DUBAI: Award-winning playwright Christine S. Bellen’s “Ang Pambansang Litanya ng mga Inang Wala sa Bayan,” a stage act put together, directed and performed by volunteer overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), was shown in a jampacked audience of fellow OFWs, who gravitated to the Philippine Consulate General’s Rizal Hall to immerse themselves in the lamentations of three mothers, who left their families to work abroad for their loved ones’ sake.
“Six showings of the Litanya production have given the community here the first glimpse of the depth of talent the Filipino has in the field of theater,” said Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes.
“Litanya” had six runs – three each on Dec. 14 and 15, a weekend.
“I could not be prouder and more ecstatic as I witnessed how the audiences were triggered by an avalanche of emotions as the production hoped to encapsulate the totality of our experience as global migrants,” said Cortes, referring to heart-wrenching scenes of the stage play which sent sad realities of OFW life across.
Directed by Juan Gonzales, the 45-minute Litanya’s storyline revolves around three OFW mothers taking turns letting out a litany of travails, heartaches and woes through a series of monologues that Bellen “fluidly stitched,” as dramaturg Jomel Reyes put it.
The play was inspired by the award-winning book, “Many Journeys, Many Voices: A Tribute to Filipino Overseas Workers,” which was published in 2015.
It featured Henri Abenis-Macahilo who portrayed “Gracia,” Wilma Rose Limpiado, who did “Azon,” and Socorro Soriano, who played as “Lilibeth.”
