2023 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award Ceremony to Be Held in October

LPTW will welcome one and all to a celebration of Petrona de la Cruz (Mexico), winner of the 2023 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award (GCITA) and her sister nominees. The Ceremony is sponsored by the CUNY Institute for Mexican Studies and takes place at the Lovinger Theater at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd West, Bronx, NY. Doors open at 6:30pm; the program starts at 7:00pm.  Register to attend http://theatre-women.ticketleap.com/2023-gildercoigney/

The evening features a mix of tributes, music and video honoring Petrona, with special recognition for two-time Finalist Maya Zbib of Lebanon. A video will introduce all of the 18 nominees to attendees.

We are delighted that Anne Bogart, Founder of the notable Siti Company and a pioneer in international theatre exchange programs, will be delivering the Keynote address in honor of Martha Coigney, a long time Director of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and a world renowned cultural ambassador, who was instrumental in the creation of the GCITA Program. Other speakers will include local cultural and elected officials.

The GCITA Program was established in 2011 in honor of  Martha Coigney and her predecessor at ITI, Rosamund Gilder, who both chartered an enduring course of productive global diplomatic relations through the Arts. The triennial award has previously been given to Odile Gakire Katese (Rwanda), Patricia Ariza (Colombia), Adelheid Roosen (The Netherlands) and Hanane Hajj Ali (Lebanon).

Petrona de la Cruz was the first indigenous person to win Mexico's coveted Rosario Castellanos Prize for Literature in 1992 and then received the National Council for Culture and the Arts grant, the highest in Mexico, in 2002. In 1999, FOMMA (Fortaleza de la Mujer Maya), which she formed in 1994, received a national award given by IMIFAP (Mexican Institute of Research on the Family and Population) and sponsored by the Summit Foundation for its work in radio, theater, and education in Mexico. Cruz was awarded the prestigious Rosario Castellanos Medal for her lifetime achievements in 2019. In addition to writing and performing, Cruz currently serves as a Congresswoman for the State of Chiapas local Congress for the 2021-2024 term.

Eighteen  artists were nominated for the 2023 Award, with Petrona de la Cruz chosen from a group of four finalists which also included: Leila Toubel (Tunisia), Lydia Koniordou (Greece), Maria Tri Sulistyani (Indonesia) and Maya Zbib.

The other nominees are: Tereza Andersson (Sweden), Sonya Armaghanyan (Armenia), Hope Azeda (Rwanda), Cayetana Guillen Cuervo (Spain), Bhanbhassa Dhubthien (Thailand), Tania El Khoury (Lebanon), Yaël Farber (South Africa), Kiyo Gutierrez (Mexico), Zana Hoxha (Kosovo), Hala Omran (France/Syria), Romina Paula (Argentina), Regina Miranda (Brazil), and Morm Sokly (Cambodia).

Anne Bogart is a theater and opera director and former Co-Artistic Director of the Siti Company, which she founded with Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki in 1992. She is a Professor at Columbia University where she runs the Graduate Directing Program. Later works with SITI include Radio Christmas Carol, Falling & Loving, The Bacchae, Chess Match No. 5; Lost in the Stars, The Theater is a Blank Page, Persians, Steel Hammer; A Rite, Café Variations, Trojan Women (After Euripides), and American Document. Recent operas include Bartok's Bluebeard's Castle, Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, Ruders' The Handmaid's Tale, Handel's Alcina, Dvorak's Dimitrij, Verdi's Macbeth, Bellini's Norma and Bizet's Carmen. She is the author of six books: "A Director Prepares", "The Viewpoints Book", "And Then, You Act", "Conversations with Anne", "What's the Story?" and "The Art of Resonance".

LPTW has been leading the gender parity conversation in professional theatre for 40 years. To promote visibility and increase opportunities for women in our industry, we offer public programming, conduct advocacy projects, generate research reports and other publications, celebrate industry luminaries, highlight the legacy of historic visionaries, and serve as a professional development organization for our members.

Founded in 2012, the mission of the Mexican Studies Institute at CUNY (CUNY MSI) is to boost enrollment of Mexican and Mexican-American students in CUNY; promote equity through academic achievement; foster research with a focus on Mexico and Mexicans in the United States, especially in NY; and collaborate with community-based organizations and public institutions to support and empower the Mexican community.