'The Solitude of Celestial Bodies', by Girona-born Ferran Joanmiquel, wins the Born Theatre Prize
The 50th edition of the competition recognizes the text of an author with a long career and who has already seen ten of his works performed.
CitadelThe loneliness of celestial bodies, by Girona-born Ferran Joanmiquel Pla (1975), took home the award this Saturday afternoon at the fiftieth edition of the Born de Teatre Prize, the most prestigious privately-run theatre creation award in Spain. The play, which narrates a family drama of high emotional intensity and with autobiographical touches, prevailed over the remaining 115 pieces presented in the competition, which came from up to ten different countries.
The jury, made up of Josep Ramon Cerdà, former director of Palma's Teatro Principal; playwright Ricard Gázquez, winner of the 2019 edition; and television scriptwriter Eulàlia Carrillo, highlighted the structural coherence, sensitivity, expressive richness, and daring of the proposal and unanimously awarded the text by Joanmiquel Pla.
"It's a dream come true," said the winner, who admitted that he had participated "seven or eight times" in the Born Prize without winning. This year, however, has been different and he has already taken steps to ensure that The loneliness of celestial bodies could be brought to the stage next year. As the author himself explained, "it's a great reflection of the moment I'm experiencing as a father in the family."
"A dream come true"
The jury highlights the "powerful astronomical metaphor" that Joanmiquel Pla uses "to explore the emotional distances, the entrenched silences, and the inherited traumas among three sisters" who feel the absence of a "harsh and bitter mother with a rather apocalyptic vision of life." And it is this "ugly baggage," says the author, that "conditions their way of seeing life."
El Born is the culmination of Ferran Joanmiquel Pla's extensive career as a playwright. A Catalan author with ties to the Beckett Theatre in Barcelona, he has taken part in a European exchange project and has been awarded a dozen playwriting awards: the Niebla de Vic for January River, the Recvll of Blanes by Nineteen, the Bartrina of Reus by Blue, the one from Calldetenes by Crystals in the eyes and also Swamp, the Badalona Iniciate by Chagall's Daughter, in October of Valencia by All the colors of white, that of Sagunto by Women who speak, Àngels Poch from Òmnium Terrassa by Samurai and also A woman without a name, the Palanca and Rock of Alzira by Border and, finally, Andreu Solsona from Badalona for Rage.
Until then he has premiered ten of his works (Nineteen, Blue, Samurai, A woman without a name, The call, Chagall's Daughter, Crystals in the eyes, Wishing to live in a country without wind, The King of Gurugú and One hundred days and one hundred lives) and has made two documentary theatre pieces.
The loneliness of celestial bodies has prevailed over the other three finalist works of the Born: the naturalistic drama Insects, he thriller psychological of The privileges and Algiers 227, an ambitious historical drama that intertwines the relationships between Menorca, Mallorca and Algeria.
'The Tiger'
The award ceremony took place during a gala held at the Teatro des Born in Ciutadella, which was packed to the rafters, and which began with the performance of the comedy The tiger, originally by Ramon Madaula and starring actors Daniel Olivares and Mercè Martínez. This concluded a program of events that also included the presence of Elena Santiago, the young Andorran actress and playwright who won an award last year for her work. The silence.
His name, like that of Ferran Joanmiquel Pla, joins a long list of now well-known authors who have already won the Born Prize, such as Juan Mayorga, Sergi Belbel, Jordi Galcerán, Antonio Álamo, and Francesc Messeguer. Josep Maria Miró and Lluïsa Cunillé have won three times.
The Born Theatre Prize has been promoted since 1974 by the Círculo Artístico de Ciutadella, a cultural association founded in 1881 and recognized with the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts awarded by the Council of Ministers. It is the highest-endowed theatrical creation prize in Spain, with 14,000 euros, and is made possible thanks to the involvement of the public authorities and, especially, the crowdfunding campaign "I Believe in the Born Prize" launched by the organization.