‘Mama, Mama, Papáno Ka Mamuya?!’ from Virgin Labfest Bikol Gets Naga City Staging This October
Helena Francine Ebio’s Mama, Mama, Papáno Ka Mamuya?!, first presented as one of eight featured works in the inaugural Virgin Labfest Bikol held in Legazpi City in July 2026, is set to return for a full staging on October 16 and 17 at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Hall in Naga City.
The play follows Narra, a woman in her thirties who is practical, ambitious, and determined to pursue a career abroad as a nurse. Her husband, Joseph, however, is eager to begin building a family.
A possible pregnancy forces Narra to confront questions surrounding her career, financial stability, relationship, dreams, body, and the responsibilities that could fall on her if she becomes a mother.
Throughout the story, the familiar question of “Kailan ka mag-aaki?” takes on greater weight as the play examines the expectations placed on women surrounding marriage, motherhood, careers, and family obligations.
Despite its subject matter, the play approaches Narra’s dilemma through humor, absurdity, and fantasy. Her anxieties about motherhood eventually take physical form through the Mga Aki, possible future children who enter her imagination and confront her with different versions of the life she might have.
Virgin Labfest Bikol 2026 Festival Director Sari Saysay says of the play, “Its power lies in a perfect alchemy: a deeply relatable emotional heart combined with a narrative that refuses to play by the rules.”
For Naga City native Helena Francine Ebio, the staging brings the work home to the community that helped shape it.
“Beyond the expectations placed on women, I wanted to ask what happens when our dreams, careers, relationships, and choices do not fit the paths society has prepared for us,” she says.
The production is led by a women-led creative team, with Ivonne Edde Papa, personally selected by Ebio, directing the production.
“To see Narra’s story on stage makes sure women are heard, and the beauty of this play is that women will find a piece of themselves in it,” says Papa.
Shania Alexis Neo stars as Narra, with Joseph J. Doctor as her husband, Joseph. Cherry Ann Buenafe plays Doc Kakai, Narra’s former nursing school classmate whose experiences as a doctor and mother offer another perspective on the choices Narra faces.
Rae Chavez, Victoria Vista, and Charles Gabrielle Dela Torre complete the cast as the Mga Aki.
Mama, Mama, Papáno Ka Mamuya?! is the third play from this year’s Virgin Labfest Bikol known to be receiving its own staging outside the festival, following Gene Rey Francisco’s An Mga Voyador, which ran in Naga City in September, and Jan Jan Gernale Mohametano’s Malasimbo, which ran in Sorsogon later that month.
Mama, Mama, Papáno Ka Mamuya?! will run on October 16 and 17 at 10 AM, 2 PM, and 6 PM at the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Hall, J. Miranda Avenue, Naga City.
Regular tickets are priced at ₱400, while tickets to the gala performance on October 17 at 6 PM are priced at ₱750. The October 16, 10 AM performance is sold out, with limited seats remaining for the succeeding performances. Tickets are available through tickets.dalankita.com.
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