Two Colombian Theatre Artists Receive First-Ever Ellen Stewart International Award

Two Colombian theater artists -- Bernard Rey and Nube Sandoval -- are the recipients of the first-ever Ellen Stewart International Award, it has been announced by La MaMa, the world-renowned experimental theater company founded by the late Ellen Stewart and now in its 54th season on East 4th Street in New York City.

The Ellen Stewart International Award recognizes theater artists globally who continue to explore new ways to engage young people in the arts as generators for personal and social change, just as Ms. Stewart inspired countless artists around the world during her lifetime dedicated to creating a world theatre that celebrates all traditions and cultural identities.

Eleven international theater artists from Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Italy, Lebanon, U.S., Canada, Netherlands, India and Colombia were nominated by the Ellen Stewart International Award Executive Committee for this prestigious prize. The Committee made their final selections based on a variety of criteria, including an online ballot that drew over 30,000 voters worldwide.

The Ellen Stewart International Award will enable Sandoval and Rey to be guests at the International Theatre Institute World Congress in Brazil in May 2016, as well as receive an artistic residency at La MaMa Umbria in Italy to create a new artistic work in June 2016. The award also provides financial and production support to present a new work created by the Colombians at the Spoleto Festival of 2 Worlds in July 2016, and subsequently at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York.

Sandoval and Rey are developing "The Echo of Invisibles," a theater piece with live music that focuses on migration and refugees in Europe and the Middle East.

Sandoval and Rey previously directed the Theatrical Laboratory of psycho-social rehabilitation with refugee victims of torture in Rome, and continue to work in Colombia in social contexts of high vulnerability. Their methodology, Theater as Bridge, is based on the rescue, stimulation and enhancement of artistic skills of participants who are mostly young refugees from Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Nominations for the Ellen Stewart International Award were selected by the Award's Executive Committee, comprised of artists and experts representing the three Sponsoring organizations: La MaMa ETC, The Spoleto Festival of 2Worlds and International Theatre Institute. They are:

Tobias Biancone (General Director ITI World Organization), Emilya Cachapero (Director ITI USA), Frank Carucci (President La MaMa ETC, New York), Moreno Cerquetelli (Journalist, Theater Critic for RAI, Italy), David Diamond (La MaMa Umbria International, Italy), Giorgio Ferrara (Artistic Director Festival of 2World, Spoleto), Mia Yoo (Artistic Director La MaMa ETC, New York), Andrea Paciotto (La MaMa Umbria International, Italy), Fabio Tolledi (President ITI Italy) and Gherardo Vitali Rosati (Journalist, Playwright, Italy).

To read more about the Award and the Finalists, go to www.ellenstewartaward.net.

This first year's nominees were:

1. Anna Newell, Replay Theatre Company (Belfast - Northern Ireland)
2. Berith Danse, Theatre Embassy International (Amsterdam - The Netherlands)
3. Dynamis Theatre Company (Rome - Italy)
4. Faisal Malik and Nouman Mehmood, Thespianz Theatre (Karachi - Pakistan)
5. Mammalian Diving Reflex (Toronto - Canada)
6. Masrah Ensemble (Beirut - Lebanon)
7. Nube Sandoval and Bernardo Rey (Bogotà - Colombia)
8. Ping Chong (New York - NY)
9. Sanjoy Ganguly (Kolkata - India)
10. Stephanie Ansin & Fernando Calzadilla (Miami - USA)
11. Torange Yeghiazarian & Golden Thread Productions (San Francisco - USA)

Founded by Ellen Stewart in 1961, La MaMa is recognized as the seedbed of new work by artists of all nations and cultures. It is the place where emerging artists learn from established artists and where artists from around the globe share work and ideas. To date, La MaMa has presented artists from over 70 nations. Each season, La MaMa offers more than 100 presentations and reach an audience of more than 32,000 people of all ages and all backgrounds.

Sam Shepard, Blue Man Group, Lanford Wilson, Philip Glass, David and Amy Sedaris, Whoopi Goldberg, Meredith Monk, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, and Joel Zwick are just a few of the artists who began their careers at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in the heart of Manhattan's East Village. La MaMa has been honored with more than 30 Obie Awards and dozens of Drama Desk Awards, Bessie Awards and Villager Awards. La MaMa has become a world-renowned cultural institution that is home to three theaters, an art gallery, rehearsal studios, a visiting artist dormitory, office space, and an extensive archive documenting the history of Off-Off Broadway.