About the Show

A new play featuring mail-order brides' stories of survival, their challenges, and their resilience.

When survival means self-sacrifice, some women opt for becoming mail-order brides, marrying strangers from distant lands.

Drawing inspiration from real accounts, Export Quality portrays the daunting journeys of four Filipino mail-order brides. It delves into their encounters with hope, despair, love, loss, mortality, and rebirth. The play probes the intricate nature of the global mail-order bride trade. How does this industry affect women—does it offer advantages or cause harm? What role do gender biases and stereotypes play in fueling this trade? Particularly for a nation like the Philippines, how does historical colonialism factor in? What power dynamics are at play in this scenario?

Critic Reviews (2)

Through a technologically astute production and fine acting, their intertwining stories unfold in a dramatic tapestry that reveals the sad business of mail-order brides. Using an intricate combination of pre-recorded videos, live video feeds and “ghost voices” (Joy Tamayo), the live actors emerge as engaging and moving women, their fates becoming ever more fascinating and heartbreaking.
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" 'Export Quality' brings awareness to the mail-order bride industry, which has historically hurt women and still doesn’t have many laws to protect their well-being."
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Cast and creative team