13th Festival of Iberoamerican Stage Readings

The Gaze of the Other by María San Miguel

Directed by: Konstantinos Markellos. Read by actors: Eleni Stergiou, Ioanna Tzika, Giannis Mastroyannis

A room in a prison. Three characters: the mediator, the victim, and the perpetrator. Are there more things that connect us to others, or that divide us from them? At the end of 2010, a letter from Nanclares de la Oca prison (Basque Country, Spain) circulated, in which some former ETA members incarcerated for murders expressed their willingness to meet with the families of their victims. The Gaze of the Other brings to the stage the story of one such meeting.

María San Miguel will attend the reading and discuss the play with the audience afterward.

Chamaco by Ábel González Melo

Directed by: Stavros Ragias. Actors: Dina Avagianou, Fénia Apostolou, Achilleas Vatrikas, Despoina Giannopoulou, Manolis Klonaris, Panos Kotsoglou, Periklis Lianos, Konstantinos Mitrakas, Stavros Ragias

It is Christmas Eve in Havana, and two boys are playing their fate on a chessboard. A crime, an escape, a lake of blood. A family deeply touched by love, madness, and death. The city becomes a puzzle that everyone dares to solve quickly, unaware that it will cost them their lives. Chamaco is the play that brought its author international recognition, has been translated into multiple languages, and has been performed and published in ten countries.

Ábel González Melo will attend the reading and discuss the play with the audience afterward.

Intentions by Aina de Cos

Directed by: Ioanna Niacha. Read by actors: Maria Karydi, Ioanna Niacha, Lydia Orfanoudaki, Varvara Rampaouni, Chionia Chiotelli

Laura is over forty, has few expectations from life, and simply wants to live quietly. She decides to invite her former classmates to her birthday celebration. Very soon, she discovers that it was a wrong choice, much like many of the decisions she has made since leaving her studies. An old photograph awakens unpleasant memories and leads to unpredictable situations.

Smiley 2: After Love by Guillem Clua

Directed by: Minos Theocharis, Dimitris Makalias. Read by actors: Minos Theocharis, Dimitris Makalias

Eight years after the premiere of Smiley, the comedy-revelation of the 2012/13 season in Barcelona, the protagonists return with the second part of their story, which was staged in the same city in 2020. The unforgettable Alex and Bruno reunite with the audience to share what has happened to them during this time and to face more mature and profound challenges—equally entertaining as those in the original play—turning the new production into an instant success and making us forget the usual skepticism toward sequels.

Smiley was also performed in Greece in 2016 by the same lead actors.