Philippine Women Centre of BC
Press release

Innovative play brings stories of live-in caregivers to local stage

February 1, 2009

 
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- An innovative play based on testimonial research about the impacts of the Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP) will debut next week in Vancouver. "Nanay: a testimonial play" will bring to the stage the stories of Filipino live-in caregivers and their children, as well as Canadian employers and nanny agencies. It runs from Feb. 4-8, 2009 at the Chapel Arts Theatre (304 Dunlevy Ave.) as part of the PuSH International Performing Arts Festival.

The play is the product of a collaboration between the Philippine Women Centre of BC (PWC of BC), UBC Geography Professor Geraldine Pratt and Urban Crawl Productions.

“Nanay” is the Filipino word for “mother” and also plays on the word ‘nanny’. The script is based on collaborative research between Prof. Pratt and the Philippine Women Centre over the last 15 years.

“This production is an important opportunity for us to bring forward the stories of Filipino live-in caregivers and their children to a Canadian audience,” says Leah Diana, Executive Director of the PWC of BC. “Despite being the number one source country for immigrants and migrants to Canada, Filipino women remain marginalized in Canada. Our stories rarely appear in ‘mainstream’ art and our voices are often ignored or silenced in public debate. We hope this play is an effective way of raising awareness about the impacts of the LCP on Filipino women and our community," says Diana.

Since the early 1980's nearly 100,000 Filipino women have come to Canada to work as live-in caregivers under the LCP and its predecessor the Foreign Domestic Movement. As live-in caregivers, these women perform childcare and elderly care as well as domestic duties while living and working in their employers' home on a temporary employer-specific contract. Live-in caregivers must complete 24 months of live-in work within a three-year period before they are given the chance to apply for permanent residency and sponsor their families.

“While Canada touts itself as a champion of human rights and presents the LCP as an immigration program, we know from our community’s experience that we are being brought to Canada as a source of cheap labour to do work that Canadians will not,” says Diana. She says the live-in requirement as well as the nature of the work, the temporary immigration status and the strict requirements of completing 24 months of live-in work within three years make the women vulnerable to exploitation and all forms of abuse.

“We hope these stories will challenge all Canadians to take a critical look at this program and other temporary worker programs and the reality that many of these workers are facing in Canada,” says Diana.

“I wanted to get involved because it seemed like a really creative way to get our research out to a broad range of people, and to get Canadians who might not otherwise think about the LCP to engage with the issue on a whole range of levels, from emotional to more critical/analytical,” says Prof. Pratt, co-author of the play. “It was also another opportunity to collaborate once again with the PWC of BC,” she says.

Based in Vancouver, Urban Crawl’s vision focuses on producing artistic work that, “opens up spaces for physical and social dialogue,” according to its Executive Director, Caleb Johnston also a co-author of the play. “For Urban Crawl, Nanay represents an opportunity to further the potential of testimonial theatre, and to put theatre to work on an issue of civic importance,” he says.

There will be a talkback session after each performance to allow the audience to raise questions and give feedback about the play.

Tickets are available from $24-30 before the show from Tickets Tonight by calling: 604-684-2787 or on-line at: ticketstonight.ca.

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For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Hetty Alcuitas at ph: 604-215-1103 or e-mail: pwc@kalayaancentre.net

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