Alvarez, Reuter receive Gawad Kultura awards

Monday’s ceremonies at the Rajah Sulayman Theater in Intramuros saw Cecile Guidote Alvarez and Fr. James B. Reuter, SJ, each receiving the Gawad Kultura award from the International Organization of Folk Art Philippines Foundation (IOFA).

Fr. Reuter received his "For a lifetime dedication to the moral and spiritual development of the Filipino / For courageously upholding truth, justice and integrity / For steadfast commitment to promote human values through mass media and the performing arts / For creative work in Philippine theater and television."

Cecile G. Alvarez received her award for being the "spirit and driving force behind the establishment of a truly national theater that produced original plays on Philippine culture and experience by Filipino playwrights and interpreted by Philippine artists / For encouraging the use of the Filipino language in original plays / For believing and living the vision of theater as a force for national identity and development / For pioneering work in Philippine theater and television."

The awards were handed to the recipients by Rosario Acuña Limcaoco, IOFA president, assisted by Grace de Leon Imao, chair awards committee. Felipe Padilla de Leon, Jr. explained IOFA’s objectives.

Curiously, when Fr. Reuter gave his response, he devoted a great deal of it to Cecile; when Cecile’s turn came, she talked at length of Fr. Reuter. Perhaps this was because their lives, by coincidence if not by design, have run along parallel lines.

Both have been involved in theater and the other performing arts, in the fierce fight against the dictatorship, in deeply humanitarian projects, in the betterment of life and living of those around them.

During the martial law regime, Fr. Reuter, who is more Filipino than most Filipinos, kept the spirit of freedom alive with his letters and articles in The Communicator; Cecile and Heherson "Sonny" Alvarez rallied the Filipinos in New York against the dictator.

Cecile’s father was a guerilla captain who died before she was born, and so she lived to carry on his fight.

In theater, there were the countless plays Fr. Reuter directed for the Ateneo and St. Paul’s Colleges, and the programs he conducted for the Ateneo College Glee Club, as Sr. Mary Sarah Manapol and Mayor Lito Atienza recalled.

Isagani R. Cruz and Marilou Jacob, PETA playwrights, and director Frank G. Rivera spoke on Cecile, with Isagani introducing her. In the printed program, Isagani wrote: "Cecile Guidote Alvarez has done wonders for Philippine Theater. First, with her academic vision in 1964 of a national theater (later published as Theater for the Nation: A Prospectus for the National Theater of the Philippines), then within her establishment of PETA in 1967, then with her breaking down of the barriers between stage, radio, television and cinema, then with her acting and directing in New York City as an exile during martial law, then with her work with the physically challenged since she returned to the Philippine in 1986, and especially with her mentoring so many major theater artists working today.

"Philippine theater today, in fact, would not exist were it not for this singular individual who thought and proved that theater would change the Philippine world. No one, absolutely no one, is more deserving of this award than she is."

In her own response, Cecile remembered all, or nearly all of those who were originally involved in the PETA she founded and the players she directed at the Rajah Sulayman Theater she built: C.B. Garrucho, Joy Soler, Frank G. Rivera, the late Pio de Castro, Soxy Topacio, Lily Gamboa, Tommy Abuel, Nick Lizaso, Bien Lumbera, Ben Medina, and scores more.

(I consistently, reviewed PETA productions before, during and after the martial law era, but owing to the proliferation of performing arts presentations today, I now generally focus on music.)

When Grace Imao, chair, awards committee, requested me to write on Cecile for the printed program, I limited myself to the following: "Cecile Guidote Alvarez is a towering theater figure. A magnificent actress, she infuses passion and poignancy into every portrayal.

"Founder-director of PETA, she was instrumental in the building of the Rajah Sulayman Theater. As such, she served as inspiration and impetus for the writing of countless dramas encapsulating the Filipino soul.

"As an exile in N.Y., fighting the dictatorship, Cecile organized PETAL to create a Filipino theater tradition, quickly winning Off-Broadway’s ‘outstanding political theater’ award. Her Balintataw radio series and Dreams Ensemble of handicapped youngsters, which has been widely acclaimed abroad, add still other facets to her incredible theater career."

One of the things Fr. Reuter said about Cecile as an actress was that in the play on Helen Keller he had directed, wherein Cecile portrayed Helen’s mother, Cecile would shed tears at every rehearsal, so deeply did she feel her role.

On Cecile, Frank, who co-emceed the ceremonies with Noel F. Mallonga, wrote: "The true advocate of Philippine National Theater and the integration of the marginal Filipinos into mainstream society, Cecile G. Alvarez is the most underrated artist in our midst. But more than her artistry that trail blazed what direction the National Theater Movement must take, it is her extraordinary gift as a human being that sets her above the rest."

It must have been Cecile’s sense of humanity that led her to form the Dreams Ensemble. The sight of a very young blind girl singing and of a paralytic doing acrobatics drove everyone to the verge of tears. Furthermore, besides inspiring normal human beings to exploit their capacities, the performance itself combined several diverse factors, e.g., the Muslim and the Christian into a homogeneous whole. One could now understand why Cecile’s Dreams Ensemble drew raves from the UNESCO and the International Theater Institute.