I.

  Title:

a.   Bayan Bayanan- Letters from Home By Bienvenido Munoz Noriega, Jr.

II.   Synopsis:

 
a. Characters:

Tessie, A hopelessly in love nurse

The Ambassador's driver, Manong and his wife, Manang at whose house all the expats
gather.
Dino a scholar, in quest of a future.
Pol a TNT seaman, waiting for the next ship.
Leo Pol's son, the recurring memory of home.
Anna Marie a Fil-Am born of a GI father and a deceased singer mother, in search of her
roots.
G. del Castillo and Gng. del Castillo two delightfully annoying and teasing officials from
the embassy, who resist their return to the Philippines.
Ricky Boy, Manong and Manang's son, who longs to return to the land of his
childhood. G. Luz, a UN Attache who desperately wants to return to his family.
Connie a model in disguise, in search of love and money.
Aling Pia a household staff, who has learned to face the turns of life with laughter.

b.   Summary:

The story happened in some places in Europe, Manong and Manang are Filipinos
who already based there who is open for every Filipino that works there. “Pol” as the
ill- fated overseas Filipino worker. Pol left his family behind in the Philippines but
had no luck in finding a job overseas. This was a perfect reason for him to return to the

Philippines. But he did not want his homecoming to be a failure. So, he died away from
home. But the sickly Pol’s death was hastened by the news brought to him from
Manila by his friend, Manong and wife, Manang , who could no longer locate his
family. Missing badly his seven-year-old son, Leo, broke Pol’s heart. But Pol’s death
was anti-climactic to the difficulties of Tessi for not finding the right Italian boyfriend to
marry, a common cultural struggle faced by OFW’s getting to be involved in mixed
marriages.
Connie mirroring “Japayukis” who feel inlove with Dino, but Dino is to coward to go with
Connie that’s why Dino decided just to go back in the Philippines. Dino is a scholar.
Aling Pia, who was abandoned by several “Seamen” – “Si Manluluko, Si Mangagantso
at Si Mangbubuntis” – a pun that easily brought down the house. Anna Marie, was
a face of an OFW, looking for a rich prospective husband to find stability, instead of
finding a

stable job.
  
III.   Objectives:

a.   The main objective of the play is to show the different struggles and life of
Overseas Filipino Workers. People always think that life in other country is always
easy. They don’t know the struggles of our kababayan in other country just to
sustain the needs of

their family here is Philippines. The play also depicted the different situation of Overseas
Filipino Workers

IV.   Reaction:

All over the play “Bayan-Bayanan: Letters from Home” for me is 10/10 because of its
very good depictions of what’s happening with OFWs. The cast are very impressive
in portraying their roles specially “Ana Marie” and “Connie”. Both of them really
stand-out for me. I am very entertained; there are no dull moments in the play. The
sound effects and lighting is very perfect. The play brings me in the different
dimension. It brought me back to 80’s and somewhere in Europe which they are trying
to portray in the play. My emotions are mixed as the story goes. The plot of the
story is very unpredictable. And the play is a open-ended so it makes me want to
watch the part 2 of the play.
 

Sophia Ellaine Y. Lopez

BSA 1-A