LPTW Announces Finalists and Nominees For 2023 Gilder/Coigney Theatre Award

Continuing its 40th Anniversary Celebration, The League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW) is pleased to announce that Petrona de la Cruz of Chiapas, Mexico has been chosen to receive the 2023 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award (GCITA). The GCITA Program was established in 2011 in honor of Rosamond Gilder and Martha Coigney, two legendary theatre women who chartered a decades-long and enduring course of productive 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).

GCITA Co-directors Linda Chapman and Joan D. Firestone announce that two-time GCITA Finalist Maya Zbib (Lebanon) will also receive Special Recognition this year.

Seventeen artists representing seventeen countries 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), and Maria Tri Sulistyani (Indonesia).

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

The only Award of its kind, the GCITA honors the exceptional work of theatre women around the world who are making a difference in their communities and in the lives of women. It includes a cash prize for the awardee New York City for an Award Ceremony and a series of special events that celebrate the winner's work and acknowledge all of the nominees.

Without theatre we could not understand why we must continue dreaming despite the pain, sorrow, corruption and other beasts that are eating away at our civilization; we must bet on art to break these stigmas. - Petrona de la Cruz

The 2023 Award will be presented on October 10, 2023 at a location to be announced.

LPTW is a membership organization that has championed women in theatre and advocated for increased equity and access for practitioners throughout the industry. Our programs and initiatives create community, cultivate leadership, celebrate the historic contributions and contemporary achievements of women in theatre, and increase opportunities and recognition for women working in theatre. To learn more or become a member, visit www.theatrewomen.org.