Monique Wilson
Monique Wilson is one of the Philippine’s veteran theatre and film actresses – having acted professionally since the age of nine. At 18 she starred as the lead role in the original London West End production of Miss Saigon.
In 1994, at 24 years old, she went back to the Philippines and founded the New Voice Company (NVC) theatre group, with a vision to awaken, inspire and transform Philippine audiences with socially provocative and innovative political theatre work. Her theatre group has produced THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES in the Philippines since 2000, and helped change the laws on sex trafficking and domestic violence with performances in the Philippine Senate and Philippine Congress. The New Voice Company has also produced THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. The NVC are also the producers of Eve’s THE GOOD BODY in the Philippines.
She, together with NVC Executive Producer Rossana Abueva, has also produced VDay events in the Philippines since 2001 –gathering over 70 Filipina artists, writers, politicians, and activists - and raising funds for Lila Filipina (the Philippine comfort women group), Women’s Crisis Center, Gabriela, Womenlead and Kalakasan.
She has also directed many of the New Voice Company’s acclaimed productions. As NVC’s Artistic Director, Monique has steered the company into one of Asia’s leading theatre companies, continuing her ground-breaking work as Artistic Director, Director and Actress, not just in the Philippines, but around other parts of Asia where New Voice Company regularly tours.
Monique has received numerous awards as an artist including the TOWNS (The Outstanding Women of the Nation) Award (for Theatre and Culture), the Outstanding Artist of Manila Award (for Theatre and the Arts), Parangal Ng Bayan (Honor of the Country) Award for Theatre, FAMAS Special Award (for Theatre), among many others.
Monique is the international spokesperson for the Purple Rose Campaign (a campaign to end sex trafficking of Filipina women and children) spearheaded by Gabriela – the Philippine’s pioneering women’s coalition.
She took up theatre at the University of the Philippines and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA). She has an MA in Theatre Education and Applied Theatre from the Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Her MA dissertation was on Art and Activism, detailing the New Voice Company’s THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES and VDAY theatre activism campaigns in the Philippines – which will be published by the end of the year.
This year Monique is celebrating her 28 years in theatre.