Stage director Bobby Garcia talks about working with Lea Salonga and Dolly de Leon and using theater as an escape from the real world, if only for a brief moment. Bobby Garcia , founder of Atlantis Productions in Manila, one of Asia’s most successful theater companies, is now based in Vancouver, having moved to Canada at the start of the pandemic. “I’m very cautious to self-identify as an OFW because I know their plight and I recognize my privilege,” he says.
“OFWs sacrifice so much to be apart from family without knowing when they will see them again, and they make these sacrifices and go through sometimes unfathomable hardships because it ultimately means they are able to support themselves and family in the Philippines.” “The voices of many OFWs are unheard. Just the fact that I’m doing an interview with Vogue shows that I have access to my voice being heard,” says Bobby.
“Our OFWs are our everyday heroes. I have privilege and I don’t lead much of a heroic life, especially compared to them.” Bobby says he instead identifies as a Filipino immigrant working in Canada.
“I face the same prejudices most immigrants face across the world such as a narrow and inconsistent pipeline to get work, microaggressions at work and in life, and sometimes, even overt racism both at the workplace and in everyday life,” Bobby says. “I’ve seen bad behavior rewarded so the cycle continues.” Bobby says the shared experience of most immigrants is the feeling of lo.