LESSON 12

THE NATIONAL ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES FOR THEATER

Introduction
According to theater and culture scholar Doreen Fernandez, the Philippine dramatic tradition has its roots
in the rituals and ceremonies of pre-colonial Filipinos. The way they performed offerings to their gods and
held communal celebrations were already dramatic performances.
During the Spanish colonization, many forms of drama and theater appeared: from the religious-themed
cenaculo, and moro-moro, to the zarzuela, a traditional Spanish one-act comic opera. During the American period,
the vaudeville, a stage performance that consists of various play acts. Throughout the years, from the English plays
of scholastic theater groups, to the street theater during the Martial Law years, Filipino dramatic and theatrical
practitioners continue to promote and preserve theater arts in the country.
The National Artists for Theater

DAISY AVELLANA
(1917 – 2013)
Year of Conferment: 1999
Daisy Avellana has been considered as the “First Lady of Philippine Theater”. A notable actress and a
passionate director and writer, her contributions to Philippine theater had brought “a new level of excellence by
staging and performing in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino and foreign plays”. Her advocacy and efforts
had also brought profound reformation in dramatic and theatrical practice in the country “by encouraging the
establishment of performing groups and the professionalization of Filipino theater”. She took roles in productions
such as Othello, Macbeth in Black, Casa de Bernarda Alba, and Tatarin. She was the wife of Lamberto Avellana,
another National Artist for Theater.

HONORATA DE LA RAMA
(1905 – 1991)
Year of Conferment: 1987
Honorata (Atang) de la Rama battled for the supremacy of the kundiman, the Tagalog love song, during the
time of the American regime. She popularized he song “Mutya ng Pasig”, a kundiman written and composed by
Deogracias Rosario, and Nicanor Abelardo . She has been crowned as the “Queen of the Kundiman”, as she began
her musical and performing career at the age of seven. She starred in zarzuelas, such as Marina, Mascota, and
Sueno de Un Vals. For her, the zarzuela and the kundiman “express best the Filipino soul”. She was also credited
for writing the zarzuelas Anak ni Eba, Aking Ina, at Puri at Buhay. She was the wife of Amado Hernandez, a
National Artist for Literature.

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 ROLANDO TINIO
(1937 – 1997)
Year of Conferment: 1997
Director, actor, educator, critic, translator, poet, and dramatist, Rolando Tinio was known for translating
Western classics into Tagalog, such as the works of Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice), Arthur Miller (Death of
a Salesman), Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), and August Strinberg (Miss Julie). His work as a director is well
remembered as someone “whose original insights into the scripts he handled brought forth productions notable for
their visual impact and intellectual cogency”. He was an artistic director of the CCP’s resident theater company, the
Tanghalang Pilipino, in which he worked for Filipino drama through the revival of traditional works.

SEVERINO MONTANO
(1915 – 1980)
Year of Conferment: 2001
Severino Montano is named one of the “Titans of Philippine Theater”. He was an exceptional poet,
director, actor, playwright, educator, and theater organizer. Montano pursued the establishment of “legitimate
theater” in the country. He used his own money to start the Arena Theater in the Philippine Normal College (now
the Philippine Normal University). He trained a new generation of artists, such as Joonee Gamboa and Behn
Cervantes. He wrote plays, including Sabina, But Not My Sons Any Longer, Gabriela Silang, and The Merry Wives
of Manila.

SALVADOR BERNAL
(1945 – 2011)
Year of Conferment: 2003
Beginning his career in 1969, Salvador Bernal was part of over 300 productions in art, film, and music. He
was known for maximizing the use of raw materials in theater production. He used native Filipino materials such as
bamboo, abaca fiber, and the basic gauze cacha. Besides being a theater designer, he was also an educator who
transmitted knowledge and skill by holding classes and trainings in universities and the CCP.

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 LAMBERTO AVELLANA
(1915 – 1991)
Year of Conferment: 1976
Having a legacy that has lived in both theater and film, Lamberto Avellana created the Barangay Theater
Guild which propagated many dramatic and theatrical performances of foreign and local plays, from the readings of
Shakespeare’s tragedies, to Nick Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. Dubbed as the “Boy Wonder of
Philippine Movies” in 1939, Avellana took the challenge from being a stage actor to a film director. He has directed
landmark films such as Kandelerong Pilak, the first Filipino film to be shown at the prestigious Cannes International
Film Festival; Sakay, Anak Dalita, and Badjao. He was the husband of Daisy Avellana, also a National Artist for
Theater.

WILFRIDO MA. GUERRERO

(1911 – 1995)
Year of Conferment: 1997
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero was a talented writer, director, educator, and artist who wrote a number of
outstanding plays, 41 of which were circulated. At the age of 14, he wrote his first play entitled No Tode Es Risa, in
Spanish. Perhaps, his greatest contribution to arts is his introduction of the concept of a theater campus tour. A
revolutionary outreach program that has staged over 2,500 performances in almost two decades of runs. His works
include Half an Hour in a Convent, Wanted: A Chaperon, Forever, Condemned, In Unity, Three Rats, Our Strange
Ways, and The Forsaken House.

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 AMELIA LAPENA-BONIFACIO
(1930 - )
Year of Conferment: 2018
Known as “Tita Amel”, Amelia Lapena-Bonifacio is dubbed as “The Grand Dame of Southeast Asian
Children’s Theater” for her work in writing plays, promoting children’s theater, and puppetry. Her first two plays,
Sepang Loca (1957) and Rooms (1958), won awards and were premiered at the UW Play Circle and subsequently
published in the US. A former Professor of English and Chair of the Creative Writing Program at the University of
the Philippines, she has instituted courses in Creative Writing, later formalizing them as undergraduate and graduate
programs. She also helped in the establishment of the Creative Writing Center which she directed from 1986-1995.
She worked for the recognition of more women writers and held workshops on children’s literature, the last of which
gave birth to two important organizations: KUTING (writers for children’s books) and INK (illustrators of
children’s books). In 1977, she founded and managed TEATRONG MULAT NG PILIPINAS, an official UP
children’s theatre and puppetry troupe which has represented the Philippines in 28 international theatre festivals and
in many puppetry workshops and conferences. She is president of UNIMA-Pilipinas (Union Internationale dela
Marionnette) and the ASSITEJ-Philippines (International Association of Theatre For Children and Young People).
She is also a recipient of over 50 national and international literary prizes and awards, and is cited in a number of
encyclopedia, and in British, American, and Indian bibliographies. (https://www.rappler.com/nation/214953-list-
national-artists-philippines-for-2018 and https://panitikan.ph/2018/07/30/amelia-lapena-bonifacio/)

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