A 'story of welcoming': Play set in late-'60s explores stories of nurses who came to Sask. from Philippines

The story ofhealth care workers from the Philippines making their way to rural Saskatchewan is one that has unfolded thousands of times.

In fact, Tagalogspoken in the Philippines has been reportedto be the second most-commonlanguage in Saskatoon.

But in 1967, not long after the birth of medicare, these stories were just being written.

One of those stories was that of Toronto playwright MarieBeathBadian'smother.

"She answered an ad in the paper 'Canada needs nurses,'"saidBadian in an interview with CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

Badian'splayPrairie Nurse is opening this weekend at the Station Arts Centre in Rosthern.

It tells the story of a Filipina nurse who comes to Saskatchewan to work in Arborfield. The character is based on the true-life experiences of Badian's mother.

"The allure of Canada was citizenship within two years," the playwright said.

Play covers some tough topics

Prairie Nursea comedic story of mistaken identity that also highlights stereotypes and a sort of uneducated, lazy racism finds its inspiration in a trip that Badian took with her mom to Arborfield, decades after the real-life Prairie nurse had left Saskatchewan for Toronto to raise her family.

"There were still a few people who were alive that remember Mom, and every time we would be introduced to these people who Mom remembered, the first thing, even before they said hito her, was, 'Where is the other one?'"

The "other one" was a Filipinanurse named Penny. Locals couldn't tell them apart, and didn't really seem that interested, Badian said.

"Everybody associated them as a pair, as a unit."

But there is much more to Prairie Nurse, and in the end, Badian describes it as "a good story of welcoming."

Priaire Nurseruns at the Station Arts Centre in Rosthernfrom July 6 to Aug. 5.