Four productions from four member companies scored a collective 24 nods in the 2019 Philstage Gawad Buhay midyear citations.
Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Coriolano”—Guelan Luarca’s Filipino translation of Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus”—led the pack with nine citations; Repertory Philippines’ (Rep) production of Ronald Harwood’s “The Dresser” followed with eight.
The Sandbox Collective’s “Every Brilliant Thing,” Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s monologue about growing up and grappling with mental illness, scored six nods, including the lone citations for production and stage direction.
Philippine Educational Theater Association’s (Peta) “Charot!,” a play-with-music that dealt with the specters of charter change and federalism, was cited for its original score.
The other two eligible Philstage productions for the first half of the year were Rep’s “Miong”—the only musical—and “Father’s Day.”
Now on its 12th year, Gawad Buhay is the first-ever industry awards exclusively for the performing arts.
It is juried by an independent panel of critics, scholars, artists and theater enthusiasts. Outstanding individual and group achievements in various artistic and technical aspects of play and musical productions and performances are honored based on quarterly citations deliberated by the members of the jury, who are required to watch all productions of Philstage member-companies for the entire year.
From the quarterly citations (the first and second quarters are here merged into the midyear citations), the jury selects the final nominees qualified to win the awards by the end of the performance season.
Philstage is the only alliance of professional performing arts organizations in the Philippines. Its members include 9 Works Theatrical, Actor’s Actors Inc./The Necessary Theatre, Ballet Manila, Ballet Philippines, Culturtain Musicat Productions Inc., Full House Theater Company (Resorts World Manila), Gantimpala Theater Foundation, Peta, Philippine Opera Company, Rep, Red Turnip Theater, The Sandbox Collective (SC), Stages, Tanghalang Pilipino (TP), Trumpets and Twin Bill Theater.
Beginning last year, dance and ballet productions were no longer considered, while the awards for original libretto and musical composition were changed to original book and musical score. —CONTRIBUTED
COMPLETE LIST OF 2019 MIDYEAR CITATIONS:
Outstanding Translation or Adaptation: Guelan Luarca, “Coriolano” (TP)
Outstanding Original Score: Vince Lim, Jeff Hernandez and Michelle Ngu, “Charot!” (Peta)
Outstanding Costume Design: Bonsai Cielo, “Coriolano” (TP); Tata Tuviera, “The Dresser” (Rep)
Outstanding Lighting Design: John Batalla, “Every Brilliant Thing” (SC); Dennis Marasigan, “Coriolano” (TP); Barbie Tan-Tiongco, “The Dresser” (Rep)
Outstanding Sound Design: Arvy Dimaculangan, “Every Brilliant Thing” (SC); Jethro Joaquin, “The Dresser” (Rep); TJ Ramos, “Coriolano” (TP)
Outstanding Set Design: Ohm David, “Coriolano” (TP); Ed Lacson Jr., “The Dresser” (Rep)
Female Lead Performance in a Play: Teresa Herrera, “Every Brilliant Thing” (SC); Kakki Teodoro, “Every Brilliant Thing” (SC)
Male Lead Performance in a Play: Audie Gemora, “The Dresser” (Rep); Teroy Guzman, “The Dresser” (Rep); Marco Viaña, “Coriolano” (TP)
Female Featured Performance in a Play: Sherry Lara, “Coriolano” (TP); Tami Monsod, “The Dresser” (Rep)
Male Featured Performance in a Play: Jaime del Mundo, “The Dresser” (Rep); Brian Sy, “Coriolano” (TP); Jonathan Tadioan, “Coriolano” (TP)
Outstanding Stage Direction for a Play: Jenny Jamora, “Every Brilliant Thing” (SC)
Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Play: “Every Brilliant Thing” (SC)