it is for when you meet me

Mainstage Presentation

Duration: 50 mins

it is for when you meet me engages with the Filipino cultural phenomenon of gift-giving and the human nature of acceptance. What does it mean to gift-give as a way of connecting with loved ones who we are separated or distanced from?

The English translation of the Tagalog word Pasalubong is: A gift for when you welcome me. It is customary for the one traveling to bring thoughtful gifts back home for loved ones, often packed in big cardboard boxes, called ‘Balikbayan boxes’. Overseas Filipino Workers have modernly adapted this custom in situations where they can’t go back home right away, stuffing large boxes with Tim Hortons ground coffee, Centrum vitamins; new and used clothes, cans of SPAM, unwanted things that could be of use to someone else among other items in order to express love as well as the sentiment: I am coming soon.

Intermingling autobiographical material, verbatim texts and personal family histories, it is for when you meet me will guide the audience through a process of a literal unpacking of a Balikbayan box. 

 

Created and performed by Anjela Magpantay 

Lighting, Set and Props by Alexandra Caprara

Light and Set Design assistant Czarina Agustines

Animation by Ronnie Cheng

Projection by Andie Lloyd

Sound Design, Composition and Dramaturgy by Nancy Tam

Consultant and Composer by Argel Monte de Ramos

TD Consultant Ira Jordison

Stage Management by Bernice Paet

Produced by Avyen von Waldenburg

 

Photo Credit: Avyen von Waldenburg