Sirena' Short Playwriting Contest
Jury's decision
In Besullo (Cangas del Narcea), on 17 September 2025, the sixtieth anniversary of the death of Alejandro Casona, having received the evaluations and scores of the works submitted by the members of the designated jury, we proceed to calculate these scores and analyse the evaluations of the works in order to draft this decision.
The jury for this first edition consisted of:
- Ms NOELIA RODRÍGUEZ, cultural coordinator for the Cangas del Narcea Town Council.
- Mr JAVIER LAGO, actor.
- Ms AMALIA FERNÁNDEZ, teacher of Language and Literature at IES Cangas del Narcea.
- Mr LUIS MIGUEL GÓMEZ, director of the Teatro del Suroccidente theatre company, Cangas del Narcea.
- Ms INMA FERNÁNDEZ, Librería Treito bookshop, Cangas del Narcea.
After receiving the data from all the judges, once all the points for the different candidate works had been added up and the technical assessments analysed, the jury issued the following
DECISION:
FIRST.- WINNING WORK
Firstly, and therefore winner of the first “Sirena” Prize for short theatrical texts, is the work ‘RELOJES DE ACERO’ (Steel Clocks), originally by Ms BEATRIZ MENÉNDEZ ALONSO.
The jury highlighted this work's commitment to hope in times such as these. Given the current state of the world, texts such as “Relojes de acero” are truly necessary: texts that, in addition to their undoubted literary quality, convey a message of hope. In the best tradition of Bertolt Brecht, combining denunciation with lyricism, the author of this text stirs us inside, forcing us - in a gentle, delicate way - to take a stand against power, against the authority that tells us that ‘that's just the way things are’. To quote Leonard Cohen, "I believe that people and society are good. The key is where you project your energy. You can position yourself where goodness exists, which it does, or you can think that there is no goodness in society and that we must destroy everything [...]. I believe that human beings can change and that things can change. It's about how we want things to change."
As for the author, her passion for literature began at a very young age, devouring children's books that led her to become the insatiable reader she still is today. She studied law at the University of Oviedo and attends several creative writing workshops, including one led by Oviedo poet Ana Vega, as well as reading clubs at the Cervantes Bookshop in Oviedo. Summarising her work, Beatriz writes: "I am lucky to have been born and lived the most important stage of my life in Cangas del Narcea and I believe that, like Alejandro, this imprint stays with you, it is in your reading, in your imagination and, ultimately, in what you write. We are what we write, and this essence and cultural idiosyncrasy so deeply rooted in our land always manifests itself wherever we are, far or near from the hustle and bustle of the world."
SECOND.- FINALIST WORK
Secondly, and due to the proximity of the second-ranked work, the jury has decided to award the status of FINALIST FOR THE FIRST “SIRENA” PRIZE FOR SHORT THEATRICAL TEXTS FROM BESULLO to the work ‘COLOQUIO DE DON PEDRO Y SOR MARCELA’ (COLLOQUY BETWEEN DON PEDRO AND SISTER MARCELA), originally by Mr. JOSÉ ALDARIZ OLOSA, described by the jury as a magnificent text, a magnificent idea superbly presented, with credible, believable and richly nuanced dialogue and characters (real, of course).
José Aldariz is 27 years old and comes from Lugo. He has a degree in Spanish Language and Literature from the University of Santiago de Compostela and has been writing since his teenage years. His first contact with theatre was precisely through reading Alejandro Casona's La dama del alba (The Lady of the Dawn) and the first play he saw was Plautus' El soldado fanfarrón (The Boastful Soldier). Fascinated by the playwright's ability to control the actions of his characters, the play submitted to this competition delves into that idea.
TERCERO.- EJECUCIÓN
Corresponde al Centro de Recepción de Visitantes Alejandro Casona de Besullo la ejecución formal del presente FALLO, así como la notificación, publicación y liquidación del Premio y el cumplimiento del resto de las Bases que regulan esta convocatoria.
