A NEGRENSE theatre artist is one of the 10 fellows around the country chosen to take part at a national playwright’s fellowship program at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila.

Noel Pahayupan, a member of the Negros-based community theatre group Performance Laboratory, Inc. is part of the shortlisted fellows of the Virgin Labfest 15 Writing Fellowship Program that started on June 25 until July 7.

This fellowship is a two-week program intended to help the chosen emerging playwrights in the Philippines to study and practice dramatic writing for stage.

It is also intended only for “Virgin” playwrights as to qualify in the fellowship, you must be 29 years old or younger, not have had any play produced by a professional theater company, not have had any play published in a literary journal, and not have won in any national/international playwriting/screenwriting competition.

Before joining the PerfLab, Pahayupan is a graduate of the University of Saint La Salle with a degree in Business Administration Major in Marketing and an alumni of the school’s theatre group, the Maskara theatre Ensemble.

Last year, Negrense Venise Buenaflor, also an alumni of Maskara Theatre Ensemble and currently affiliated with the Negros Museum, was also part of the 10 fellows of Virgin LabFest in 2018.

Buenaflor is now the lead actress for one of the theatre plays staged at the Virgin LabFest this year, directed by Tanya P. Lopez, the first ever region-based theatre director to direct the play for this national playwright’s festival at the CCP. (PR)