Exploring Filipino-American Narratives through 'Criers for Hire'

The Filipino American cultural production, Criers for Hire, addresses various issues in the Filipino-American community and gives visibility to Overseas Filipino workers’ narratives. Criers for Hire is used as way to express themes of assimilation, generational conflicts, and the meaning of “home.”
The play revolves around Baby and her daughter, Ligaya, who is finally reuniting with her mother in the United States after fourteen years. Set around the 1990s, Baby always wrote letters and sent pictures to Ligaya. Baby had no choice but to leave her daughter, going overseas to find work and sending remittances back to the Philippines. She has another job, being a crier for Chinese funerals. When finding out her mother is crier, Ligaya is also

It is shown how Baby writes letters to Gaya while growing up in the Philippines. When Gaya finally moves in with her mother, she now has to adapt living in America and now living with Baby. They have lived apart for so many years and Gaya is attached to the letters that her mother has sent her and Baby affirms her daughter that she is here with Gaya in person. They burn the letters at a funeral they were hired to cry for and it is for new beginnings. With Gaya and Baby reconciling their problems, it gives them a chance for their new redefinition of “home.” The play is a perfect example to show visibility of a topic that is rarely talked about in the Filipino-American community. With this form of expression, the audience gains a sense of understanding of the generation gaps, Overseas Filipino workers and their struggle of being away of their families. Through their actions, words, and emotions, the audience can be engulfed to these topics and struggles. After the play, the questions I wondered about if Baby and Gaya ever petitioned for US citizenship. Criers for Hire presents one of the many Filipino-American experiences and the adversity they