Dulaang Filipino (DF), the resident theater company of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), was recognized Best International Show for their rendition of Oedipus.
The honor was conferred by the International University of La Rioja Award (UNIR) in the recent IV Premios Escenamateur “Juan Mayorga” de las Artes Escénicas.
The prize, which promotes and supports the amateur theater in Spain, recognizes the best production from around the world based on online video submissions. Oedipus bested nominees from Algeria, Colombia, France, Israel and Ukraine.
DF’s Oedipus is a one-hour reduction of Sophocles’ Theban trilogy, consisting of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, in Filipino translations by Rolando Tinio and Onofre Pagsanjan. The production, directed by Riki Benedicto, was performed at the UP Theater Council’s Curtail Call Play Festival in 2014 and at the Mont-Laurier International Theatre Festival in Quebec, Canada in 2015.
The Premios Escenamateur is organized by Spanish Amateur Theater Federation (Escenamateur), with the support of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the The Spanish General Society for Authors and Publishers.
Escenamateur was founded in 2009 to boost the status of and recognition for the work undertaken by amateur theater groups. It is also a esteemed arbiter of various public and private institutions, both from Spain and abroad, through its active presence in International Amateur Theatre Association (AITA/IATA) and International Council of Latin Culture Amateur Theatre Federations (CIFTA).