Tanghalang Pilipino hit bags 11 trophies as Marynor Madamesila scores long-awaited first Best Lead win.
“Kisapmata,” Tanghalang Pilipino’s stage adaptation of Mike de Leon’s acclaimed 1981 film, emerged as the biggest winner at the 16th Gawad Buhay! Awards after making history with an unprecedented sweep of the country’s top theater honors.
The production bagged 11 trophies during the awards ceremony held Tuesday, July 28, at the Aliw Theater in Pasay City, becoming the first play or musical in Gawad Buhay! history to simultaneously win Outstanding Production, Stage Direction, Writing, Ensemble Performance, and all four individual acting awards.
Directed and adapted by Guelan Varela-Luarca, “Kisapmata” won Outstanding Play – Original or Translation/Adaptation, Outstanding Stage Direction for a Play, Outstanding Translation or Adaptation, Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Play, and technical awards for set, lighting, and sound design.
Its cast also dominated the acting categories. Jonathan Tadioan won Male Lead Performance in a Play for his portrayal of the tyrannical ex-policeman Dadong, earning his first Gawad Buhay! Award after 14 acting nominations—the most by any performer in the awards’ history.
Lhorvie Nuevo-Tadioan was named Female Lead Performance in a Play, while Toni Go-Yadao and Marco Viaña won the featured acting honors for a play.
One of the night’s other major milestones belonged to Marynor Madamesila, who finally captured the Female Lead Performance in a Musical trophy for “Side Show,” marking her first win in the category.
Trailing “Kisapmata” was Full House Theater Company’s “Shrek the Musical,” which collected seven awards, including Outstanding Production for Children, Outstanding Stage Direction for a Musical for Dexter Santos, Male Lead Performance in a Musical for Jamie Wilson, Male Featured Performance in a Musical for Topper Fabregas, Outstanding Choreography for Stephen Viñas, Outstanding Projection and Video Design, and a Special Citation for Achievement in Puppetry.
Tanghalang Pilipino also scored major victories with “Gregoria Lakambini: A Pinay Pop Musical,” which won Outstanding Musical – Original or Translation/Adaptation, Outstanding Book of a Musical for Nicanor Tiongson and Eljay Castro Deldoc, Outstanding Original Score for Nica del Rosario, Matthew Chang, Nicanor Tiongson, and Eljay Castro Deldoc, and Female Featured Performance in a Musical for Heart Puyong.
Other productions recognized during the ceremony included “Come From Away” by Stages, which won Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical and Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Musical; “Via Dolorosa” by The Necessary Theatre, which won Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Play; “Nobody Is Home,” whose creators Liza Magtoto, J-mee Katanyag, Nina Gühlstorff, and the cast won Outstanding Original Script; and “We Aren’t Kids Anymore,” which earned Outstanding Musical Direction for Farley Asuncion and Myke Salomon.
Other individual winners included Carlos Siongco for Outstanding Costume Design (“Side Show”), D Cortezano for Outstanding Lighting Design (“Kisapmata”), Arvy Dimaculangan for Outstanding Sound Design (“Kisapmata”), Joey Mendoza for Outstanding Set Design (“Kisapmata”), and GA Fallarme, Justin Santiago, and JM Jimenez for Outstanding Projection and Video Design (“Shrek the Musical’).
The posthumous Natatanging Gawad Buhay!, the organization’s lifetime achievement honor, was conferred on acclaimed visual artist and arts educator Dr. Brenda Fajardo.
According to organizers, this year’s awards produced 12 first-time Gawad Buhay! recipients, including five artists who won on their very first nominations.
Hosted by actor Reb Atadero, the 16th Gawad Buhay! Awards recognized outstanding productions staged by Philstage-member companies, with winners selected by an independent 13-member jury composed of theater practitioners, academics, reviewers, and journalists.
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