 |
| Photo by: Gil Nartea / Malacañang Photo Bureau |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 14, 2010
CONTACTS: Dafina McMillan
dmcmillan@tcg.org 212-609-5955
Pamana Ng Pilipino Presidential Award
New York, NY – Theatre Communications Group is proud to announce that Randy Gener, senior editor of American Theatre magazine, will receive the 2010 Pamana Ng Pilipino (Legacy of the Filipino Nation) Presidential Award today from President Benigno S. Aquino III at the Malacañang Palace. The 2010 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas recognize the achievements and significant contributions of Filipino individuals and organizations in the U.S. and abroad.
According to the Commission of Filipinos Overseas, the Pamana Ng Pilipino Presidential Award is given to “Filipinos, who, in exemplifying the talent and industry of the Filipino, have brought the country honor and recognition through excellence, dedication and distinction in the pursuit of their work and the advancement of their profession. They have displayed social consciousness in terms of manifesting strong community spirit, or leading and actively participating in projects and activities for the common good.”
The President's official citation states: "President Benigno S. Aquino III — in conferring the Pamana Ng Pilipino Presidential Award to Randy Gener — recognizes his excellence in the field of theater arts and creativity, and diligence in promoting Filipino-American cultural interests and accomplishments to mainstream audiences in Europe and the United States of America."
The Presidential Award is a testament to the critical essays and articles Gener has written for American Theatre magazine, representing Filipino American theatre, which have had both national and international impact.
“The Philippine government recognizes that strong editorial coverage of theatre can be a cultural asset, especially if it creates high-level conversations and builds global awareness of its thrilling diversity,” says Gener. “The arts have always been a portal to a large, diverse, complicated and stimulating world. I hope to be a greater success in tracing what is happening in the world of theatre— to reconsider the place of American theatre within larger cultural contexts; to call greater attention to both national and international theatrical voices and visions to regular Americans; and to integrate both approaches into a coherent critical vision that moves in both as well as many different directions at once.”
Gener joins 24 recipients of the biennial 2010 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas from around the world. The recipients consist of seven Filipino organizations, one foreign group, three foreigners and 13 Filipinos. The awardees come from United States, Hong Kong, South Korea, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Australia, Germany and Canada. From 2003 to 2008, there were 314 individuals and organizations from 42 countries and territories have received the Presidential Awards.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas also invited Gener to speak on the topic of "Solutions of Culture and Education: Keeping Second Generation Filipinos Overseas Rooted in Philippine Culture” at the conference entitled "Vision 2020: Responding to the Challenges of Migration and Development.”
Information about the 2010 recipients for the 2010 Presidential Awards can be found in the commission’s website: http://www.cfo.gov.ph.
Randy Gener, is a writer, editor, critic, playwright, and visual artist based in New York City. In his capacity as the senior editor of American Theatre magazine, Gener is responsible for writing news, features and criticism, as well as preparing, editing and curating special issues on all aspects of professional U.S. amd world theatre. A Village Voice theater critic in the 1990s, he has contributed essays, articles and reviews in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Star Ledger, Applause Magazine, Time Out New York. He is the author of scholarly essays in the encyclopedia, which include Cambridge Guide to the American Theater; the Anthologies Theater and Humanism in a World of Violence, roMANIA After 2000, and The American Theatre Reader. He has worked as an editor of the Arts-Institute/Theatre Institute of the Czech Republic’s newspaper Prague Quadrennial Today and as a freelance dramaturg for the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, and Denver Center Theatre Company. He has been the recipient of a 1995-96 Jerome Foundation American Theatre/Affiliated Writers Program fellowship; a 2003 New York Times critic fellowship at Eugene O’Neill Theater Center; grants from the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association, Ford Foundation, the Trust for Mutual Understanding; and a Filipinas Magazine 2007 Arts and Culture Prize. Gener is the 2009 recipient of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, the highest accolade for dramatic criticism in the U.S.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre, exists to strengthen, nurture and promote the professional not-for-profit American theatre. Founded in 1961, TCG’s constituency has grown from a handful of groundbreaking theatres to nearly 700 member theatres and affiliate organizations and more than 12,000 individuals nationwide. TCG offers its members networking and knowledge-building opportunities through conferences, events, research and communications; grants approximately $2 million per year to theatre companies and individual artists; advocates on the federal level and serves as the US Center of the International Theatre Institute, connecting its constituents to the global theatre community. TCG is the nation’s largest independent publisher of dramatic literature, with 11 Pulitzer Prizes for Best Play on the TCG booklist. It also publishes the award-winning AMERICAN THEATRE magazine and ARTSEARCH®, the essential source for a career in the arts. In all of its endeavors, TCG seeks to increase the organizational efficiency of its member theatres, cultivate and celebrate the artistic talent and achievements of the field and promote a larger public understanding of, and appreciation for, the theatre.
# # #
