Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
- Theater
- Order of National Artists of the Philippines, 1997
Wilfrido María Guerrero (January 22, 1910 – April 28, 1995) was a Filipino playwright, director, teacher and theater artist. He wrote over 100 plays, 41 of which have been published. His unpublished plays have either been broadcast on the radio or staged in various parts of the Philippines.
Guerrero's plays can be found in various anthologies: 13 Plays (first published in 1947), 8 Other Plays (1952), 7 More Plays (1962), 12 New Plays (1975), My Favorite 11 Plays (1976), 4 Latest Plays (1980), and Retribution and eight other selected plays (1990). Guerrero also published a family memoir, The Guerreros of Ermita (1988).
Guerrero taught and trained many notable figures in Philippine performing arts: Behn Cervantes, Celia Diaz-Laurel, Joy Virata, Tony Mabesa and Joonee Gamboa.[1]
Biography
Guerrero was born in Ermita, Manila. He wrote his first play at the age of 14 in Spanish, entitled No Todo Es Risa. This play was produced at the Ateneo de Manila University when he was 15.
Guerrero later worked as a reporter and proofreader for La Vanguardia, a Spanish newspaper, and as a drama critic for the Manila Tribune. He also worked for some time in the Philippine film industry as a scriptwriter. He served as director of the Filipino Players from 1941 to 1947. In 1947 he was appointed as director of the Dramatic Club of the University of the Philippines despite not having a degree, and he held that position for sixteen years.[2]
In 1962, he organized and directed the U.P. Mobile Theater, which traveled around the Philippines to give performances.[2]
Several of Guerrero's plays have been translated into and produced in Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano and Waray. Six of his plays have been produced abroad: Half an Hour in a Convent at the Pasadena Playhouse, California; Three Rats at the University of Kansas; Condemned in Oahu, Hawaii; One, Two, Three (premiere performance) at the University of Washington, Seattle; Wanted: A Chaperon at the University of Hawaii; and Conflict in Sydney, Australia.[2]
He is the first Filipino to have a theater named after him within his lifetime, the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater of the University of the Philippines.[2]
Childhood
Writing career
It was Guerrero's favorite aunt, Maria Araceli, who discovered his writing ability. When he was 12 or 13 she noticed him writing on scraps of paper and then hiding them inside his cabinet drawer.
After his aunt's death, Guerrero wrote some of his most popular comedies, "Movie Artists," "Basketball Fight," and "Wanted: A Chaperone." He also made her the basis for the principal characters in "Forever" (Maria Teresa) and "Frustrations" (Maria Araceli). “Both women are like my aunt: imperious, strong-willed, wise, but also humane,” he wrote.[2]
Awards
Guerrero received three national awards: the Rizal Pro-Patria Award in 1961, the Araw ng Maynila Award in 1969, and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1972.
The U.P. Mobile Theater received two awards when he was director: The Citizen's Council for Mass Media Trophy (1966) and the Balagtas Award (1969).[2]
See also
- Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.
- Severino Montano
- Rene Villanueva
References
- ^ Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero. ncca.gov.ph (June 3, 2015)
- ^ a b c d e f Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero. Upreplib.tripod.com. Retrieved on January 5, 2018.
External links
- Full Text: Half an Hour in a Convent by Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
- v
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- 1973 Juan Nakpil
- 1976 Pablo Antonio
- 1990 Leandro Locsin
- 2006 Ildefonso P. Santos Jr.
- 2014 José María Zaragoza
- 2018 Francisco Mañosa
- 1973 Francisca R. Aquino
- 1976 Leonor Orosa
- 1988 Lucrecia Reyes
- 2006 Ramon Obusan
- 2014 Alice Reyes
- 2022 Agnes Locsin
- 2006 Ramón Valera
- 2022 Salvacion Lim Higgins
- 1976 Lamberto V. Avellana
- 1982 Gerardo de León
- 1997 Lino Brocka
- 2001 Ishmael Bernal
- 2003 Eddie Romero
- 2006 Fernando Poe Jr.
- 2009 Manuel Conde
- 2018 Kidlat Tahimik
- 2022 Nora Aunor
- 2022 Marilou Diaz-Abaya
- 2022 Ricardo Lee
- 1997 Carlos Quirino
- 1973 Amado V. Hernandez
- 1973 José Garcia Villa
- 1976 Nick Joaquin
- 1982 Carlos P. Romulo
- 1990 Francisco Arcellana
- 1997 N. V. M. Gonzalez
- 1999 Edith Tiempo
- 2001 F. Sionil José
- 2003 Virgilio S. Almario
- 2003 Alejandro Roces
- 2006 Bienvenido Lumbera
- 2009 Lazaro Francisco
- 2014 Cirilo F. Bautista
- 2018 Ramon Muzones
- 2018 Resil B. Mojares
- 2022 Gémino Abad
- 1973 Antonio Molina
- 1976 Jovita Fuentes
- 1988 Antonino Buenaventura
- 1988 Lucrecia Kasilag
- 1991 Lucio San Pedro
- 1997 Levi Celerio
- 1997 Felipe Padilla de León
- 1997 José Maceda
- 1999 Ernani Joson Cuenco
- 1999 Andrea Veneracion
- 2014 Ramon Santos
- 2014 Francisco Feliciano
- 2018 Ryan Cayabyab
- 2022 Fides Cuyugan-Asensio
- 1987 Atang de la Rama
- 1997 Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
- 1997 Rolando Tinio
- 1999 Daisy Avellana
- 2001 Severino Montano
- 2003 Salvador Bernal
- 2018 Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio
- 2022 Tony Mabesa
- 1972 Fernando Amorsolo
- 1973 Botong Francisco
- 1973 Guillermo Tolentino
- 1976 Napoleon Abueva
- 1976 Victorio Edades
- 1981 Vicente Manansala
- 1990 Cesar Legaspi
- 1991 Hernando R. Ocampo
- 1997 Arturo R. Luz
- 1999 J. Navarro Elizalde
- 2001 Ang Kiukok
- 2003 José T. Joya
- 2006 Benedicto Cabrera
- 2006 Abdulmari Imao
- 2009 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz
- 2014 Francisco Coching
- 2018 Larry Alcala
- National Commission for Culture and the Arts
- Cultural Center of the Philippines