1. Daisy Avellana 2. Hon. Atang de la Rama 3. Rolando S. Tinio 4. Rolando S. Tinio 5. Salvador F. Bernal 6. Lamberto V. Avellana 7. Kandelerong Pilak 8. Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero 9. Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero 10. Severino Montano 11. Severino Montano 12. Hon. Atang de la Rama

1. NATIONAL ARTISTS
FOR
THEATER

2. MANY FORMS AND INNOVATIONS IN PHILIPPINE
DRAMA AND THEATER WERE BROUGHT BY
COLONIZATION.
 According to theater and culture scholar Doreen
Fernandez, the Philippine dramatic tradition has its roots
in the rituals and ceremonies of precolonial Filipinos. The
way they performed offerings to their gods and held
communal celebrations were already dramatic
performances.

3.  Colonization brought many forms of drama and theatre:
from the religious-themed cenaculo and moro-moro, to
the zarzuela, a traditional Spanish one-act comic opera
and the American entertainment, and the vaudeville, a
stage performance that consists of various play acts.
Throughout the years, from the English plays of
scholastic theater groups to the street theater during the
Martial Law period, Filipino dramatic and theatrical
practitioners continue to promote and preserve theater
arts in the country.

4. DAISY AVELLANA
1917-2013
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 1999
 Daisy Avellana is considered to be the First Lady of Philippine
Theater. Born in Roxas City, Capiz in 1917, Avellana was not
only a notable actress but was a passionate director and
writer. Her contributions to Philippine theater, as cited, had
brought “a new level of excellence by staging and performing
in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino and foreign
plays”. Her advocacy and efforts had also brought about
profound reformation in dramatic and theatrical practice in the
country “by encouraging the establishment of performing
groups and the professionalization of Filipino theater”. Her
performances were exquisite and alluring, taking in roles in
productions such as Othello, Macbeth in Black, Casa de
Bernarda Alba, and Tatarin.

6. HONORATA “ATANG” DE LA RAMA
1905-1991
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 1987
 When the Philippines was still under American rule,
Atang de la Rama battled for the supremacy of the
kundiman. She popularized the song “Mutya ng Pasig”.
She was declared as a National Artist for Theater and
Music by the former President Corazon C. Aquino in
1987. Atang has been crowned as the Queen of the
Kundiman, as she began her career in music and
performance at the early age of seven. For Atang, the
zarzuela and kundiman “express best the Filipino soul”.
She was also credited to have penned the zarzuelas
Anak ni Eba, Aking Ina, and Puri at Buhay.

7. ROLANDO S. TINIO
1937-1997
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 1997
 Rolando Santos Tinio was a director, actor, educator, critic,
translator, poet, and dramatist. This national artist was also
known for translating western classics into Tagalog,
including the works of Shakespeare (The Merchant of
Venice), Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman), Samuel
Beckett (Waiting for Godot) and August Strinberg (Miss
Julie). Tinio’s work as a director is well remembered as
someone “whose original insights into the scripts he
handled brought forth productions notable for their visual
impact and intellectual cogency”. Perhaps the highlight of
Tinio’s colorful career was when he became the artistic
director of the CCP’s resident theater company, Tanghalang
Pilipino.

8.  His legacy as Teatro Pilipino’s artistic director is his laborious
efforts to revitalize Filipino drama through the revival of
traditional works which is described with “excellence and
beauty of his practice that claimed for theater a place among
the arts in the Philippines”.
 Stage directors bring insights to a script creating visual and intellectual
impact on stage.

9. SALVADOR F. BERNAL
1945-2011
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 2003
 National artist Salvador Floro Bernal began his
career in theater in 1969. He was part of the over
300 productions in art, film, and music. Bernal’s
style is known for maximizing the use of raw
materials in theater production. He used native
Filipino materials such as bamboo, abaca fiber, and
the basic gauze cacha. He was not only a theater
designer but also an educator who transmitted his
knowledge and skill by holding classes and training
in universities and the CCP.

11. LAMBERTO V. AVELLANA
1915-1991
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 1976
 Lamberto Vera Avellana’s Barangay Theater Guild
propagated many dramatic and theatrical
performances of foreign and local plays, from the
readings of Shakespeare’s tragedies to Nick
Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino.
 His contributions to film started early on, and he
was dubbed as “The Boy Wonder of Philippine
Movies” in 1939. From being a stage actor,
Avellana took on the challenge as film director and
has directed landmark films such as Kandelerong
Pilak (the first Filipino film to be shown at the
prestigious Cannes International Film Festival),
Sakay, Anak Dalita, and Badjao.

13. WILFRIDO MA. GUERRERO
1911-1995
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 1997
 Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero was a talented writer, director,
educator, and artist who wrote a number of outstanding
plays, 41 of which were circulated. At the young age of
14, Guerrero wrote his first play entitled No Todo Es Risa
in Spanish. Perhaps this artist’s greatest contribution to
arts is his introduction of the concept of a theater campus
tour. This revolutionary outreach program staged over
2,500 performances in almost two decades of runs. His
works include Half an Hour in a Convent, Wanted: A
Chaperon, Forever, Condemned, In Unity, Three Rats,
Our Strange Ways, and The Forsaken House.

15. SEVERINO MONTANO
1915-1980
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 2001
 Severino Montano is named as one of the “Titans of
Philippine Theater”. This national artist was an
exceptional poet, director, actor, and theater organizer.
Montano is both a playwright and an educator, and thus
pursued the establishment of “legitimate theater” in the
country. With about 1,000 pesos, he used his own money
to start the Arena Theater in the Philippine Normal
College (now Philippine Normal University). He trained
and directed a new generation of artists such as Joonee
Gamboa and Behn Cervantes. His plays include Sabina,
But Not My Sons Any Longer, Gabriela Silang, and The
Merry Wives of Manila.

17. AMELIA LAPEŇA BONIFACIO
1930-2020
YEAR OF CONFERMENT: 2018
Amelia L. Bonifacio is a Filipino playwright, puppeteer, and
educator known as the “Grande Dame of Southeast Asian
Children’s Theater” and named as the “Mother of Philippine
Puppetry”.
Amelia is known as Tita Amel to her students. She studied
Japanese traditional theater, South East Asian traditional
theatre and international children’s theatre. Research
convinced her of the necessity of a theatre for young
audiences using Asian and Filipino.
Amelia obtained her Master of Arts degree in Speech and
Drama at the University of Wisconsin- Madison in 1958.
(Grand Dame – a woman who is socially prominent, respected,
accomplished and influencial)

18. She wrote her first play, “Sepang Loca” in 1957
followed up by “Rooms” the following year. Both works
won awards in the Wisconsin Playwriting Competition
and were staged at the UW Play Circle Theater. The
two plays were later published in literary journals in the
United States.
Amelia helped established the Speech and Drama
Department of UP-Diliman in 1959. She contributed
significant efforts to the advancement and refinement of
the study and practice of theater arts in the Philippines.
Among her published plays are Anim na Dulang
Pilipino Para Sa Mga Bata, Abajeda: Ang Ating
Sinderela (puppet play on Visayan folktale),

19. Ang Paghuhukom (Pampanga folktale of animal kingdom).
Amelia founded in 1977 the children’s theater troupe
“Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas”, the official theater company
and puppetry troupe of the University of the Philippines.
Bonifacio’s theater company was invited to the
International Workshop On Living Children’s Thater in Asia
(1978), where they perform in 18 sites in Japan.
Amelia at 2018 has already written 44 plays , 136 short
stories mostly for children, 26 books and a 2014 novel
“Binondo, Once Upon a War”(about World War II). She
also wrote countless essays, speeches, poems and
songs.

21. EVALUATION
Directions: Identify what is referred to in each of the following
descriptions below.
 1. She is considered to be the First Lady of Philippine Theater.
 2. She has been crowned as the Queen of the Kundiman.
 3. The highlight of his colorful career was when he became the
artistic director of the CCP’s resident theater company,
Tanghalang Pilipino.
 4. This national artist was also known for translating western
classics into Tagalog, including the works of Shakespeare (The
Merchant of Venice), Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman),
Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot) and August Strinberg (Miss
Julie).
 5. His style is known for maximizing the use of raw materials in
theater production. He used native Filipino materials such as
bamboo, abaca fiber, and the basic gauze cacha.
 6. He was dubbed as “The Boy Wonder of Philippine Movies” in
1939.

22.  7. The first Filipino film to be shown at the prestigious
Cannes International Film Festival.
 8. At the young age of 14, he wrote his first play entitled No
Todo Es Risa in Spanish.
 9. His greatest contribution to arts is his introduction of the
concept of a theater campus tour. This revolutionary
outreach program staged over 2,500 performances in almost
two decades of runs.
 10. He was named as one of the “Titans of Philippine
Theater”. This national artist was an exceptional poet,
director, actor, and theater organizer.
 11. With about 1,000 pesos, he used his own money to start
the Arena Theater in the Philippine Normal College (now
Philippine Normal University).
 12. For her, the zarzuela and kundiman “express best the
Filipino soul”. She was also credited to have penned the
zarzuelas Anak ni Eba, Aking Ina, and Puri at Buhay.