Anton Juan
Once known as the enfant-terrible of the Philippine theater, Dr. Anton Juan is famous for casting theater roles in a non-traditional manner and pushing the concept of theater to its limits. After graduating with a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of the Philippines in 1973, he went on to be one of the few Filipino students pursuing higher studies in the arts. He was also one of the first Filipino scholars of the Italian and French governments, studying at the Universita di Perugia and Universita De Roma in Italy, International de Formation et des Recherces Dramatiques in France all the way to the University of Athens in Greece where in he received his Ph.D. and was given the mark of ARISTA EXCELLENCE equivalent to that of the Summa Cum Laude honors. He was also the recipient of several grants/fellowships such as the Hitachi Foundation Grant during his post-doctoral training in Butoh Dance Form, the Hitachi Foundation Fellow on his post-doctoral research “Yugen and Metaphor in Traditional Theater Training: Noh Theater, Kita School on Nohâ€, and the Fullbright Fellow on his post-doctoral research on the “Filipino Production during the American Occupation of the Philippinesâ€.

This research later on led to the creation of the full-length play “The Price of Redemptionâ€.

Dr. Juan is a professor in the Department of Speech Communication and Theater Arts at the College of Arts and Letters in UP Diliman and an Associate for Drama the Creative Writing Center at the same college. He is also the Associate Artistic Director of the Dulaang UP, and Artist-in-Residence of the Asian Institute for Liturgy, Music and the Performing Arts. He has been a director of some of the Philippines famous theater groups such as Babaylan Theater Foundation, Teatro Libre Workers Theater, Asian Institute for Liturgy, Music and the Performing Arts and Ballet Philippines to name a few. He was also director of the EEC Cultural Program: Theater Section, Center for Public Studies, Athens, Greece from 1991-1993 and was a faculty of the Athenian Dance Society in 1987.

Dr. Juan was lecturer/demonstrator of a number of international workshops and theater conferences such as the UP in Mindanao “Trainors’ Training in the Use of Theater in Teaching†in 1996 and the international lecture series/workshop on “Asian Movement and Sound Sense†in Laos in 1999.

“Paris and Alexander†directed by Dr. Juan

Aside from his work in theater, Dr. Juan is also active in films and commercials as a director or screenplay writer. He has worked with prestigious cinema directors like Ishmael Bernal in several commercials. He has directed several documentary films such as “Dumating ka lang ba para umalis?†a film about HIV/AIDS, Reconciliation, and Hope for the Good Harvest Film Festival in 1998 and mainstream movies such as “Anak ng Buan†third episode of “Shake, Rattle and Roll VIâ€. Dr. Juan has had plays that he wrote and directed, produced and performed abroad as well as awarded in international competitions. In 1999, a Greek production of “Tuko!Tuko!†or “Princess of the Lizard Moonâ€, a play authored and directed by Dr. Juan, was awarded the Alexander Onassis International Award and was acclaimed as “Production of the Year†by Metro Magazine. In that same year a Dulaang UP production, “Paris and Alexander†by Yannis Limtsioulis, also directed by Dr. Juan was performed in Laos and Vietnam after ten years of suspension on theater performances. His publication “Translating Classical tragedy in the Philippines: Crossing Dangerous Edges†was released in 1999 in Greece. In 2000, “Paris and Alexander†was shown in the 2000 Adelaide Festival in Australia. In the past years, Dr. Juan has directed and produced Philippine adaptations of famous plays such as “King Learâ€. Dr. Juan was recognized as the Most Outstanding Artist in Theater, receiving the International Award for the Arts 2000 for his achievements in theater and his various performances as both director and playwright of world reknown.

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Copyright © 2000-2001 The President's Committee on Culture and the Arts
UpdatedOctober 22, 2001