Renowned theater professors coming to Manila

Manila, Philippines - More than 20 renowned theater professors from various universities all over the world are coming to Manila to attend the 1st Philippine International University Theater Festival which will be held at Miriam College on July 18 to 20.

Nick Lizaso, organizer of the event in his capacity as head of the Philippine chapter of the  International University Theater Association (IUTA), said the delegates will come from 17 regions of the globe, representing their respective universities.

Leading the group is Jean-Marc Larrue from Canada, current president of IUTA. Larrue cited Lizaso for his professionalism and generosity and the efforts of the organizing committee and institutions who have made possible such an important international encounter among IUTA members.

Larrue also said the event, the first in Asia, and “the fruitful exchanges that it will make possible are an exceptional opportunity to strengthen our links to the benefit of our students and the University Theater itself. Tradition is indeed a concern for us all and we know that theater has an important role in its preservation and its revitalization.”

Kalev Kudu (Estonia) and Siarhei Turban (Belarus)

Among the teaching luminaries attending the IUTA Philippine Theater Festival with Larrue are Robert Germay (Belgium), Lucille Garbagnati and Alain Chevalier (France), Constantina Ziropoulou (Greece), Mustafa Sekmen (Turkey), Isabel Cristina Flores Hernandez (Mexico), Katsiaryna Saladukha (Belarus), Maria Horne and daughter Chelsea (USA), Chiwoon Ahn (South Korea), Karin Freymeter (Germany), Denis Patafta (Croatia), Francoise Odin (France), Kalev Kudu (Estonia), Aubrey Mellor (Singapore), Siarhei Turban (Belarus) and Shafi Ahmed (Bangladesh).

The festival is anchored on the theme Strenghtening University Theater: Cultural Traditions Enriching Contemporary Theater. The foreign university-based theater experts will interact with local theater teachers by way of dialogue, workshops, demonstrations, round-table discussions and performances.

According to Lizaso, there will be pocket performances (ethnic and contemporary) interspersed with the seminars and workshops. There will also be an arnis demo, he said.

On the last day, a Gawad Parangal will be given to the country’s veteran theater performers, the so-called Living Treasures of Philippine Theater, among them Naty Crame-Rogers, Fr. James Reuter, Onofre Pagsanjan, Amelia Lapena-Bonifacio, Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, Baby Barredo, Joy Virata, Teddy Hilado, Salvador Bernal, Jess Peralta, Alberto Florentino, Tony Mabesa, Celia Diaz-Laurel and Rustica Carpio.