“Angels of Bataan”
Presented by Mercy High School
Screenplay Writer: Tracy Wells
Director: Shelly Bajorek

Mercy High School
29300 W Eleven Mile Rd, Farmington Hills, MI, 48334

Performances are:
Friday, October 20 at 7:30pm
Saturday, October 21 at 7:30pm
Sunday, October 22 at 2:00pm

Adult tickets are $15; Student/Seniors/Children are $10

The first world premiere of “Angels of Bataan” was on Oct 20, 2023, featured at Mercy High School in Farmington Hills. After winning a contest for the rights to showcase the production of Disney’s Frozen, director and teacher Shelly Bajorek posted on Facebook groups looking for a screenplay that was focused on sisterhood following the theme of Frozen production expected to be showcased in the new year, March 15-24.  Wells contacted Bajorek with the idea of  “Angels of Bataan.” Through Wells’ research she found the focus of many World War II stories on the tragedies that happened to women. Wells wanted to write a screenplay focused on the hope and resilience women had during those harrowing times. “The strength of women versus what happened to them” (Wells). 

After Bajorek read Act One, she was brought to tears and understandably so. “Angels of Bataan” is the heroic story of 77 U.S. Army and Navy nurses who survived the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II and all survived returning home, earning a Bronze Star for their outstanding military efforts. “Angels of Bataan ” showcases the strength and resilience of women who are captured during wartime. Living through starvation and abuse: even caring for patients that included their own enemies. 

Some of the nurses even returned to the Philippines continuing their nursing work. When they are brought home, they have to recover from malnourishment and illnesses such as beriberi and various infections. 

While watching the play, you could tell the immense amount of work each young student put into their part. The students were taught military drill training by Platoon Sergeant David Neary and medical techniques by nurse Mrs. Lowry. 

“Angels of Bataan”gives exactly what Wells and Bajorek wanted, the story of sisterhood and the beauty of women banding together to survive a truly horrific ordeal. Though the acting was superb and showed just how hard these students worked, the element of it being a tropical paradise was missing. That aside, this was excellent and was a fantastic world premiere. The audience laughed many times, and the characters were easy to get close to. Despite the lack of paradise, your emotions were grabbed and yanked for the ride while you followed these brave women through their stories of honor and commitment to serving those who needed them most.

For more information on future productions email Shelley Bajorek, director at [email protected].