By Nanette Guadalquiver | Philippine News Agency
BACOLOD CITY — A Hiligaynon adaptation of Thorton Wilder’s “Our Town”, and scenes from Caryl Churchill’s “Love and Information” will be staged on Thursday (May 30) and Friday (May 31) nights at The Negros Museum in this city.
The productions, directed by internationally-acclaimed director Anton Juan, is a culmination of the Theater Production Workshop under the HANAS: Scholarship Program in Culture and the Arts initiated by the West Visayas Museum Association (WVMA), Inc. and Colegio San Agustin (CSA)-Bacolod through a grant from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
Juan, dubbed “one of the most enthralling directors of the world” by Peter Holland, president of the International Shakespeare Association,” mentored a 10-day program workshop for scholars who included theater artists, cultural workers, and educators in Negros Occidental.
The Filipino director was referred by Women’s Playwrights International president August Andong to Tanya Lopez, head of the HANAS program and projects.
He collaborated with the participants to translate the play “Our Town” (Sa Amon Banwa) into Hiligaynon while “Love and Information” play will be performed in English.
Juan is a recipient of several national awards for theater such as the Balagtas Awards, Palanca Awards for Playwriting, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Awards for the Arts.
Knighted twice by the French government, he received the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1992 and the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Merit in 2002.
Juan is a tenured full professor and theater director at the University of Notre Dame du Lac in the United States and a Faculty Fellow of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.
After the two nights of performances at The Negros Museum, the two productions will continue on a tour in August.
