The League of Professional Theatre Women Presents Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award Program Online

The International Committee of The League of Professional Theatre Women presented its fourth iteration of the Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award Program through a week-long virtual presentation in February honoring Hanane Hajj Ali of Lebanon. Videos of the award program and panels are currently available on the LPTW's YouTube Channel.

"Faced with the challenges of presenting the G/C International Theatre Award Program in 2020 with the global pandemic exacerbating the existing humanitarian crises, we made an early decision to highlight the role of women theatre artists fighting those crises with their exceptional artistic talents as weapons of change" said LPTW G/C International Theatre Awards Committee Chair, Joan D. Firestone. "The imposed handicap of restricted travel and congregating was turned into an advantage, as we embraced the virtual world and expertly navigated positioning onto the virtual stage. At no other time in our 35-year history as a non-profit arts organization were we as dependent on the expertise and cooperation of our membership, and everyone delivered."

Program Links:

Gilder/Coigney International Theatre Award Ceremony hosted by stage, film and TV actor Tamara Tunie, presented to the extraordinary Lebanese theatre artist, Hanane Hajj Ali.

(Co-hosted by the Martin E. Segal Theatre Center/CUNY Graduate Center)

How to Keep Creating While Everything Around You is Falling Apart, an interview with G/C International Theatre Award winner Hanane Hajj Ali of Lebanon, including video of her work.

(Interviewer: Torange Yeghiazarian, Founding Artistic Director of Golden Thread Productions)

Women On Stage and In the Streets, a panel discussion with three leading Beiruti theatre artists, Hanane Hajj Ali, Maya Zbib, and Lina Abiad. Co-hosted by the Lebanese American University New York Academic Center.

(Moderator: Catherine Coray, New York University Professor and Lebanese American Curator)

Raising Social Awareness and Activating Change Through Theatre, a panel discussion on using your theatre practice to make a difference with Maya Zbib of Lebanon, Mallika Sarabhai of India, Mihaela Drăgan of Romania, and Dominique Morisseau and Anne Hamburger of the United States.

(Moderator: Catherine Filloux, Co-founder, Theatre Without Borders)

Theatre Education: Reaching Beyond the Stage, a panel discussion on how theatre can be used as a powerful educational tool with Iman Aoun of Palestine, Grace Gachocha of Tanzania, Ilire Vinca of Kosova, and Stephanie Berry of the United States (Moderator: Courtney Coco Killingsworth, Vice President for Education and Community Engagement, BAM)

The Dynamic Alliance of Theatre and Technology, a panel discussion exploring the fascinating ways in which four theatre artists have achieved poignant and thought-provoking theatre using technology with Lupe Gehrenbeck of Venezuela, Faynia Williams of England, Burbuqe Berisha of Kosova, and Avra Sidiropoulou of Greece.

(Moderator: Abigail Zealy Bess, Award Winning Filmmaker and theatre Director)