The actor Oriol Pla is awarded the National Theater Prize

BarcelonaAwards always catch Oriol Pla working. This noon, while he was at the San Sebastián Festival presenting the film This Solitude, by Javier Giner (I, Addict), the actor learned that he has been awarded the National Theater Prize, which is granted by the Ministry of Culture and is endowed with 30,000 euros.

Oriol Pla (Barcelona, 1993) had already won the International Emmy for best actor for the series I, Addict (2025), had won a Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts together with his family for Travy, two Gaudí awards for Petra and Uncertain Glory (2018 and 2019), a Butaca award for La calavera de Connemara (2018) and now the jury has recognized him with the National Prize for his masterful performance in Gola, the show he co-wrote himself with Pau Matas. It premiered in November 2024 at the Temporada Alta festival and, later, had a run at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya.

"It is an impressive production in which he demonstrates a mastery of different arts and disciplines with extraordinary technique, and in which he prominently introduces the language of the clown into the theatrical act with virtuosity," says the jury. Gola starts from the capital sin to reflect on how "we live in the society of the banquet, we fill ourselves to sustain the emptiness. Wanting to exit this emptiness means passing superficially through things," said Pla himself during the presentation of the play. "We want to talk about compulsive consumption, especially in the cultural sphere," and how "we are never satisfied," added the actor. The prize jury also highlights Pla's work as a co-creator, together with Matas, and says that Gola is "a resounding success that has conquered critics and audiences" and that "it appeals to the contemporary moment with an effort, risk, and originality that sublimate a scenic proposal of enormous value".

Among the Catalans who have received the award on previous occasions are Ramon Fontserè (2000), Josep Maria Pou (2006) and Vicky Peña (2009). Since its premiere, Gola tasted success very quickly: the first performance in Barcelona ended with the audience standing and one of the most enthusiastic and long-lasting rounds of applause remembered in the Sala Petita of the TNC and very soon the play sold out its tickets. The show toured Catalonia and at the beginning of this year it had a run at the Centro Dramático Nacional in Madrid in a Spanish version. From October 21st to November 15th it will be seen at the Sala Beckett.