LPTW To Honor Hanane Hajj Ali Of Lebanon With 2020 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award

The International Committee of The League of Professional Theatre Women (Shellen Lubin and Catherine Porter, Co-Presidents), an organization which has been championing women in the professional theatre for over three decades, is pleased to announce that Hanane Hajj Ali of Lebanon has been chosen to receive the 2020 Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award.

The LPTW Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award was established in 2011 in honor of Rosamond Gilder and Martha Coigney, two legendary theatre women whose work on the international stage proved that theatre knows no international boundaries. Presented every three years, this Award acknowledges the exceptional work of theatre women around the world and aims to make a difference in the life and career of an international woman theatre artist as she has made in the lives of her audiences and her culture. Odile Gakire Katese from Rwanda was the inaugural recipient of the G/C Award in 2011. Patricia Ariza from Colombia received the award in 2014 and Adelheid Roosen from the Netherlands was honored in 2017.

The G/C Award includes a $1000 cash prize and all travel expenses to New York City for the recipient to be honored. A series of special events surround the award ceremony to showcase the winner's work, to provide artistic and professional networking opportunities, and to celebrate all of the nominees. The 2020 Award will be presented on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center/CUNY. Other Award Week events are in the planning process and will highlight all of the Nominees with performances, workshops, readings and panel discussions. The 2020 Gilda/Coigney International Theatre Awards are Co-Chaired by Joan D. Firestone and Frances McGarry.

Fluent in English, French and Arabic, Hanane Hajj Ali is a woman who defies conventions, stereotypes and expectations and is a singularly-capable ambassador to represent the breadth and depth of both the evolving identities and realities for Arab women and Arab world theatre. Throughout her 40-year career, she has written, performed and directed acclaimed Arabic-language productions and also facilitated and supported hundreds of colleagues, students and communities in Lebanon and throughout the entire Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. Ali's artistic career started as a founding member of Hakawati/Storytellers Theater in 1978, the Arab world's pioneering experiment in socially engaged community led theater, where she was an actor and writer until 1992. In 1999, she co-founded Shams Association which bridges the sectarian divides of Lebanese society and brings together young artists from different backgrounds. "Jogging", her most recent solo piece, is a "partly autobiographical and taboo-breaking performance that tackles the Bermuda triangle of Religion, Sex, and Politics" which has toured throughout the MENA region and Europe.

As a teacher and trainer, Hanane has worked with hundreds of young people from Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, and leads sessions on theatre practice, leadership, cultural management and cultural policy. Committed to the welfare of the MENA region, Ali remains an activist, cooperating with numerous NGO's and co-founding three of the Arab region's most important cultural organizations: Al Mawred's Culture Resource, Ettijahat and Action for Hope.

27 women theatre artists from 18 countries were nominated on the basis of work demonstrating artistic excellence and support of women's work and issues and that inspires and educates across cultures. Awardee Hanane Hajj Ali was chosen from a group of four finalists that also included: Iman Aoun (Palestine), Mallika Sarabhai (India), and Maya Zbib (Lebanon). Mihaela Dr?gan (Romania) will receive a special certificate of achievement.

The other nominees were: Jaspreet Saund (Canada), Beate Seidel (Germany), Avra Sidiropoulou (Greece), Andrea Tompa (Hungary), Kalpana Gagdekar (India), Deirdre Kinahan (Ireland), Edna Mazya (Israel), Burbuqe Berisha (Kosovo), Illire Vinca (Kosovo), Zana Hoxha Krasniqi (Kosovo), Sherry Lara Alingod (Philippines), Jung-Soon Shim (Republic of Korea), Lupe Gehrenbeck (Venezuela), Jill Greenhalgh (Wales), Hope Azeda (Rwanda), Dijana Milosevic (Serbia), Grace Gachocha (Tanzania), Jalila Baccar (Tunisia), Sarah Berger (England), Faynia Williams (England), Katy Lipson (England), and Lucy Kerbel (England).

The League of Professional Theatre Women (a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization) has been championing women and leading the gender parity conversation in the professional theatre for over three decades. Since its founding, the LPTW's membership has grown to 500+ theatre artists and practitioners of all backgrounds, across multiple disciplines, working in the commercial and non-profit sectors. To increase visibility of and opportunities for women in the field, the LPTW spearheads public programming, advocacy initiatives, events, media, and publications that raise awareness of the importance of nurturing women's voices, celebrate industry luminaries, preserve the legacy of historic visionaries, and shine a spotlight on the imperative of striving for gender parity and fostering a diversity of expression, both in the theatre world and the world at large. To find out more about how you can support its endeavors, please visit www.theatrewomen.org.

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