For countless Filipinos, working overseas is both a sacrifice and a necessity. Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) leave home for years at a time, separated by oceans from their loved ones, in pursuit of better opportunities for their families. In exchange, they endure homesickness, loneliness, cultural displacement, language barriers, and even racism, hardships carried quietly in the hope of securing a more stable future back home.
Hailed as the country’s “modern-day heroes,” OFWs significantly sustain the Philippine economy through remittances. Yet despite decades of labor and sacrifice abroad, the promise of improved collective living conditions remains elusive. Their departure and return have become normalized, with airport send-offs and balikbayan boxes marking a cycle that repeats year after year. Brief reunions are filled with celebration, nostalgia, and hurried memory-making before another goodbye.
While the OFW narrative is frequently portrayed in film, television, and news media, it is rarely explored through the immediacy and intimacy of theatre. Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas seeks to bridge that gap with its upcoming production, Ang Kaliitan ng Kasalukuyan, written and directed by multi-awarded playwright and DUP Artistic Director Arlo Deguzman. A returning alumnus who himself spent nearly two decades working across fifty countries, Deguzman draws from lived diasporic experience to shape this deeply personal and contemporary work.
The play serves as both tribute and examination, an exploration of the emotional terrain OFWs navigate daily. Through movement and lyricism, it brings to life a father weighed down by unending remittances, a mother determined to justify sacrifice, a sister grappling with separation, and a son burdened by unspoken expectations. It is an invitation to reflect on identity, belonging, and the meaning of home.
In a world marked by growing global tensions, the vulnerabilities of migrant workers remain pressing. Through this production, Dulaang UP not only honors OFWs but also imagines a future where Filipinos can live and labor with dignity in their own homeland, where leaving is no longer a necessity and home is no longer defined by distance.
Ang Kaliitan ng Kasalukuyan runs from March 12 to March 29, 2026 at the IBG-KAL Theater, UP Diliman, with evening performances on Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 PM, and matinee and evening shows on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM. Tickets are available online via https://bit.ly/AngKaliitanNgKasalukuyan2026 with the following prices:
1,000 Php Regular Price (800 Early Bird discount until January 31)
800 Php PWD / Senior Citizens / Non-UP Students
650 UP Community (Students and Employees): Friday–Sunday shows
550 UP Community (Students and Employees): Thursday shows
