Inspired by the migrant-worker journey of Palanca-winning playwright Arlo Deguzman, the production blends puppetry, music, and personal stories of overseas Filipinos.
For Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (DUP), migration to foreign lands is more than remittances and balikbayan boxes. It is also about frustrations in payment-center lines, the promises made during long separations, and the sunk-cost sacrifices of overseas Filipino workers.
As it takes a bow for its 48th theatrical season, DUP sends a piece of its audience’s heart abroad with its upcoming production, “Ang Kaliitan ng Kasalukuyan,” a story meant to open conversations often left behind at the departure terminal.
The play is written and directed by returning Palanca Awards–winning playwright and DUP artistic director Arlo Deguzman, drawing from his own two decades of experience as a migrant worker across fifty countries.
Staging the diaspora
OFWs play a significant role in sustaining the national economy, developing our local culture into their destination countries, and solidifying diasporic bonds with our kababayans abroad.
The DUP approach these diasporic narratives through puppetry and musical theater, methods rarely seen being used to display the gravity of migrant labor amid struggling conditions and a competitive labor market.
Yet, as millions of Filipinos look beyond our borders in search of fair wages, job opportunities, and benefits undependable in our home country, one wonders: How does one go home with intention? “Paano umuwi nang may pagpapasya?”
Rooted in reality
“‘Di siya choice na umalis ka. Kailangan mo talagang umalis kasi ‘di kayang tugunan ng sarili mong bansa [ang] pangangailangan mo,” Sophia, whose father is an OFW in Dubai, responded in an interview by the DUP.
Rooted in the diasporic experiences of its director and creative team, the production features a cast with personal stories on overseas labor, including Sandino Martin, Tess Jamias, Fermin Villegas, Sheryll Ceasico, Marichu Belarmino, Jojo Cayabyab, Hazel Maranan, Domileo Espejo, and Mitzie Lao.
“Whether an OFW or not, a story relative to yours will be told live through theater that will certainly evoke in you a sense of yearning,” the DUP stated in a press release.
Art as a weapon
As tensions in West Asia continue to intensify, the DUP prays for our fellow compatriots trapped inside an ongoing war between US-Israel and Iran.
“Nanawagan kami sa OWWA, POEA, DFA, at iba pang ahensya ng gobyerno na tiyakin ang kaligtasan at sapat na suporta para sa ating mga OFW,” the theater group asserted. “Nanawagan din kami na tuldukan na ang agresyong US-Israeli laban sa Iran, para sa kaligtasan ng bawat taong lumalaban nang patas.”
Catch “Ang Kaliitan ng Kasalukuyan” from March 12 through March 29, at UP Diliman’s IBG-KAL Theater. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, alongside 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. weekend shows.
Tickets are available online at P1,000, with discounted rates of P800 for students, senior citizens, and PWDs, and P550-650 for the UP community. In honor of the production’s theme, former and current OFWs are entitled to a P300 discount off the regular ticket price.
Whether an OFW or not, a story relative to yours will be told live through theatre that will certainly evoke in you a sense of yearning.
Dulaang UP
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