LPTW to Honor Adelheid Roosen with Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award

The International Committee of the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), in a co-presentation with the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, will honor Adelheid Roosen (The Netherlands) with the Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award (GCITA) on Monday, October 23, 2017, at the Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, with an all-day immersion (10:00am to 8:30pm) into Roosen's life and legacy.

"Only a few times in a generation does a completely original theatrical voice burst onto the scene and revolutionize the form and structure of theatre-making worldwide; Roosen is such an iconoclast," says award committee co-chair Melody Brooks, who names art world ground-breakers JoAnne Akalaitis, Ruth Berghaus, Ariane Mnouchkine, and Claus Peymann, as other examples.

Adelheid Roosen's work combines theatrical practice with a deep connection to community. Her 'adoption technique', in which players and writers are 'adopted' by members of refugee and immigrant communities for a two-week period, enable in-depth communication, and an intimate connection to collective life stories. Roosen prioritizes discovering and identifying 'the other' at all levels-culturally, geographically, socially, intellectually. She then uses this technique to develop theatrical performance pieces that promote empathy and understanding.

"One of the leading women in international theatre, Adelheid Roosen appeals to new audiences and communities and works with emerging and diverse voices in the world of performing arts. Her mission to integrate, to connect and become the other, provides a relevant and unique type of theater that leads by example," says Dolph Hogewoning, Consul General of the Netherlands in New York.

Roosen's play, The Veiled Monologues (2001), which investigated the daily life of Islamic women living in the Netherlands, has been staged internationally, and was performed before the Dutch parliament, in a nationally televised event, during the height of one of the debates on constitutional rights regarding religious minorities in the Netherlands. Her work was described as "a magnificent demonstration of the power of theater to change the terms of public debate" by Thomas Sellar, editor of Theater Magazine (Yale). In 2009, Roosen received the Amsterdam Prize for her "trans-boundary contribution to the arts."

In 2016, Roosen was asked to join the prestigious Society of Arts/The Netherlands. For the past 30 years, Roosen has taught at the Amsterdam School for Drama & Contemporary Music Theatre.

Roosen was chosen from a group of six finalists: Lina Attel (Jordan), Jalila Baccar (Tunisia), Mihaela Dr?gan (Romania), Natalia Kaliada (Belarus), and Jesusa Rodriguez (Mexico). The other 14 nominees are: Abir Aly (Egypt), Sarah Berger (England), Patricia Benecke (Germany), Sabina Berman (Mexico), Kate Cherry (Australia), Drenia Frederick (St. Lucia), Elena Gremina (Russia), Brigitte Helbling (Switzerland), Carmina Narro (Mexico), Julia Pascal (England), Marwa Radwan Mohamed (Egypt), Nan Van Houte (The Netherlands), Ilire Vinca (Kosovo), and Linda Wise (France).

Events on Monday, October 23, 2017 at The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th St.) are free and open to the public. Visit www.theSegalCenter.org for more information.

10:00am-4:00pm Discussions and Roundtable

An intimate conversation with Roosen about her "adoption technique" and specific projects she has created with it; a curated forum with local theatre artists on using this technique, and video excerpts of Roosen's work.

The Segal Theatre, The Graduate Center CUNY.

6:30pm-8:30pm Award Celebration and Ceremony

A powerful and inspiring mix of talk, music and video clips that honor Adelheid Roosen and the work of the all of the nominees.

Elebash Recital Hall, The Graduate Center CUNY.

9:00pm After Party

Food provided by celebrity chef Yono Purnomo, and sponsored by PUNTO: - An Event & Performance Space and Nettles Artists Collective, 325 W. 38th Street Storefront #3 New York, NY.

Tickets can be purchased by contacting InternationalAward@theatrewomen.org.

AWARD WEEK EVENTS OCT 15-23, 2017

Additional events are scheduled throughout the week leading up to the award ceremony, in partnership with Fi:af (French Institute Alliance Française), Pace University's Arts and Entertainment Management Industry Network, Punto Space-An Event & Performance Space and Nettles Artists Collective.

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 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. Odile Gakire Katese (Rwanda) was the inaugural recipient of the G/C Award in 2011. Patricia Ariza (Colombia) received the award in 2014. The GCITA is the only award by a U.S. organization celebrating the work of a non-U.S. woman theatre artist working internationally.

The League of Professional Theatre Women is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) organization which exists to champion women in theatre. For over 35 years, LPTW has been leading the gender parity conversation in professional theatre, offering programming, events, and advocacy initiatives which provide visibility and opportunities for women. Since its founding, the League's membership has grown to 500+ members of theatre artists and practitioners of all backgrounds, across multiple disciplines, working in the commercial and non-profit sectors. To promote visibility and increase opportunities for women in the field, LPTW spearheads events, public programming, advocacy projects, and media and publications that celebrate industry luminaries, preserve the legacy of historic visionaries, raise awareness of the importance of nurturing women's voices, and shine a spotlight on the importance of striving for gender parity and of fostering a diversity of expression, both in the theatre world and world at large. In 2015, the LPTW issued its Women Count Report, a study of the hiring of women Off-Broadway over the course of five seasons. The findings in this widely-acclaimed study led to the LPTW Seal of Approval initiative, which awards theatres in the off-Broadway community that have achieved 50/50 gender parity or better in their seasons. None of the LPTW's work is possible without generous philanthropic support to find out more, visit www.theatrewomen.org and click on the "Support Us" tab.