MARIA DUARTE is swept along by the cocky self-belief of a ping-pong hustler in a surprisingly violent drama
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Overseas
Maria Duarte is moved by a harrowing documentary about Filipino overseas domestic workers, far from home and their families, who face appalling treatment at the hands of their employers
Overseas by Sung-A Yoon
STEVE ANDREW recommends a lively and often moving guide to once vibrant spaces that have been abandoned or swept away
GEOFF BOTTOMS appreciates the local touch brought to a production of Dickens’s perennial classic
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a production whose design and cartoonish acting overwhelms the close scrutiny of characters
SUSAN DARLINGTON enjoys the raucous familiarity of a traditional topsy-turvy pantomime
RON JACOBS introduces the latest novel by the best writer of US working-class fiction writing today
Overseas
Directed by Sung-A Yoon
“IF YOU can bear it and they don’t hurt you physically; if they feed you well and you get enough sleep — you’d better finish your contract,” advises a training instructor to a group of Filipino would-be overseas domestic workers during a pep talk. They are urged not to give up: what they can earn abroad they cannot earn in the Philippines.
Sung-A Yoon’s eye-opening documentary shines a light on a totally invisible profession encouraged by the government, exploring domestic slavery in a globalised world.
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