THEATER actor, television and film director Arsenio “Nick” J. Lizaso is the new president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He was officially elected by the CCP Board of Trustees on June 13, 2017. Lizaso has been with the CCP as member of the Board of Trustees since 2010.
Steeped in Western and Filipino literary classics, Nick Lizaso joined the Filipino film industry with a formidable background as a theater actor and director. He was a recipient of the British Council Grant Attachment with the Nottingham Playhouse and the Royal Shakespeare Company (London and Stratford-on Avon), as well as a Fullbright-Hayes Travel Grant to the US on theater arts, film and television. A leading figure in the Directors Guild of the Philippines, he was President of the Guild from 1983 to 1985.
Born in Santa Maria, Bulacan, hometown of the King of Balagtasan Jose Corazon de Jesus, his maternal grandfather, Nick has played and continues to “play many parts,” using Shakespearean language, not only as an actor on stage and TV, but as an active educator and advocate of community engagement in the arts. His expertise in theater has been honed at the Nottingham Playhouse and the Royal Shakespeare Company (London and Stratford-on Avon) and as a Fullbright-Hayes scholarship grantee in the US.
Nick’s other personal advocacy is teacher empowerment, organizing workshops focused on teacher development, infusing theater techniques to teaching to bring life to the classroom. He has conducted workshops in such places as Tagum City in Davao, Puerto Princesa City, Legaspi City. His most recent teacher development workshop was held for five days in November 2015 at the Rizal Memorial Colleges in Davao City.