soriano, Christian Bables, Mosang, Donna Cariaga and CJ Navato. Also for the first time in VLF, there’s Angel Aquino and daughter Iana Bernardez.

According to VLF co-founder and former festival director, veteran playwright Rodolfo Vera, aside from the 12 new plays for Sets A, B, C, D, there are six more plays for the staged readings, bringing a total of 18 new plays, 21 if SET E is taken into account.

This year marks the the first time that VLF will take place through all of four weeks; in the past, VLF ran for only three weeks.

The VLF 21st edition has the theme “Hubo’t Hubad” as it aims to “reflect on the many ways people reveal themselves, inviting audiences to engage with works that expose layers of identity, memory, and vulnerability.” It runs from June 3 to 28, 2026, at the CCP Black Box Theater. — LA, GMA News