MANILA -- John “Sweet” Lapus is frank enough to admit he lost his virginity a long time ago. But now at 44, he is giddy and tense because he is about to be "devirginized" again.

This year, he made the cut in the annual Virgin Labfest (VLF), a theater festival of untried, untested, unstaged and unpublished plays, not as an actor, but as a playwright.

Lapus is currently part of ABS-CBN’s top-rating primetime romantic comedy, “Since I Found You,” where he plays the uncle of Arci Muñoz’s character.

Yet despite his busy schedule, he’s managed to write one-act-plays, like “Bagyolanda,” which will be part of the Staged Reading set on July 13 at 6 p.m. at the Tanghalang Amado V. Hernandez in the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

“I wrote ‘Bagyolanda’ after seeing the report of Atom Araullo in ABS-CBN when Super Typhoon Yolanda struck Tacloban. Sa report niya nakita ko may beauty parlor na nasa second floor ng isang building pero inabot pa din ng baha. So naiisip ko, ano kaya ginawa ng mga bakla habang trapped sila sa parlor? Ayun na. ‘Bagyolanda’ is about Filipino resiliency, lalo na ng mga baklang Pinoy,” he told ABS-CBN News.

This is his second attempt to join the VLF. He first submitted the manuscript for “Bagyolanda” in 2016 and he took the non-acceptance as a challenge to do better.

In last year's VLF, he was cast in “Hindi Ako Si Darna,” a comedy written by U.Z. Eliserio and Maynard Manansala. “It was my first time to be cast in VLF,” he said.

A post shared by John Lapus (@korekkajohn) on Jul 2, 2017 at 11:28am PDT

He played the villain, Valentina, in the play that imagined Darna (played by Tetchie Agbayani) as a weight-challenged, high cholesterol-struck aging superheroine.

“Nag-enjoy ako (as Valentina). It was during that time my friends suggested na isali ko ulit ang ‘Bagyolanda’ with some revisions. So ayun, sinali ko ulit, pumasok na! Totoo nga ang (kasabihang) ‘try and try until you succeed’.”

He added he was so excited that he submitted two one-act-plays. Besides “Bagyolanda,” the other one is titled “True to Life,“ which is about “magkaibigan na babae at bakla. Usapan tungkol sa love life, sex life at life.”

“Ang point ko ‘pag di pa naman ako pumasok sa dalawa eh ewan ko na lang,” Lapus said, laughing. “At least pumasok ang ‘Bagyolanda.’ Kahit one night lang ang staged reading pumasok! At ang maganda, pwede ko siya ulit isali next year.”

He finds more encouragement from other playwrights whose works were initially tested in the Staged Reading set but were staged in future VLFs or revised and expanded into screenplays.

‘Yung ‘Mula sa Kulimliman’ ni Carlo Vergara, staged reading lang din. Tapos sinali nya ulit, pumasok na sa final 12 at naging revisited pa. 'Yung ‘Changing Partners’ staged reading lang din pero naging full-length musical and award-winning film. So hindi mo talaga masasabi ang fate ng isang material. Update ko ang ‘Bagyolanda’ at ‘True to Life’ sali ko ulit next year! Laban lang!”

Theater person at heart

Lapus considers himself a theater person at heart. Only a few may know it but he started in theater way back in college. His course was very far from what he’s doing now because he took up Hotel and Restaurant Management at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

“First year college pa lang ako, member na ako ng Teatro Tomasino,” he said, referring to the university-wide theater guild of UST. “On my last year in UST, I was elected secretary of our guild and eventually assigned as professional adviser. I just resigned this year after 23 years as professional adviser.”

It was his friends in Teatro Tomasino who helped him enter the world of show business.

“It was in Teatro Tomasino where I met my ‘Ates’ (senior gay friends) who were that time working in ABS-CBN already. (Actor) Eagle Riggs, Direk Wenn Deramas, Direk Don Cuaresma, Roxy Liquigan, Lui Andrada, Erick John Salud. Si Roxy at Lui, backed up by the rest ang nagpasok sa 'kin sa ‘Showbiz Lingo’ as a researcher after graduating college. That was 25 years ago,” he said.

“Showbiz Lingo” is a showbiz-oriented talk show that aired every Sunday afternoon.

Casting Piolo Pascual in a play

Like Lapus, heartthrob Piolo Pascual also started in theater at UST. Pascual joined Teatro Tomasino in 1994 and it was Lapus who gave him an acting part in one of Chris Martinez’s earliest plays, “Sabado sa Sams.”

“Hindi na kami nag-abot sa UST kasi I graduated in 1993 but Piolo is our little bro. Full force kaming mga Ate niya na sumuporta sa pagpasok nya sa ABS-CBN. ‘At iba pa’ ang title ng first show niya. Tapos umalis sya at nag-US for his citizenship. Pagbalik niya, wala siya work. So, sabi ko mag-play ka muna sa 'kin. Comeback niya sa theater ang ‘Sa Sabado Sa Sams’ ni Chris Martinez na dinirek ko for Teatro Tomasino,” Lapus recalled.

“Grabe 'pag lumalabas si Piolo sa Act 5. Tiliaan ang mga tao. So sabi ko maglagay siya ng bigote at wig para pumangit naman siya tutal adik ang role. Napaka-husay na theater actor ni PJ (Pascual's nickname). Sana bumalik sya ulit,” he added.

It was while doing “Sabado Sa Sams” when Pascual got another offer from ABS-CBN and since then, he never left.

We asked Lapus if ever on the set of “Since I Found You,” he and Pascual ever got the chance to talk about the heartthrob going back to theater.

“Well the other day kinukumbinsi ko siya bumalik ng UST. Gusto niya mag-play, sabi ko busy siya kaya kung pwede concert na lang under Teatro Tomasino for UST Alumni Association. May nag-o-offer nga daw na profesional theater guild sa kanya, sabi ko baka naman pwede sa Teatro Tomasino muna,” Lapus said with a giggle.

But for now, Lapus is very much excited and tense at the same time for his "virgin" play. He said, “Baka ako, cast at director ko lang natatawa pero ang audience hindi. So sana matawa sila. Thank God, ang huhusay ng nakuhang cast ng director namin, si Tuxqs Rotaquio. Mga mayora ng theater sina Melvin Lee (of Philippine Educational Theater Association), Joey Paras at Reynald Santos (of Dulaang UP). Bongga! First reading-rehersal namin last Friday, tawa na kami ng tawa!”

He added: “Gustong gusto ko ang VLF kasi they give chance to thespian playwrights like me. So this year, eh devirginized na ako.”

“VLF 14: Silip” is ongoing at various venues at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. It runs until July 15.